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| Sr. Mary Gemma with Tavien, a young woman from Seaford Town, Jamaica |
“Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God.” -1 John 4:7
These were the first words our Franciscan University of Steubenville Jamaica mission team heard as we came together for
Mass the day before our departure. It wasn’t until I returned home and
reflected on my experience that I realized just how significant they were.
In those days, the culture shock was
considerable—85°
heat, lush, green forests of banana and coconut, the sometimes
barely-discernible Patois dialect, and the poverty of small Jamaican
villages—but because our hearts were open, we could receive the love of these
beautiful people, whom we, supposedly, were coming to love.
It surprised me how easy they were to
love in spite of our differences. Even the group of about 25 students, the two
friars and myself grew into a family by the end of the 10 days, though many of
us had never met before. 10 of us were sent to Seaford Town, a small village
about an hour’s drive inland from Montego Bay. Fr. Luke, a Polish missionary
priest, serves at Sacred Heart Mission there. We spent our days walking in
groups of 3 from house to house, praying with men and women, playing with
children, and giving and receiving the love of Christ. So many of them are
forever fixed in my memory.
There was Teresa, a 92-year old woman
whom we found standing over her stove, stirring a pot of cornmeal porridge and
singing about the glory of the Kingdom. We held hands and prayed together, and
she said, full of joy, “Lord, I didn’t expect 3 visitors today!”
There were Mr. and Mrs. Samuels, a
newly baptized and married couple who proudly showed us their wedding photos
and cut open whole coconuts for us to drink.
There was Jacob, a blind man whose
words made no sense until we began to sing “Amazing Grace.” He clung to my hand
and sang every word with gusto, ending with a verse of “Praise God!”
In the evenings we would meet at an
appointed place (much later than the appointed time, in true Jamaican fashion),
a gas station, small shop or a town square, set up Fr. Luke’s sound system, and
begin preaching about the mercy of God. Each of these night meetings was, for
me, an experience of communion with those in the village. We never knew if
anyone would show up and listen to us preach out of the back of Father’s silver
Nissan pick-up, but there was always at least a small crowd. There were always
at least a few women enthusiastic to sing us their Jamaican church songs, and a
number of people who asked to receive prayer at the end of the night.
The most profound moments on any
mission are often the simplest. I’ll never forget how, after lunch one day, I
entered a hot kitchen full of women to help them tidy up. They spoke a
thick Patois, but they understood I wanted to help, so they set it up. Two sinks:
one of soapy water, one clear. I scrubbed, one woman rinsed, others dried and
put away. We worked with few words, but were soon joking and smiling like family.
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| Sr. Mary Gemma with Sr. Athanasie |
After a few days, we had a rhythm. Sr. Jhorna and I would
stay in chapel after Morning Prayer a few minutes, while Sr. Athanasie went to
the kitchen to prepare breakfast things. Soon we could hear the kettle
whistling and the ting of the toaster oven. I would come and set out the
coffee, milk, cane sugar, and peanut butter, nourishment before a morning
walking in the hot Caribbean sun.
One night, the electricity went out and Sr. Athanasie and I
had dinner by candlelight. She brought tears to my eyes as she shared the story
of her vocation and how she lost much of her extended family in the Rwandan
genocide.
All these moments of communion culminated in our last prayer
meeting at a little shop in a place called Dam Gate. Each of the student
missionaries in our group lit a candle, symbolizing the light and love of
Christ we came to share, before handing them out to those in the crowd. Then
the Jamaicans passed them on to each other until everyone had held the light.
It sounds trite, but it is profoundly true: in the words of
Pope Francis, “We need to strengthen the conviction that we are one single
human family.” Or “One love … one heart,” to quote a well-known Jamaican, Bob
Marley. There are no strangers—only brothers and sisters I haven’t met yet.
But I don’t need to go to Jamaica to love. Everywhere I go, I am home, and I am called to love there with the same intensity and desire I
would have on a mission trip. Pray with me today for the grace to love in the
simple moments, to love in closeness to others, to love with the love of God.
-Sr. Mary Gemma, T.O.R.
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| Tavien's niece and nephew: Lisandre and Leon |
