The Peru Gazette

Good morning everyone,

Just a few important reminders this morning, since we are in the final days of preparation for Mission #67. I’m not certain I will get a regular news/notes out later this week, so did not want you to overlook the following:

1. Deadline for applications for summer mission is March 1, 2017. Tentative travel dates will be around July 5th. Applications can be found on our newly designed website via this link:http://www.ncmissionofhope.org/index.php/get-involved-2/apply/mission-application-form/

2. News and notes daily during Mission: Back by popular demand will be our daily news/notes while we are on Mission next week. Bonnie Black will do the bulk of the daily info and I’ll add bits and pieces as needed. We have a VERY full schedule, so I think you will really enjoy reading about our “hearts and hands working together to improve lives”. Stay tuned….and thanks in advance, Bonnie!

3. I still need a few more folks who could pick up an education sponsorship. If you think you could do that, please contact me this week.

4. We are still looking for a permanent site for our MOHtown warehouse. We remain hopeful and open to any/all possibilities, including a building, funds to build or a piece of property close to Plattsburgh.

5. Mission #67 has already proven to be a topsy turvy challenge, even before we begin the trip. About every 6-7 years, we face major obstacles of either weather, flight cancellations or withdrawal of travelers due to serious illness, medical issues with family or visa issues. This trip has already presented its challenges. We’ve had 5 people who’ve had to withdraw, but we’ve been blessed to be able to obtain 5 others to travel, on short notice. Typically, that means veteran missioners because of the need for multiple training sessions and passports, etc.

If you’ve got an extra space in your prayer list this week, please include one for us….and for those disappointed that they’ve had to withdraw.

6. Preaching in Prison on Mission of Hope. This past weekend, I was invited to preach at services held at Dannemora State Prison here in update New York. Yes, you may well recognize that name because of the major prison break out less than two years ago which made national news. I thank Deacon Frank Bushey for inviting me.

The Mission received donations totaling $2000 for our programs and projects from this visit…and James Carlin requested that he join me on Sunday. (Was it because he thought they might keep me???…)

Anyhow, my Thought for the week comes from what I shared with inmates and CO’s present and were based on the Scripture readings in our Catholic and Christian churches this past week. I hope you find the reflection comforting and challenging as well!

Thought for the Week: Choose Life….a life that is heart centered!

“Choose life and make life as meaningful as you can, regardless of your present situation.”

Those were my opening words when I preached at Dannemora Maximum Security Prison at two services this weekend, standing in the sanctuary of the Church of St. Dismas and seeing a sea of prison green in the pews below. I prayed I’d be a sign of hope to all, not just a passing fascination. I prayed that my words would match my desire to share the abiding presence of the Dominican Sisters of Hope as well as provide a brief glimpse of the good works of the Mission of Hope.

The readings lent themselves to both the oddity of preaching on the Scriptures and how the Mission of Hope was intertwined with the words of Jesus and… additionally, they presented an unusual opportunity of preaching to inmates about the commandments, and the need to be heart centered when living out our faith. Too late you say, especially speaking to criminals of the law??? Well, Jesus tells us it is never too late and while I have no intention of whitewashing the crimes committed by these men, I do believe we all continually need to search our hearts and see how we can be “the best me I can be”….

Here is what I shared:

At first glance, one could get entangled on the letter of the law, and could easily become hopeless as we realize we are far less than perfect in living the commandments. But, I would like to suggest to you that some of the most powerful words we hear this morning are these: “You have heard it said, but I say”…. Jesus was surely inviting us, yes…even challenging us to recognize that while law is the foundation of much of our lives, it must be laws that are “heart centered”, laws that reflect an interior attitude of integrity, compassion, kindness and love….love that is focused on Love of God and Love of Neighbor!

Jesus was quite clear in stating “Let your YES be YES”. So, I’d like to share a couple stories from my Mission of Hope experiences that are life lessons for me. The first occurs in the Managua city dump, where 3500 children lived among the turkey vultures and wild boars and cows, where children were sold to garbage truck drivers and the smoke from burning garbage not only burned your eyes and throats, but became mud on your face as you felt your tears mixing with the ashes. That place was a modern day Gehenna, where human lives continue to be sacrificed for the sake of the human vultures.

On this particular trip, I had taken the mission group to the top of the garbage pile, overlooking a cesspool below and we prayed, vowed to make life better and reflected on some action steps. Then, we started down the steep incline and I lost my balance on the gravel, and nearly fell into the cesspool. My life flashed before my eyes and I wondered if anyone would know I had died. At that precise moment, a boy who lives in the dump, appeared out of nowhere and shoved me back onto the path, literally saving me. He was 10, maybe 12.

Overcome with gratitude, I reached into my pocket and offered him a $5 bill, knowing full well that for a child living in the dump, that kind of money was “gold”. He handed it back to me and I handed it back to him again. The second time, he put it in my hand and told me in Spanish, “One does not pay for kindness”! I was overcome with a realization that this child, who had minimal choices in his life, made a choice for meaning in the midst of a life torn apart by the actions of others. He got the gospel message of today, i.e., he chose to make life more meaningful and to live the law of love, regardless of his circumstances!

Or there’s the 16 year old orphan at the orphanage who was going to be sent to the city because she was 16 and thus, needed to move on because there was only so much food. Over the years, the Mission of Hope has impacted and provided sponsorship to that orphanage and I am now pleased to tell you that because of our Orphans’ Hope Program of the Mission of Hope, the girls do not get sent to the city at the age of 16 anymore. Rather, they get sent to high school and college.

Yet, on this, her birthday, I asked some of my high school students to share a “gift” with her. One reached into his pocket, found a package of crackers, we all sang happy birthday to her and gave her the package. She promptly opened the package, gave the first 5 crackers to the 5 orphan kids closest to her and then took the last one (this same girl who was going to be on the street in a week) and she broke the cracker in two and handed half back to my high school student who had given her the package. SHE GOT IT! She understood how to choose life, to make it more meaningful even in the midst of her present situation. She understood that one must live with an interior attitude that reflects love of God and love of neighbor. She took the commandments to a much deeper level than one might expect of one so marginalized and young.

And so, I am here today to invite you to hear Jesus’ words again, perhaps even for the first time. “Let your yes mean yes”…..and say NO to all that makes you less than you have the potential to be…it is never too late.

Then, you may hear these words whispered to you personally: “Eye has not seen and ear has not heard…what God has prepared for those who love God”. Love of God and love of neighbor brings each of us to a fullness of life that Jesus speaks of today.

This is what I wish for each of you…..Let your YES mean YES! May Hope sustain you and let us promise to pray for each other.” (End)

Indeed, hope was present in this service this day. May we all choose to make our lives meaningful and may we live our lives heart centered going forth. The experience was both a little unnerving as well as serving as a reminder that we are all called to make our lives more meaningful, no matter in what circumstances we find ourselves.

Live and be HOPE this week.

Sr. Debbie Blow, OP
Executive Director
North Country Mission of Hope
PO Box 2522
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
Cell: 518-570-5443
Office: 518-561-2599