WHAT MAKES THEM "TICK"

I have so many stories about the children to write and this will come. I must first talk about what sustains during work such as what the Brothers and Sisters here at the Missionaries of the Poor are doing. I am only a newcomer yet I have not met many people who work as hard and do so as joyfully as the Brothers and Sisters do.

The schedule they keep at the Monastery is one of prayerful service to the Poorest of the Poor. They tell me they look forward to going to work every day and no one wants to miss a day because of illness. There is not a breath of complaint yet they do their work for free with little personal time. I doubt there is a company in the USA who can compare with the work ethic and overall disposition of its employees as does MOP.

I myself have found the schedule a way of comforting orientation to a new world. Our days look something like this:

5:40 AM Rising to the sound of a hand-rung bell (or earlier to the dogs howling)

6:00 AM Morning prayer and Mass

7:00 AM Meditation

7:45 AM Breakfast

8:30 AM-2:30 PM Apostolic work at the Children’s Homes: We travel to work via 3 options.  A large Van which resembles a Taxi; a pick up truck (this is the one I tend to ride in, though the Brothers insist I ride inside the cab) or an old army truck with a tarp covered back end and bench seats along the sides or rings to hold onto above. The ride is rough going as the potholes can swallow a car. One must be physically fit to ride to work!

2:30-3:30 PM We arrive home between 3:00 and 3:30 PM depending on the weather (they cannot come if it is raining too hard as the roads turn into muddy rivers) or depending on when the truck arrives to pick us up. We are 15 min away if there were no traffic.

5:00 PM Prayer and Spiritual Meditation (Of which I have not been able to attend because I have not been feeling well this week)

6:00 PM Rosary meditation walk. This is a beautiful rosary said outside at a shrine that is beautifully decorated.

7:45 PM Supper (and fun conversation with the Sisters)….As I am writing this, Sister Ruth reminds me to not forget to add “washing dishes” Not just our own, but the Brothers’ dishes as well if they happen to finish while we are still in the kitchen.

9:00 PM Night prayer

Saturdays and Sundays rising times are a little later but generally the same schedule. There is a ½ day work Saturday but I am given Sundays off. I know there are chores somewhere in here, but the Sisters have been so gracious as to do them without asking me to help. They say I am a “visitor” but I suspect this will only go so far and I will HAVE to learn how to use the mop. I tried last weekend and just made a big mess!

I have many responsibilities to perform over the next year. I am not sure how I will fit it all in but there seems to be an unseen plan which has been falling into place. I suspect that it will continue to do so.

I think I have a better understanding of how these wonderful people are able to do the work they do. I wonder if we (I in particular) make life so complicated that we forget to include into our days that which keeps our hearts and spirits alive. The most important take away for me has been the grateful praise. We say praise and thanks before and after each meal, we also say this every time we enter the truck to go to and leave work. We say thanks when we arrive back home for a day well done and again at night.

Let us all be THANKFUL even 1 x a day for all the good gifts we have been given!