We sisters, “workers in the field of the Lord which is the Church”
Some testimonies of women religious who, from Africa, collaborate with spazio + spadoni to spread the works of mercy
On World Day of Consecrated Life, spazio + spadoni asked some of the many women religious who participate in Project Hic Sum to briefly give a definition of their choice
From Kenya, Sister Joan Chemeli Langat, ambassador of works of mercy for spazio + spadoni, lets us know that for her, “consecrated life is a life of joy, light and also of much, much beauty.”
Belonging to the Congregation Sisters of St. Joseph of Mombasa, she says:
“having chosen poverty, chastity and obedience
makes me happy,
because these gifts help me to live well
in my consecrated life.
Mine is an answer to a question that provokes me
and that puts me back in the game
between everything and nothing.”
From Burundi, Sister Petronie Toyi, of the Family of Disciples of Christ Institute, continues:
“for me, consecrated life is an essential element
in the Church and is a gift from God.
I was always struck by this phrase,
indeed it devastated me so much that it led me to the choice to consecrate myself:
‘the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.’”
The religious, after 17 years of consecrated life, is thankful to have been sent
“among the laborers who work in the field of the Lord
which is the Church.”
Also from Burundi, Sister Hyacinthe Manariyo, of the “Mariya Well Sisters,” makes an initial statement that sounds like a prayer:
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this alone I seek:
To dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to taste the sweetness of the Lord
And admire his sanctuary…”(Psalm 26:4).
Then, he continues:
“my call to consecrated life has been a walk in search of Jesus, a journey to his dwelling place. And I finally meet him in my many brothers and sisters whom he has put in my path. It is beautiful! The Lord is always with me in space and time, present in all these people I have met and all those I will meet as long as I live. Every man/woman for me is a face of Jesus.
My joy is to contemplate the Lord’s love every day in the especially fragile people, in the everyday of life, in events, in His Holy
Church. Jesus is my life, He is everything to me. He is my Lord.”
The last testimony comes from Mexico, through the words of Sister Angelica Valle Cabrera (“Misioneras catequistas de los Sagrados Corazones de Jesús y de María”):