Faith in the City, Jesus in the Streets: The Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ - A Vocation Story
We share how the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ lives a bold charism: serve Jesus in the poor, walk with families, and build a faith-based sobriety program called "Be Sober" to help individuals and their loved ones who are struggling with addiction (drugs, alcohol, sex addiction).
Prayer, street outreach, and Marian trust shape a path from survival to hope, faith, sobriety and freedom in Jesus Christ.
• "Jesus all, all of Jesus" as the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ's charism
• Global congregation with a house in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
• Scripture roots in Luke 4 and Matthew 25
• "Be Sober" structure: prayer, formation, sharing
• Parallel groups for sobriety and family members
• A Catholic lens on the 12 steps of addiction recovery, and mercy
• Street ministry with the homeless
• Street ministry as a bridge to God-given human dignity and trust
• Vocation story of a young Sister, Sister Maria Elisa who joined at 18 years of age. She speaks of the joy of community life
• Turning to Mother Mary in suffering and recovery
• Rethinking judgment, human dignity, and hope
To learn more about the Sisters' work with the poor, homeless and individuals struggling with addiction, please visit: https://sisterspoorofjesuschrist.com
To donate to the program, please contact St. Ann's Parish
https://stannhamilton.church
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sister Maria Elisa (00:00):
We serve the homeless as Jesus said in
Matthew Chapter 25.
He said, "Every time that youdid it for one of the least of
my brothers and sisters, you didit for me." So we need to go
there to be with them, to bringthis peace, this presence of
Jesus, this presence of thechurch in the streets.
(00:20):
We are a Catholic communityfounded in Brazil in 2001 by a
priest called Father Gilson.
And our mission, our charism is"Jesus all, all of Jesus,"
which means that we have thisdeeper desire of having Jesus
(00:43):
entirely, and of belonging tohim entirely too.
And embracing Jesus, his lifeis in poverty, in chastity, in
obedience, and always availableto the kingdom of God.
We also embrace his mission, aswe can hear in the gospel
(01:05):
according to St.
Luke, Jesus says, The Spirit ofthe Lord is upon me because he
has anointed me to bring gladties to the poor.
And that is our mission, too.
Our mission is the mission ofJesus.
Take care of the poor in theirmany faces.
Sheila Nonato (01:28):
Hello and Welcome to the Veil and Armour Podcast.
This is your host, SheilaNonato.
I'm a stay-at-home mom and afreelance Catholic journalist.
Seeking the guidance of theHoly Spirit and the inspiration
of Our Lady, I strive to tellstories that inspire,
illuminate, and enrich the livesof Catholic women to help them
in living up our vocation ofraising the next generation of
(01:50):
leaders and saints.
Co-Host (01:52):
Please join us every week on the Veil in Armour
Podcast, where stories comealive through a journalist's
lens and a mother's heart.
Sheila Nonato (01:59):
Welcome, Sister Maria Elisa of the Sisters Poor
of Jesus Christ.
And yesterday was the 24thanniversary of your
congregation, October 23rd.
And would you be able to tellus a little bit about your
congregation?
Where are you in Canada?
Where are you in the world,please?
Sister Maria Elisa (02:22):
Yeah.
Again, I'm Sister Marie Eliseof Jesus.
I'm a sister from the Instituteof the Sisters Poor of Jesus
Christ.
We are a Catholic communityfounded in Brazil in 2001 by a
priest called Father Gilson.
And our mission, our charism is"Jesus all, all of Jesus,"
(02:49):
which means that we have thisdeeper desire of having Jesus
entirely and of belonging to himentirely too.
In embracing Jesus, his life isin poverty and chastity in
obedience and always availableto the kingdom of God.
(03:12):
We also embrace his mission aswe can hear in the gospel
according to St.
Luke's.
Jesus says, "The Spirit of theLord is upon me because He has
anointed me to bring gladtidings to the poor." And that
is our mission too.
Our mission is the mission ofJesus: take care of the poor in
(03:35):
their many faces.
Families, people strugglingwith addiction, depression, and
people in prostitution, and allof those who are in need, where
there is one person in need, thesisters form Jesus Christ and
our brothers to we want to bethere to help them as Jesus
(03:59):
would do.
And now we are we have housesall around the world.
We are in 16 differentcountries.
Our brothers, our sisters, andour lay associates taking care
of the poor together with thechurch.
Sheila Nonato (04:18):
Beautiful.
And so you have a house inHamilton.
Uh is do you have a house inToronto?
Sister Maria Elisa (04:26):
Not yet.
No, so just Hamilton.
Sheila Nonato (04:28):
And then are there other houses in Canada?
Sister Maria Elisa (04:34):
So far, we just we have just one house here
in Hamilton.
Sheila Nonato (04:39):
Okay.
Sister Maria Elisa (04:39):
Through the grace of God , we will.
Yes, God willing.
Sheila Nonato (04:44):
Um, and yeah, sorry, I forgot to pray.
Um, so can we start with a HailMary if you wouldn't mind?
Sister Maria Elisa (04:51):
Yeah.
Okay,
Sheila Nonato (04:52):
uh in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, theLord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,and blessed is the fruit of thy
womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God.
Holy Mary, pray for us sinners.
Now and at the hour of ourAmen.
(05:13):
In the name of the Father, andthe Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Thank you so much.
I always like to have Our Ladyclose to the conversation.
Um, so I heard about I saw aposter in my parish about the
"Be Sober" program, and I hadattended, thank you very much
for letting me attend with mychildren to see uh a little bit
(05:34):
of the "Be Sober" program atyour house.
And it was a very solemn, butit seemed like a very there's a
community there that there thatpeople knew each other, but they
were also connected.
There was a deep, there seemedto be like a deep bond or
connection between all of them,even though your program just
(05:55):
started.
Can you tell us what is the "BeSober" program?
Sister Maria Elisa (05:58):
The "Be Sober" program is a mission, a
way of evangelizing and beingcloser with people who are
struggling with any kind ofaddiction, especially drugs and
alcohol.
And also it's designed forfamily members.
We know that sometimes to livewith a person struggling with
(06:21):
addiction is really hard.
So we want to help the personand we want to help the family
too.
So the Be Sober mission isdesignated to provide a free
support room for those who wantto be sober, for those who have
a choose sobriety, and want tomake new friendships, to have
(06:44):
this, as you said, thisconnection with people who are
going to the same path, and forfamily members who want to
understand a little bit betterabout what is addiction and how
to help their loved ones.
So our "Be Sober" mission herein Canada started just this
(07:04):
September 1 7th.
So we are in our first month ofexperience, and it has been a
grace of God, it has been agrace of God.
Thanks be to God.
We have people who are thereunited through the faith, united
to God, struggling with thesame problem, but together
(07:29):
trying to be sober, and sobeautiful to see.
And our programming is based inum in Saint Peter, who says,
"Be sober and alert." That'swhat we want.
Be sober and alert, unitingGod.
And the "Be Sober" mission.
, we work with the 12 steps, isa 12-step program.
(07:53):
And our meeting is organized inthree different moments.
We have the prayer momenttogether, when we ask the Father
the grace upon us, and then wehave the formative moment.
The formative moment we have aperson who be there and we
explain to us the steps andthings related with the steps,
(08:17):
but spiritual things, as we areCatholics.
Spiritual things related withthe church, with the Virgin
Mary, with our Father in Heaven.
And then we have the sharingmoment.
In the sharing moment, weorganize in two different
groups.
Those who have chosen sobrietyand family members.
So we have two sharing groupsgoing on at the same time.
(08:42):
And then we gather again and wesay a prayer together to end
the meeting.
Has been a blessing.
Beautiful.
And how many people usuallyattend?
Is it it's every week, correct?
Yes.
Our "Be Sober" meetings happenweekly here in Hamilton.
(09:09):
Uh usually we have around sevenand eight participants.
Okay, and we are in thebeginning.
Yes, beautiful.
And and they come, so it's notonly um people who are trying to
recover from um to trying togain sobriety, but also family
(09:31):
members or friends who come tosupport them.
Yes.
Yeah.
Family members, friends.
If you have someone that youknow that is struggling with
addiction and want to help them,so you can come and
participate.
You can learn from theformative moment and then you
can share with people who aretrying the same thing.
(09:53):
It's a beautiful way to learnhow to help them and how to help
yourself too.
And people who are right nowstruggling with addiction can
participate, but also people whosee themselves as already
recovered.
Let's say this way.
Who see themselves that in thepast I was struggling with that,
(10:16):
and now by the grace of God, Iam free from that.
But I wanna go, I wanna be aside of God's mercy.
I wanna be to then an examplethat it is possible, it is good,
and it is possible to live insobriety.
So it would be really helpful,would be a joy for us and for
(10:38):
those who are attending themeetings to have this example to
follow too.
So you mentioned um so it'sit's sort of based upon
Alcoholics Anonymous, butthrough a Catholic lens.
Is that correct?
We can say it this way.
(10:59):
Um the sober mission, the sobermeetings, we use the 12 steps,
and I I like to say that thethings that unite us with the AA
and NA are biggest than thethings that make us different.
So we use the 12 steps, we arethere really trying to be sober,
(11:25):
trying to help people toachieve this sobriety, this
freedom.
And what makes us different,what makes the sober mission
different from AA and AA is theformative moment and this
spirituality that we have asCatholics.
Even though people from anotherreligion, another faith, let's
(11:51):
say, they are always welcome tocome and participate.
Would be a joy for us.
But we know that it's umCatholic point of view of the 12
steps, let's say this way.
But you so would you need toknow Catholic teachings, or can
you do you have to be evenCatholic, or can you just can
(12:13):
you attend, but you're open tolearning?
Yeah, no, you don't need to beCatholic to participate,
everybody is welcomed.
Awesome, awesome.
Um, and there we are not tryingto convince and there in the
suburbation it's about it's notjust talk about drugs, drugs,
(12:39):
but how good it is to live insobriety.
I think that's the main point.
How good it is to live insobriety, to learn from each
other is not about convincingpeople that they are wrong and
that they need to convert to beCatholics or something like
that.
(12:59):
But we are trying as acommunity helping each other to
live in sobriety, a better life,a life worth to be lived.
Yes, beautiful.
And so this you had mentionedthat this program is new.
How did this come about?
Who came up with who came upwith it?
(13:21):
The "Be Sober " Meetings, wehave this in Brazil, we have
this in another country throughthis mission.
We saw here in Hamilton uh abig necessity, a big need of
(13:45):
bringing this mission because ofthe reality that we found that
we found here.
When we go out to the streetsfor our street ministries, when
we talk with people, withfamilies we see, we saw that
this mission would be great of agreat help for the people.
(14:06):
So we choose this mission hereand see that it is helping, it
is really what God wanted forthis city and for our mission
here.
So we sisters been more you arepraying for the poor, praying
for the families that areconnected to us, and we said,
(14:28):
Yeah, we need a sober missionhere.
How many sisters um are part ofyour congregation right now?
Here in Hamilton, we are foursisters.
Four and do you have aroundsorry, go ahead?
We have around 500, 600 sistersin my institute.
(14:52):
Do you all participate in thesame ministry or we used to
divide we used to give we usedto have one sister for each
ministry?
So I am the one responsible forthe distober, and we have a
(15:12):
sister responsible for our layassociates.
We have a sister who take careof the vacation, and we have
sisters, a sister who is theformator of our remandy here.
So we help each other with ourministries.
Sheila Nonato (15:32):
That sounds amazing to have that community
um supporting you, supportingeach other.
And uh and I'm I'm also curiousto know more about you.
You were mentioning about yourstreet ministry.
I know through my parish, uhSt.
Ann's, I believe you, I don'tknow if you still do this, the
um giving food to the homeless.
(15:53):
Um do you still do that?
What what other aspects of thestreet ministry does your
congregation do?
Sister Maria Elisa (16:00):
Yes, we still do, and actually the
sisters are doing the streetministry right now.
Which it is so the streetministries we have street
ministry twice a week here.
We have on Thursday, and wegather at Saint Stanislaus on
Barton Street.
(16:20):
Then we gathered there and weprepare snack bags, sandwich,
and we go out to the street.
We start the ministry at 10 andwe prepare everything and we go
out at eleven.
And we serve the homeless.
As Jesus said in MatthewChapter 25.
He said, "Every time that youdid it for one of the least of
(16:43):
my brothers and sisters, you didit for me." So we need to go
there to pick the hung to to bewith them, to bring this peace,
this presence of Jesus, thispresence of the church in the
streets.
And we have also streetministries on Friday evenings,
and we start here in our houseat 6: 30, and during summer we
(17:08):
have a barbecue for thehomeless.
But when when the weather getscolder and darker, we do it by
car.
So we prepare hot food for themand things that they will need
for winter.
And we go out with ourvolunteers, with our lay
associates to help them.
(17:29):
So everybody is welcome to joinus for our trick minute.
Do you accept donations or howdo you are there other aspects
that people can help?
Through is it through yourwebsite?
How do they help?
And everything that we have isfor us, it's for the poor too.
(17:57):
So for our street ministries,on Thursday, every week we have
a parish that is responsible forthe food and everything that is
needed.
They provide we have volunteerswho go out too.
And on Fridays we have a signup, and families, uh group of
(18:20):
friends, parishes, they sign upand they come bringing the food
and everything for the homeless.
And we also accept donations offull school because we serve
them here in our house too everyevening for dinner.
So we have our website, we haveour email, the cell phone
(18:43):
number, you can contact us ifyou wanna help with donations.
What is your website, sister?
I can also tell peopleafterwards, but do you do you
know the website off heart byheart?
Uh it'sCesis4ofjesusChrist.com.
(19:05):
Okay.
You can find us right there.
And I just find your ministryand your vocation um just so
inspiring that you see the faceof Jesus every time you serve a
person who is homeless or aperson who needs who needs that
human connection and who needswho needs God to embrace them,
(19:26):
to embrace them in their time ofneed.
Sheila Nonato (19:28):
Um are you able to talk about how did you become
a sister and doing thisministry?
When I discerned my vocation, Iwas 17.
I was just finishing my highschool, and I had to ask
permission from my parents tojoin the community, and they did
(19:50):
it, thanks be to God.
And I joined the community whenI was 18.
And since then I've discoveredand realized that our vocation
is really the way of God wantsto make us as happy as possible.
This fulfillment of beingconnected with God, being in a
(20:15):
community, the aspect that Ilike the most of being a nun is
to live in community, to livewith God and with my sisters.
And being a missionary, this ismy first mission abroad, I've
always lived in Brazil.
But it's so good to see, so goodto learn with other cultures,
(20:38):
so good to see how people pray,how people is close to God in
their own way, and to bring itto my own life in increase in
holiness, in service the board,in teaching kids, because with
families, we get to know so manypeople, so many realities that
(21:05):
it isn't possible to not beholy.
It is impossible to not becloser and closer to God.
So I encourage uh the peoplewho are who will be listening to
us that pray to God, ask God,God, what do you want for me?
(21:26):
And sometimes the challenge isnot just getting the cross to
ask God, but be attentive towhat He will answer and then be
brave enough to respond yes.
T
(21:47):
hank you for sharing that.
And just for our listeners whomight be struggling with
something, who might feel God isnot quite close to them, um,
and the cross, they feel thecross is too heavy to bear.
How can you help us?
What how can we see the crossin a way that can bring us out
(22:13):
of our I guess our darkness oror whatever we're struggling
with?
How can we see Jesus wheneverything is in darkness?
Sister Maria Elisa (22:26):
From my own experience, I ran to the mother
of God.
I went to her going to Mary,and it's amazing to see in her
life how much joy, uh how muchpain.
She is the mother of sorrows,mother of mercy, and looking at
(22:54):
Mary and see that she was ahuman being by us, and she had
this faith she despisedeverything and deserved to live
to God, no matter what happenedshe was with him because she
knew in her heart that God wasabove everything.
(23:18):
And one time I was goingthrough very difficult moments
in my life, and through a holycream, I got to understand
everything, Mother of Mercy,Mother of Mercy.
This is what I did, and I thinkis Mother Mary is just a such
(23:43):
good example for us to be alwaysclose to God, to choose Him
above everything else, andlooking at her just we can't be
sad, looking at her of herpassion, of her love.
She's really our mother, and wehave a mother who brings us to
(24:07):
the father, so we haveeverything.
Yes, and I agree that you'reyou're saying that sometimes for
uh for some people it's hard togo straight to the father.
Sometimes they have to go tothe mother first to to ask the
mother, "Can you help me bringme to the Father?" Or I I'd like
(24:27):
to ask something from thefather, "Can you please, Mother
Mary, uh ask Him for me, becauseI know he can't refuse you."
So just when he in the miracleof Cana, when he when when uh
Mother Mary asked him, please dothis for me, and and he
followed.
Sheila Nonato (24:45):
Um, but yeah, I just find that in this month of
the Holy Rosary, too, as we werefocusing on Mother Mary, that
what your reflection uh was yoursharing of your reflection is
just sort of a good, a beautifultie-in of how we are also
remembering and honoring Jesus'Mother this month.
Um and uh I just wanted to alsoum ask you about so you
(25:08):
mentioned earlier there was aministry for uh individuals who
were um in prostitution.
Are you doing that in Hamiltontoo, or is that just in Brazil?
Sister Maria Elisa (25:21):
Not here, in Hamilton.
Not here.
We assist then by ourministries and go to the street,
we assist then here in ourhouse.
But we don't have to dospecific ministry here,
unfortunately.
Sheila Nonato (25:34):
And can you tell us uh the the situation in
Hamilton in terms of peopleliving in homelessness?
Um during the how many yearshave you been in in uh Hamilton?
Sister Maria Elisa (25:47):
Just one year.
In terms of ... okay.
I was gonna ask you if he hadnoticed if uh it's the situation
has maybe deteriorated um interms of the number of people
who are now on the streets, orum I I guess you wouldn't be
able to give us an idea of howthe homelessness situation is.
(26:10):
I'm not able, but my communion has been
here in the diocese for morethan seven, eight years.
And I've heard from ourvolunteers too that it it has
increased.
But it's always hard to say thecalls because they are so many.
(26:30):
They are so many.
And for for those people who umI'm just thinking of Mother
Teresa as well, when I'm hearingyour story, you know, there are
some people who are like, youknow, they we some yeah, we
sometimes, you know, this is ournature, sometimes is we pass
judgment.
Oh, why don't they just get ajob or something like you know,
(26:52):
something terrible?
Like, but how do you see peopleas they are, as God created
them to be?
How can we, those who of us whohave this mentality, might have
this mentality, how can wechange that to see them as a
child of God and have morecompassion?
I need to remember that we allwe are all disciples.
(27:22):
We are all disciples, we arerunning to the Father because we
all are lacking something.
It makes me remember it's itreminds me of the parable of the
beach man who went to Jesus whoknelt before him and said,
Master, good master, goodteacher, what should I do to
(27:46):
inherit eternal life?
And Jesus says, You know thecommandments, and he said, Yes,
I know, and I've done this allthrough all my life.
And Jesus didn't correct him,Jesus didn't say, You are lying
to me, you are not serving, youare not obeying the
(28:07):
commandments, but he he did it,he was right, and Jesus says,
But you are still lackingsomething, go sell everything
you have, and then follow me.
I like to say, I like to thinkthat this man he was he
(28:28):
fulfilled the commandments aboutloving brothers and sisters,
but he was liking loving Godabove everything else.
That's why Jesus invited him tocome follow me.
If you say that I'm good, onlyGod is good, so you know that
I'm God, then just leaveeverything and come follow me,
(28:49):
and you are gonna be perfect,you're gonna inherit, you're
gonna have a treasure in heaven.
But he wasn't able to do so.
So here we see that we are alldisciples, we are all sons and
daughters of God, and we are alllacking in something I might be
(29:13):
lacking in something differentthan you or than the others, but
I am still a disciple as muchas you are, so we need to stop
to see things as I recognizethere.
I'm here, you are there, andpeople are lower than me, but we
are all disciples of Christ,and we when we got to understand
(29:36):
that so we stopped with thiscreating difference in distance
from each other, and we areunited for our purpose, our
goal, and I know it is hard,I've been serving more than
(29:57):
seven years in.
S ometimes it is hard to look atthe people and do not judge and
not say what you're doing inyour life, you're wrong.
Don't just see that you'regonna die, don't see that you
are bringing pain for yourfamily, don't you see that
you're totally wrong.
But everybody has have theirown reasons.
(30:22):
That just only the person Godknows what they are going
through.
God only knows as with thisrich men, maybe at the eyes of
(30:47):
all the people around here, hewas kind of perfect, he
fulfilled all the commandments,but he knew and Jesus knew that
he was lacking in something.
Okay, God is the only one whoknows the heart.
So we need to run to God andsay, God, make me understand
(31:08):
that I am a disciple and that mybrother and Archie.
I'm not the teacher here.
I'm not the master, I'm adisciple.
Sheila Nonato (31:20):
Yes, beautiful.
And I I agree with you thatother people can teach us more
than we think we can teach them.
I just remember um this 20years ago now in university at
St.
Michael's College in downtownToronto.
I had been volunteering at asoup kitchen at the university.
And when I I I didn't, everyoneelse had a job and I didn't
(31:44):
have, I didn't know what to do.
There was nothing for me to do.
So I just started wiping thetables.
But it was like my way oftrying to talk to the people
there because I'm very shy.
And it's hard for me to talk.
So I had an excuse to just bedoing something, you know.
And then once I started talkingto them, and once they started
talking to me, they would tellme stories.
And, you know, they it just,yeah, it kind of like the scales
(32:07):
fall off of my scales fell offof my eyes.
And I realized, yeah, thesethese are this is like we are of
the same family, really.
Um, you know, we're all, yeah,we're all children of God.
And some of us may have, youknow, may have just gone into
hard times.
And we just need somebody torecognize that, you know, that
(32:31):
humanity in us.
Um, and as you were saying, youknow, that it was that like I I
felt like it was thatencounter, like I encountered
not just the person.
I encountered, sorry, I'm gonnacry because it makes me like
really treasure that moment,like to encounter Jesus in in
the other person.
Um, I just thought that wassuch a beautiful gift.
(32:53):
And I find what you're doing isalso such a beautiful blessing
for for the people that youencounter.
And thank you for thank you fordoing that.
And sorry, I I don't know why Istart crying, but but it just
like really touched me.
Like I think Jesus touched myheart again.
But yes, thank you for that.
We move, then we see, then welike we stop and we think and
(33:17):
realize that look at the peoplewho live in the street, look at
them, they're hungry, they'restarving, they're cold, they're
losing that humanity, theirdignity.
And if we stop and think thatthey choose to be there because
maybe being there for them isbetter, it's a better life than
(33:45):
the one they had before.
Look at that.
Look how terrible it is forthem they prefer to to live this
way because back then it waseven harder for them.
Look at when we see, evenrealize this, we stop judging
and we are moved with desired.
(34:07):
I wanna go back, I wanna listento them.
I want to see what happens, Iwanna see if I can do something.
Sometimes we cannot.
We cannot because we can'tchoose for them.
This decision has to come fromtheir heart, and sometimes it's
(34:28):
sometimes not always it's reallydifficult.
It's not easy, they are notthat because there's just wake
up in the morning and I want togo to the street because I want
to die.
And that is more than that,there is a future, there is
(34:48):
hope.
If we are willing to stretchour hands and say, despite all
of your faults, I don't evenknow you, but I'm here because
Jesus said that every time thatwe felt hungry and every time
(35:11):
that we gave at least that cupof water for those words, we did
it for me.
Because we see Jesus in them.
You see that they are God'screation, they are I mean God
loves them as much as He lovesme.
So I can't just look at themand see that I'm better and they
(35:37):
are totally wrong.
They might be, but I'm not thejudge, I'm not the father of
them.
I'm just a sister, and that'swhat I'm called to be a sister,
and we all need to understandthat we are brothers and
(35:59):
sisters, and then we are goingto go together to the father.
Yes, and yeah, there are a lot of stories of
how people, you know, and evenin our own our own lives, we
have our own stories, how weended up there, mental health,
(36:20):
uh yeah, we're having a mentalhealth crisis in Canada, um, and
around the world, really, acrisis also of love, um of
connection, of family, um, andof recognizing human dignity.
And I think um I just Iremember again another story.
I was outside, I was inuniversity again, um, outside a
(36:40):
fast food place, and there was aman begging, begging.
He was sitting there.
A lady came outside with somefood, and she angrily handed it
to him, like, here, right?
Like, as if, you know, she wasreally annoyed that she had to
give this to him.
And he actually said, "No,thank you.
No, thank you," because of theway she did it.
(37:02):
And I think we failed torecognize, we forget, you know,
there's a human, there'sdignity.
There's dignity in each person.
When we see somebody on thestreet, we can say hello.
It's okay, like, you know, evenif we don't have anything to
give, even maybe just sayinghello, recognizing that they
exist, that they're there, um,or just say, I'll pray for you,
(37:24):
um, something like that.
Maybe that might might helpthem in in some way.
Maybe that might cheer them upthat day, might give them hope
that, you know, you're just notpassing by, but you just you
recognize they're there, thatyou recognize their dignity.
And yeah, again, I think this iskind of lacking in our society
that we don't recognize um theinherent human dignity that we
(37:47):
we all have been given by God.
Um, was there anything elsethat you wanted to add?
Sister Maria Elisa (37:55):
You got to a point really important that I
wanted to mention.
Sometimes they don't seethemselves, those who are in the
street, under the effect of thedrugs.
They don't see themselves as aperson dig who is worthy of
being called dear.
And they they don't realizethat they are worthy, but I know
(38:20):
they have this dignity.
Sometimes we find some peoplewho disagree with our ministries
because they say that we arekinda if we give food for them,
they're gonna stay on thestreets.
But as you said, it's not aboutthe food.
It's not about money, it's notabout the food.
(38:43):
It's really deeper.
It's more than that.
So we want to be there and wewill continue to go to the
street because we want them torealize that they are worthy of
a good morning, and they areworthy of how are you doing
(39:04):
today, how was your week?
You are important, importantfor me, even though you don't
you don't realize it where youare.
With our presence, we want tobring them hope that they can
change if they want, they canhave a future different.
Sheila Nonato (39:27):
Yes, giving them hope and a hope that is rooted
in him, in our Lord JesusChrist.
Thank you so much for sharingthis beautiful story, and I hope
it touches um many people.
And hopefully, if you'd like todonate, I will leave the
website of the sisters um in theshow notes so they can get in
(39:47):
you can get in touch with them.
Um and again, Sister MariaElisa, thank you so much.
Um, my morning has beenblessed, it's been filled with
many graces from speaking withyou.
And I thank you so much again.
I am I'm so humbled that youhave chosen to speak with me.
Thank you so much.
Sister Maria Elisa (40:07):
Thank you for the opportunity.
And once more, if you in ourwebsite with our email cell
phone number, if you want tohave more information about our
"Be Sober" mission, just contactus.
Thank you.
Thank you, sister.
Co-Host (40:24):
God bless you for listening to the Veil and Armour
Podcast.
I invite you to share this withanother Catholic Mom today.
(40:44):
Please subscribe to our podcastand YouTube channel and please
spread the word.
Let's Be Brave, let's Be Bold,and Be Blessed together.
We serve the homeless as Jesus said in
Matthew Chapter 25.
He said, "Every time that youdid it for one of the least of
my brothers and sisters, you didit for me." So we need to go
there to be with them, to bringthis peace, this presence of
Jesus, this presence of thechurch in the streets.
(00:20):
We are a Catholic communityfounded in Brazil in 2001 by a
priest called Father Gilson.
And our mission, our charism is"Jesus all, all of Jesus,"
which means that we have thisdeeper desire of having Jesus
(00:43):
entirely, and of belonging tohim entirely too.
And embracing Jesus, his lifeis in poverty, in chastity, in
obedience, and always availableto the kingdom of God.
We also embrace his mission, aswe can hear in the gospel
(01:05):
according to St.
Luke, Jesus says, The Spirit ofthe Lord is upon me because he
has anointed me to bring gladties to the poor.
And that is our mission, too.
Our mission is the mission ofJesus.
Take care of the poor in theirmany faces.
Sheila Nonato (01:28):
Hello and Welcome to the Veil and Armour Podcast.
This is your host, SheilaNonato.
I'm a stay-at-home mom and afreelance Catholic journalist.
Seeking the guidance of theHoly Spirit and the inspiration
of Our Lady, I strive to tellstories that inspire,
illuminate, and enrich the livesof Catholic women to help them
in living up our vocation ofraising the next generation of
(01:50):
leaders and saints.
Co-Host (01:52):
Please join us every week on the Veil in Armour
Podcast, where stories comealive through a journalist's
lens and a mother's heart.
Sheila Nonato (01:59):
Welcome, Sister Maria Elisa of the Sisters Poor
of Jesus Christ.
And yesterday was the 24thanniversary of your
congregation, October 23rd.
And would you be able to tellus a little bit about your
congregation?
Where are you in Canada?
Where are you in the world,please?
Sister Maria Elisa (02:22):
Yeah.
Again, I'm Sister Marie Eliseof Jesus.
I'm a sister from the Instituteof the Sisters Poor of Jesus
Christ.
We are a Catholic communityfounded in Brazil in 2001 by a
priest called Father Gilson.
And our mission, our charism is"Jesus all, all of Jesus,"
(02:49):
which means that we have thisdeeper desire of having Jesus
entirely and of belonging to himentirely too.
In embracing Jesus, his life isin poverty and chastity in
obedience and always availableto the kingdom of God.
(03:12):
We also embrace his mission aswe can hear in the gospel
according to St.
Luke's.
Jesus says, "The Spirit of theLord is upon me because He has
anointed me to bring gladtidings to the poor." And that
is our mission too.
Our mission is the mission ofJesus: take care of the poor in
(03:35):
their many faces.
Families, people strugglingwith addiction, depression, and
people in prostitution, and allof those who are in need, where
there is one person in need, thesisters form Jesus Christ and
our brothers to we want to bethere to help them as Jesus
(03:59):
would do.
And now we are we have housesall around the world.
We are in 16 differentcountries.
Our brothers, our sisters, andour lay associates taking care
of the poor together with thechurch.
Sheila Nonato (04:18):
Beautiful.
And so you have a house inHamilton.
Uh is do you have a house inToronto?
Sister Maria Elisa (04:26):
Not yet.
No, so just Hamilton.
Sheila Nonato (04:28):
And then are there other houses in Canada?
Sister Maria Elisa (04:34):
So far, we just we have just one house here
in Hamilton.
Sheila Nonato (04:39):
Okay.
Sister Maria Elisa (04:39):
Through the grace of God , we will.
Yes, God willing.
Sheila Nonato (04:44):
Um, and yeah, sorry, I forgot to pray.
Um, so can we start with a HailMary if you wouldn't mind?
Sister Maria Elisa (04:51):
Yeah.
Okay,
Sheila Nonato (04:52):
uh in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, theLord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,and blessed is the fruit of thy
womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God.
Holy Mary, pray for us sinners.
Now and at the hour of ourAmen.
(05:13):
In the name of the Father, andthe Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Thank you so much.
I always like to have Our Ladyclose to the conversation.
Um, so I heard about I saw aposter in my parish about the
"Be Sober" program, and I hadattended, thank you very much
for letting me attend with mychildren to see uh a little bit
(05:34):
of the "Be Sober" program atyour house.
And it was a very solemn, butit seemed like a very there's a
community there that there thatpeople knew each other, but they
were also connected.
There was a deep, there seemedto be like a deep bond or
connection between all of them,even though your program just
(05:55):
started.
Can you tell us what is the "BeSober" program?
Sister Maria Elisa (05:58):
The "Be Sober" program is a mission, a
way of evangelizing and beingcloser with people who are
struggling with any kind ofaddiction, especially drugs and
alcohol.
And also it's designed forfamily members.
We know that sometimes to livewith a person struggling with
(06:21):
addiction is really hard.
So we want to help the personand we want to help the family
too.
So the Be Sober mission isdesignated to provide a free
support room for those who wantto be sober, for those who have
a choose sobriety, and want tomake new friendships, to have
(06:44):
this, as you said, thisconnection with people who are
going to the same path, and forfamily members who want to
understand a little bit betterabout what is addiction and how
to help their loved ones.
So our "Be Sober" mission herein Canada started just this
(07:04):
September 1 7th.
So we are in our first month ofexperience, and it has been a
grace of God, it has been agrace of God.
Thanks be to God.
We have people who are thereunited through the faith, united
to God, struggling with thesame problem, but together
(07:29):
trying to be sober, and sobeautiful to see.
And our programming is based inum in Saint Peter, who says,
"Be sober and alert." That'swhat we want.
Be sober and alert, unitingGod.
And the "Be Sober" mission.
, we work with the 12 steps, isa 12-step program.
(07:53):
And our meeting is organized inthree different moments.
We have the prayer momenttogether, when we ask the Father
the grace upon us, and then wehave the formative moment.
The formative moment we have aperson who be there and we
explain to us the steps andthings related with the steps,
(08:17):
but spiritual things, as we areCatholics.
Spiritual things related withthe church, with the Virgin
Mary, with our Father in Heaven.
And then we have the sharingmoment.
In the sharing moment, weorganize in two different
groups.
Those who have chosen sobrietyand family members.
So we have two sharing groupsgoing on at the same time.
(08:42):
And then we gather again and wesay a prayer together to end
the meeting.
Has been a blessing.
Beautiful.
And how many people usuallyattend?
Is it it's every week, correct?
Yes.
Our "Be Sober" meetings happenweekly here in Hamilton.
(09:09):
Uh usually we have around sevenand eight participants.
Okay, and we are in thebeginning.
Yes, beautiful.
And and they come, so it's notonly um people who are trying to
recover from um to trying togain sobriety, but also family
(09:31):
members or friends who come tosupport them.
Yes.
Yeah.
Family members, friends.
If you have someone that youknow that is struggling with
addiction and want to help them,so you can come and
participate.
You can learn from theformative moment and then you
can share with people who aretrying the same thing.
(09:53):
It's a beautiful way to learnhow to help them and how to help
yourself too.
And people who are right nowstruggling with addiction can
participate, but also people whosee themselves as already
recovered.
Let's say this way.
Who see themselves that in thepast I was struggling with that,
(10:16):
and now by the grace of God, Iam free from that.
But I wanna go, I wanna be aside of God's mercy.
I wanna be to then an examplethat it is possible, it is good,
and it is possible to live insobriety.
So it would be really helpful,would be a joy for us and for
(10:38):
those who are attending themeetings to have this example to
follow too.
So you mentioned um so it'sit's sort of based upon
Alcoholics Anonymous, butthrough a Catholic lens.
Is that correct?
We can say it this way.
(10:59):
Um the sober mission, the sobermeetings, we use the 12 steps,
and I I like to say that thethings that unite us with the AA
and NA are biggest than thethings that make us different.
So we use the 12 steps, we arethere really trying to be sober,
(11:25):
trying to help people toachieve this sobriety, this
freedom.
And what makes us different,what makes the sober mission
different from AA and AA is theformative moment and this
spirituality that we have asCatholics.
Even though people from anotherreligion, another faith, let's
(11:51):
say, they are always welcome tocome and participate.
Would be a joy for us.
But we know that it's umCatholic point of view of the 12
steps, let's say this way.
But you so would you need toknow Catholic teachings, or can
you do you have to be evenCatholic, or can you just can
(12:13):
you attend, but you're open tolearning?
Yeah, no, you don't need to beCatholic to participate,
everybody is welcomed.
Awesome, awesome.
Um, and there we are not tryingto convince and there in the
suburbation it's about it's notjust talk about drugs, drugs,
(12:39):
but how good it is to live insobriety.
I think that's the main point.
How good it is to live insobriety, to learn from each
other is not about convincingpeople that they are wrong and
that they need to convert to beCatholics or something like
that.
(12:59):
But we are trying as acommunity helping each other to
live in sobriety, a better life,a life worth to be lived.
Yes, beautiful.
And so this you had mentionedthat this program is new.
How did this come about?
Who came up with who came upwith it?
(13:21):
The "Be Sober " Meetings, wehave this in Brazil, we have
this in another country throughthis mission.
We saw here in Hamilton uh abig necessity, a big need of
(13:45):
bringing this mission because ofthe reality that we found that
we found here.
When we go out to the streetsfor our street ministries, when
we talk with people, withfamilies we see, we saw that
this mission would be great of agreat help for the people.
(14:06):
So we choose this mission hereand see that it is helping, it
is really what God wanted forthis city and for our mission
here.
So we sisters been more you arepraying for the poor, praying
for the families that areconnected to us, and we said,
(14:28):
Yeah, we need a sober missionhere.
How many sisters um are part ofyour congregation right now?
Here in Hamilton, we are foursisters.
Four and do you have aroundsorry, go ahead?
We have around 500, 600 sistersin my institute.
(14:52):
Do you all participate in thesame ministry or we used to
divide we used to give we usedto have one sister for each
ministry?
So I am the one responsible forthe distober, and we have a
(15:12):
sister responsible for our layassociates.
We have a sister who take careof the vacation, and we have
sisters, a sister who is theformator of our remandy here.
So we help each other with ourministries.
Sheila Nonato (15:32):
That sounds amazing to have that community
um supporting you, supportingeach other.
And uh and I'm I'm also curiousto know more about you.
You were mentioning about yourstreet ministry.
I know through my parish, uhSt.
Ann's, I believe you, I don'tknow if you still do this, the
um giving food to the homeless.
(15:53):
Um do you still do that?
What what other aspects of thestreet ministry does your
congregation do?
Sister Maria Elisa (16:00):
Yes, we still do, and actually the
sisters are doing the streetministry right now.
Which it is so the streetministries we have street
ministry twice a week here.
We have on Thursday, and wegather at Saint Stanislaus on
Barton Street.
(16:20):
Then we gathered there and weprepare snack bags, sandwich,
and we go out to the street.
We start the ministry at 10 andwe prepare everything and we go
out at eleven.
And we serve the homeless.
As Jesus said in MatthewChapter 25.
He said, "Every time that youdid it for one of the least of
(16:43):
my brothers and sisters, you didit for me." So we need to go
there to pick the hung to to bewith them, to bring this peace,
this presence of Jesus, thispresence of the church in the
streets.
And we have also streetministries on Friday evenings,
and we start here in our houseat 6: 30, and during summer we
(17:08):
have a barbecue for thehomeless.
But when when the weather getscolder and darker, we do it by
car.
So we prepare hot food for themand things that they will need
for winter.
And we go out with ourvolunteers, with our lay
associates to help them.
(17:29):
So everybody is welcome to joinus for our trick minute.
Do you accept donations or howdo you are there other aspects
that people can help?
Through is it through yourwebsite?
How do they help?
And everything that we have isfor us, it's for the poor too.
(17:57):
So for our street ministries,on Thursday, every week we have
a parish that is responsible forthe food and everything that is
needed.
They provide we have volunteerswho go out too.
And on Fridays we have a signup, and families, uh group of
(18:20):
friends, parishes, they sign upand they come bringing the food
and everything for the homeless.
And we also accept donations offull school because we serve
them here in our house too everyevening for dinner.
So we have our website, we haveour email, the cell phone
(18:43):
number, you can contact us ifyou wanna help with donations.
What is your website, sister?
I can also tell peopleafterwards, but do you do you
know the website off heart byheart?
Uh it'sCesis4ofjesusChrist.com.
(19:05):
Okay.
You can find us right there.
And I just find your ministryand your vocation um just so
inspiring that you see the faceof Jesus every time you serve a
person who is homeless or aperson who needs who needs that
human connection and who needswho needs God to embrace them,
(19:26):
to embrace them in their time ofneed.
Sheila Nonato (19:28):
Um are you able to talk about how did you become
a sister and doing thisministry?
When I discerned my vocation, Iwas 17.
I was just finishing my highschool, and I had to ask
permission from my parents tojoin the community, and they did
(19:50):
it, thanks be to God.
And I joined the community whenI was 18.
And since then I've discoveredand realized that our vocation
is really the way of God wantsto make us as happy as possible.
This fulfillment of beingconnected with God, being in a
(20:15):
community, the aspect that Ilike the most of being a nun is
to live in community, to livewith God and with my sisters.
And being a missionary, this ismy first mission abroad, I've
always lived in Brazil.
But it's so good to see, so goodto learn with other cultures,
(20:38):
so good to see how people pray,how people is close to God in
their own way, and to bring itto my own life in increase in
holiness, in service the board,in teaching kids, because with
families, we get to know so manypeople, so many realities that
(21:05):
it isn't possible to not beholy.
It is impossible to not becloser and closer to God.
So I encourage uh the peoplewho are who will be listening to
us that pray to God, ask God,God, what do you want for me?
(21:26):
And sometimes the challenge isnot just getting the cross to
ask God, but be attentive towhat He will answer and then be
brave enough to respond yes.
T
(21:47):
hank you for sharing that.
And just for our listeners whomight be struggling with
something, who might feel God isnot quite close to them, um,
and the cross, they feel thecross is too heavy to bear.
How can you help us?
What how can we see the crossin a way that can bring us out
(22:13):
of our I guess our darkness oror whatever we're struggling
with?
How can we see Jesus wheneverything is in darkness?
Sister Maria Elisa (22:26):
From my own experience, I ran to the mother
of God.
I went to her going to Mary,and it's amazing to see in her
life how much joy, uh how muchpain.
She is the mother of sorrows,mother of mercy, and looking at
(22:54):
Mary and see that she was ahuman being by us, and she had
this faith she despisedeverything and deserved to live
to God, no matter what happenedshe was with him because she
knew in her heart that God wasabove everything.
(23:18):
And one time I was goingthrough very difficult moments
in my life, and through a holycream, I got to understand
everything, Mother of Mercy,Mother of Mercy.
This is what I did, and I thinkis Mother Mary is just a such
(23:43):
good example for us to be alwaysclose to God, to choose Him
above everything else, andlooking at her just we can't be
sad, looking at her of herpassion, of her love.
She's really our mother, and wehave a mother who brings us to
(24:07):
the father, so we haveeverything.
Yes, and I agree that you'reyou're saying that sometimes for
uh for some people it's hard togo straight to the father.
Sometimes they have to go tothe mother first to to ask the
mother, "Can you help me bringme to the Father?" Or I I'd like
(24:27):
to ask something from thefather, "Can you please, Mother
Mary, uh ask Him for me, becauseI know he can't refuse you."
So just when he in the miracleof Cana, when he when when uh
Mother Mary asked him, please dothis for me, and and he
followed.
Sheila Nonato (24:45):
Um, but yeah, I just find that in this month of
the Holy Rosary, too, as we werefocusing on Mother Mary, that
what your reflection uh was yoursharing of your reflection is
just sort of a good, a beautifultie-in of how we are also
remembering and honoring Jesus'Mother this month.
Um and uh I just wanted to alsoum ask you about so you
(25:08):
mentioned earlier there was aministry for uh individuals who
were um in prostitution.
Are you doing that in Hamiltontoo, or is that just in Brazil?
Sister Maria Elisa (25:21):
Not here, in Hamilton.
Not here.
We assist then by ourministries and go to the street,
we assist then here in ourhouse.
But we don't have to dospecific ministry here,
unfortunately.
Sheila Nonato (25:34):
And can you tell us uh the the situation in
Hamilton in terms of peopleliving in homelessness?
Um during the how many yearshave you been in in uh Hamilton?
Sister Maria Elisa (25:47):
Just one year.
In terms of ... okay.
I was gonna ask you if he hadnoticed if uh it's the situation
has maybe deteriorated um interms of the number of people
who are now on the streets, orum I I guess you wouldn't be
able to give us an idea of howthe homelessness situation is.
(26:10):
I'm not able, but my communion has been
here in the diocese for morethan seven, eight years.
And I've heard from ourvolunteers too that it it has
increased.
But it's always hard to say thecalls because they are so many.
(26:30):
They are so many.
And for for those people who umI'm just thinking of Mother
Teresa as well, when I'm hearingyour story, you know, there are
some people who are like, youknow, they we some yeah, we
sometimes, you know, this is ournature, sometimes is we pass
judgment.
Oh, why don't they just get ajob or something like you know,
(26:52):
something terrible?
Like, but how do you see peopleas they are, as God created
them to be?
How can we, those who of us whohave this mentality, might have
this mentality, how can wechange that to see them as a
child of God and have morecompassion?
I need to remember that we allwe are all disciples.
(27:22):
We are all disciples, we arerunning to the Father because we
all are lacking something.
It makes me remember it's itreminds me of the parable of the
beach man who went to Jesus whoknelt before him and said,
Master, good master, goodteacher, what should I do to
(27:46):
inherit eternal life?
And Jesus says, You know thecommandments, and he said, Yes,
I know, and I've done this allthrough all my life.
And Jesus didn't correct him,Jesus didn't say, You are lying
to me, you are not serving, youare not obeying the
(28:07):
commandments, but he he did it,he was right, and Jesus says,
But you are still lackingsomething, go sell everything
you have, and then follow me.
I like to say, I like to thinkthat this man he was he
(28:28):
fulfilled the commandments aboutloving brothers and sisters,
but he was liking loving Godabove everything else.
That's why Jesus invited him tocome follow me.
If you say that I'm good, onlyGod is good, so you know that
I'm God, then just leaveeverything and come follow me,
(28:49):
and you are gonna be perfect,you're gonna inherit, you're
gonna have a treasure in heaven.
But he wasn't able to do so.
So here we see that we are alldisciples, we are all sons and
daughters of God, and we are alllacking in something I might be
(29:13):
lacking in something differentthan you or than the others, but
I am still a disciple as muchas you are, so we need to stop
to see things as I recognizethere.
I'm here, you are there, andpeople are lower than me, but we
are all disciples of Christ,and we when we got to understand
(29:36):
that so we stopped with thiscreating difference in distance
from each other, and we areunited for our purpose, our
goal, and I know it is hard,I've been serving more than
(29:57):
seven years in.
S ometimes it is hard to look atthe people and do not judge and
not say what you're doing inyour life, you're wrong.
Don't just see that you'regonna die, don't see that you
are bringing pain for yourfamily, don't you see that
you're totally wrong.
But everybody has have theirown reasons.
(30:22):
That just only the person Godknows what they are going
through.
God only knows as with thisrich men, maybe at the eyes of
(30:47):
all the people around here, hewas kind of perfect, he
fulfilled all the commandments,but he knew and Jesus knew that
he was lacking in something.
Okay, God is the only one whoknows the heart.
So we need to run to God andsay, God, make me understand
(31:08):
that I am a disciple and that mybrother and Archie.
I'm not the teacher here.
I'm not the master, I'm adisciple.
Sheila Nonato (31:20):
Yes, beautiful.
And I I agree with you thatother people can teach us more
than we think we can teach them.
I just remember um this 20years ago now in university at
St.
Michael's College in downtownToronto.
I had been volunteering at asoup kitchen at the university.
And when I I I didn't, everyoneelse had a job and I didn't
(31:44):
have, I didn't know what to do.
There was nothing for me to do.
So I just started wiping thetables.
But it was like my way oftrying to talk to the people
there because I'm very shy.
And it's hard for me to talk.
So I had an excuse to just bedoing something, you know.
And then once I started talkingto them, and once they started
talking to me, they would tellme stories.
And, you know, they it just,yeah, it kind of like the scales
(32:07):
fall off of my scales fell offof my eyes.
And I realized, yeah, thesethese are this is like we are of
the same family, really.
Um, you know, we're all, yeah,we're all children of God.
And some of us may have, youknow, may have just gone into
hard times.
And we just need somebody torecognize that, you know, that
(32:31):
humanity in us.
Um, and as you were saying, youknow, that it was that like I I
felt like it was thatencounter, like I encountered
not just the person.
I encountered, sorry, I'm gonnacry because it makes me like
really treasure that moment,like to encounter Jesus in in
the other person.
Um, I just thought that wassuch a beautiful gift.
(32:53):
And I find what you're doing isalso such a beautiful blessing
for for the people that youencounter.
And thank you for thank you fordoing that.
And sorry, I I don't know why Istart crying, but but it just
like really touched me.
Like I think Jesus touched myheart again.
But yes, thank you for that.
We move, then we see, then welike we stop and we think and
(33:17):
realize that look at the peoplewho live in the street, look at
them, they're hungry, they'restarving, they're cold, they're
losing that humanity, theirdignity.
And if we stop and think thatthey choose to be there because
maybe being there for them isbetter, it's a better life than
(33:45):
the one they had before.
Look at that.
Look how terrible it is forthem they prefer to to live this
way because back then it waseven harder for them.
Look at when we see, evenrealize this, we stop judging
and we are moved with desired.
(34:07):
I wanna go back, I wanna listento them.
I want to see what happens, Iwanna see if I can do something.
Sometimes we cannot.
We cannot because we can'tchoose for them.
This decision has to come fromtheir heart, and sometimes it's
(34:28):
sometimes not always it's reallydifficult.
It's not easy, they are notthat because there's just wake
up in the morning and I want togo to the street because I want
to die.
And that is more than that,there is a future, there is
(34:48):
hope.
If we are willing to stretchour hands and say, despite all
of your faults, I don't evenknow you, but I'm here because
Jesus said that every time thatwe felt hungry and every time
(35:11):
that we gave at least that cupof water for those words, we did
it for me.
Because we see Jesus in them.
You see that they are God'screation, they are I mean God
loves them as much as He lovesme.
So I can't just look at themand see that I'm better and they
(35:37):
are totally wrong.
They might be, but I'm not thejudge, I'm not the father of
them.
I'm just a sister, and that'swhat I'm called to be a sister,
and we all need to understandthat we are brothers and
(35:59):
sisters, and then we are goingto go together to the father.
Yes, and yeah, there are a lot of stories of
how people, you know, and evenin our own our own lives, we
have our own stories, how weended up there, mental health,
(36:20):
uh yeah, we're having a mentalhealth crisis in Canada, um, and
around the world, really, acrisis also of love, um of
connection, of family, um, andof recognizing human dignity.
And I think um I just Iremember again another story.
I was outside, I was inuniversity again, um, outside a
(36:40):
fast food place, and there was aman begging, begging.
He was sitting there.
A lady came outside with somefood, and she angrily handed it
to him, like, here, right?
Like, as if, you know, she wasreally annoyed that she had to
give this to him.
And he actually said, "No,thank you.
No, thank you," because of theway she did it.
(37:02):
And I think we failed torecognize, we forget, you know,
there's a human, there'sdignity.
There's dignity in each person.
When we see somebody on thestreet, we can say hello.
It's okay, like, you know, evenif we don't have anything to
give, even maybe just sayinghello, recognizing that they
exist, that they're there, um,or just say, I'll pray for you,
(37:24):
um, something like that.
Maybe that might might helpthem in in some way.
Maybe that might cheer them upthat day, might give them hope
that, you know, you're just notpassing by, but you just you
recognize they're there, thatyou recognize their dignity.
And yeah, again, I think this iskind of lacking in our society
that we don't recognize um theinherent human dignity that we
(37:47):
we all have been given by God.
Um, was there anything elsethat you wanted to add?
Sister Maria Elisa (37:55):
You got to a point really important that I
wanted to mention.
Sometimes they don't seethemselves, those who are in the
street, under the effect of thedrugs.
They don't see themselves as aperson dig who is worthy of
being called dear.
And they they don't realizethat they are worthy, but I know
(38:20):
they have this dignity.
Sometimes we find some peoplewho disagree with our ministries
because they say that we arekinda if we give food for them,
they're gonna stay on thestreets.
But as you said, it's not aboutthe food.
It's not about money, it's notabout the food.
(38:43):
It's really deeper.
It's more than that.
So we want to be there and wewill continue to go to the
street because we want them torealize that they are worthy of
a good morning, and they areworthy of how are you doing
(39:04):
today, how was your week?
You are important, importantfor me, even though you don't
you don't realize it where youare.
With our presence, we want tobring them hope that they can
change if they want, they canhave a future different.
Sheila Nonato (39:27):
Yes, giving them hope and a hope that is rooted
in him, in our Lord JesusChrist.
Thank you so much for sharingthis beautiful story, and I hope
it touches um many people.
And hopefully, if you'd like todonate, I will leave the
website of the sisters um in theshow notes so they can get in
(39:47):
you can get in touch with them.
Um and again, Sister MariaElisa, thank you so much.
Um, my morning has beenblessed, it's been filled with
many graces from speaking withyou.
And I thank you so much again.
I am I'm so humbled that youhave chosen to speak with me.
Thank you so much.
Sister Maria Elisa (40:07):
Thank you for the opportunity.
And once more, if you in ourwebsite with our email cell
phone number, if you want tohave more information about our
"Be Sober" mission, just contactus.
Thank you.
Thank you, sister.
Co-Host (40:24):
God bless you for listening to the Veil and Armour
Podcast.
I invite you to share this withanother Catholic Mom today.
(40:44):
Please subscribe to our podcastand YouTube channel and please
spread the word.
Let's Be Brave, let's Be Bold,and Be Blessed together.
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