By: Teresita Bernad, MSSC

Sr. Teresita Bernad is a Filipino Columban Sister from Ozamis, Mindanao. She tells us here two little stories about the dignity of every single human being and their longing to step into Mystery of god. For Irma and Luisa Sacraments are the door into this mystery.

The Dragon’s Tail
The City of Iquique, where I am stationed, is in the northernmost part of Chile, in the province of Tarapaca. The northern part of Chile is a desert. Iquique is situated between the vast Pacific Ocean on one on one side of the desert hills on the other. One of the hills, the Cerro Dragon, is so named because it is shaped like a dragon with its tail reaching down to the edge of the city. One would imagine the desert to be the most boring sight to see, but I have traveled across the desert several times with the Sisters on our way to the pueblos, and the scenery is spectacular. The mountains are of varying height and shape with different shades of brown; others are greenish, blue or red, depending upon the mineral deposit.

Tail is Cut
The city has a population of one hundred sixty thousand. With the presence of SOFRI (the center of free trade), and plenty of opportunities for employment, the city is expanding fast. The slopes of he hills are being covered with houses. The Cerro Dragon has lost the tip of its tail.

Kathleen McGrath
The Columban Sisters are working on the outskirts of the city, forming a community after Our Lady of Fatima. Sister Kathleen McGrath is in charge of the community with all its organizations. She is also the coordinator of the missions into the interior pueblos.

First Communion at ‘92
Shortly after my arrival, I began visiting the sick in their homes. I found these visits satisfying because we usually ended up by praying together. In my rounds I discovered that most of the people did not know how to pray the Rosary and some old ones had not made their first communion. One of them was Luisa who was ninety two and blind. The day I brought the priest for her first communion, the old lady whom before I had never seen out of her bed, was sitting on a chair in the sala, awaiting the coming of the Eucharistic Lord.

Jolly Irma
Another was Irma. I met Irma for the first time at the “Club de Ancianos” an organization of elderly people who meet once a week at the Fatima Center for socials and for prayer. A jolly heavy –set woman in her late fifties, Irma had not been baptized but her husband was, and since their marriage she became a faithful church-goer. Later she joined the club.

Three Sacraments
Sometime later Irma became seriously sick: Cancer. There was nothing else the doctor could do. She was already suffering from excruciating pains. She sent word that she wanted to see a priest, because she wanted to receive Holy Communion. I got Father Sean O’ Connor, a Columban, and accompanied him to the house. He asked her a few questions about the sacraments which she answered very well. He then told her that now she could make her first communion. “But Padre” she said “I have not been baptized.” So Irma received three sacraments that day: Baptism, Eucharist and Anointing of the Sick.

She Clasped My Hand
When we were leaving I asked her if she would like me to visit her occasionally to pray together. She said “Yes and please come in the afternoon when the house was peaceful and quite”. Somehow, I did not manage to make that visit. Then the news came that Irma was very sick. I went at once and found her restless and breathing heavily. She was actually dying. I took her hand and felt hers clasping mine. I stayed with her and started the prayers for the dying. I look up and saw the Rosary hanging at the head of her bed. Not long after, she died.

Two or Three Together
Thinking about Irma later, perhaps she had been waiting for the two of us to pray together. Perhaps she was remembering what she had learned from heir prayer-sharing in the club that when two or three are gathered together in His name, Jesus is in the midst of them, and Irma wanted to make sure of her companion for the journey.

Sharing the Mystery
A missionary going to another country will encounter many difficulties, caused by differences in language, customs, traditions, climate, and not so seldom, the attitudes of the people like Luisa and Irma remind me that there are many important things that really matter that go beyond of language and customs.

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