August 5, 2025 • 45 mins
In this episode of The Heart of Fiat Crucified Love, Dr. Mary Kloska speaks about her mission trip in Belize. She shares not only about the great spiritual needs of the mission, but also the opportunity she has personally to help there. Through this presentation we hope not only to inspire missionary vocations to service and to prayer, but also hope that people are inspired to donate financial help to enable Mary to spend more time serving longer terms in the mission. To donate please see the donate button on www.marykloskafiat.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to WCAT Radio, your home for authentic Catholic programming.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello and God bless you all. Welcome to the Heart
of Fiat Crucified Love. I'm going to do this as
a shorter podcast, but it's also a video that I
want to share with people interested in financially supporting the
work in Belize. As most of you know, I just
(00:31):
spent the last month down working at the Salt Society
of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Mission in
Belize City, and I've been encouraged by a few people
to share a little bit about the mission along with pictures,
(00:52):
and also to invite you to be part of our mission,
to be part of the mission through prayer, and to
be part of a mission through financially helping. I need
some financial help to be able to continue the work there,
and maybe some of you might be called a visit
at some point.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
That wouldn't be a bad thing at all.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
So I wanted to come on like this and pray
with you, and then I'm going to turn the podcast
into audio and put it together with pictures from the mission.
And sometimes what I say will line up with what
you see, and sometimes it might not.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Because I'm not professional at.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Doing this, but by listening to what I share and
by watching.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
The pictures kind of flip through, maybe you'll get an
idea of.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
The incredible work God is doing in such a hidden, little,
poor mission country. So let's begin with a prayer, Father Son,
Holy Spirit. Amen, Come, Holy Spirit, feel the hearts of
your faithful and enkindle in us the fire of your love.
Send forth your spirit and we will be recreated.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
And thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Sweet Jesus,
we thank you for being.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
With each one of us today. We ask you to
pour out your precious blood upon us. We ask you
to send out your angels to gather together the souls
that you have chosen to watch this, to listen to this,
to encounter this witness on the beautiful work that you're
doing amongst the people in Belize. And we ask for
(02:42):
an outpouring of your Holy Spirit in the hearts that
encounter this little video, that they may be inspired to
be generous in supporting the mission, both through prayer and
through financial donations. We asked our Lady as always to
(03:06):
wrap her mantle around us and to intercede for us
along with Saint Joseph, we pray remember, almost, Gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to
thy protection, implored Thy help or sat the intercession, was
left and needed. Inspired by this confidence, we fly into
(03:28):
the Oh Virgin of Virgins, our Mother, to THEE.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Do we come before THEE?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
We stand sinful and sorrowful, Oh Mother of the word, Incarnate,
despise not our petitions, but in thy mercy.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Here and answer us.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Amen al Lujah, Come Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Okay, So Belize For those of you who don't know,
Belize is a country that's between Guatemala and Mexico, and
although it has a bit of Central American taste to it,
there's also really a Caribbean feel the people there. Some
(04:17):
are Hispanic, some are from like the former slaves, right,
and there's like a creole.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Kind of flavor. And then there was a ship of
slaves that.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Sink before it reached shore, and the men swamed ashore
free and they intermarried with the Europeans, and so there's
kind of like a mixed race. I won't even try
to pronounce it right. So there's a whole conglomeration of people.
(04:54):
It's not just like one ethnicity in the country. And
just to give a quick background, I was invited to
the mission in Belize City by an old priest friend
of mine. We actually graduated from Notre Dame together in
nineteen ninety nine, but although we had common friends, we
(05:16):
didn't meet each other until he came to discern the
priesthood with Salt the Society of the Ard Lady of
the Most Holy Trinity, at the same time that I
was preparing to go to Russia. And we've been loosely
in contact over the years, but the Lord inspired him
(05:42):
to invite me to come and to help with some
of the work that he had there, and it lined
up with my work that I was able to go.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Father Scott that's his name.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
He is the pastor of a parish, the Parish of
Divine Mercy in Belize City, and a few years ago
he had gotten a relic from the Sisters of Saint
Faustina in Poland, and I was able to pick it
up when I was in Poland and bring it back.
And you know, I gave it to somebody who gave
it to somebody who gave it to somebody who took
(06:17):
it to Belize for him but his parish is really
a beautiful parish of divine mercy and very dedicated to
bring the chaplain and doing all of the divine mercy devotions.
But although he runs this parish, his work is very
(06:37):
missionary and he works a lot on the peripheries with
the poorest of the poor in Belize. Not only does
he serve just people living in you know, the outskirts,
but he you know, has set up there's a medical
(06:58):
clinic that he has tried to get doctors to volunteer
at once a month. I think it might have happened
for a little bit, and now it isn't. He goes
to some of the villages, the prisons, the hospitals. He
started the first monasory school in Belize, and they're building
the second building right there, and so he has a
(07:20):
real effect on the education. He's on the Episcopal commission
to the government to rewrite their constitution. The Belisian government
is working on their new constitution, and unfortunately there's been
quite a negative influence from the United States under you know,
(07:41):
the Biden and the Liberal administrations, and so they're trying
to defend the rights of the child and to fight
against you know, LGBT and different kind of issues, especially
in the schools, and and the effect that it's having
on the marin of the people. Right.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
So there's just there's a whole lot. Belize City is
the capital, was the capital.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
For many years until they moved it inland because of
the hurricanes, and the whole diocese is the whole country, right.
They had a handful of seminarians and they unfortunately had
to close the seminary.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
And you know, I was thinking about.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
That as as we were talking, and I was the
only person with a doctorate in theology that they knew
in the country. If I was able to spend a
little more time there, I might be able to help them,
either with seminarians or with the catechisas and the parish.
It's been hard to find well formed Catholics to form Catholics, right,
(08:59):
And so I know first Communion had to be put
off last year because they didn't have anyone to teach
the children.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And there's just a lot of poverty there.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
What you see here is the little home that I
was brought to start with Father Scott, and they had
received a grant from the Vatican, the Peters Pence Grant
to to build the Saint Mary Magdalen's Center, and it's
in the poorer neighborhood. Panama has built up these little
(09:31):
neighborhoods in Belize.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
For the poor.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
They're called Balamas, and the further out you get, uh
kind of the more rustic and poor it becomes. So
there there's Balama one, Balama two, Balama three, and I
lived in Balama four, and right now they're beginning to
build up Balama five. But most of the roads back
(09:58):
there aren't very good. And much of that neighborhood is swampy,
and they have these like wood shipping curtains that they
make roads out of that you have to climb on.
And so I was a little leery to go too
far into that area because there are big snakes and
crocodiles and things like that, and I'm a little nervous
(10:20):
in the swamp. But father was able to get some
land in Bulamaphore, and unfortunately it all of the rain
water drains into it, so it's very swampy. But they
have this beautiful chapel you see here, and what they
have is like the sanctuary is enclosed and there's like
(10:42):
big barn doors that you can close and secure with
several locks. And then when people come and there's a mass,
or when I was there and wanted to pray, I
would just open those barn doors.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
And allow GeSe Is to be present to the people.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Normally, the blessed sacrament isn't left there because there's no caretaker.
But when I was there, Jesus was able to be
in that chapel amongst those people. And the surrounding neighborhood
is very, very poor, he said. There's about nine hundred
and fifty families that need to be evangelized, and many
people flee to that area from Central American violence. And
(11:28):
although it's physically poor, many people don't have water or
they just live in like these like you know, six
by ten ten cans. I mean it's up on stilts
because of the rain. They consider it a very peaceful
place to live. Belize in general is much more peaceful
(11:48):
than you know, the violence of El Salvador, Venezuela or Colombia.
So you have a mixed mash of people there, but
they're very sweet and and but they want people that
we're willing to live here at them. It's called the
Saint Mary Magdalene Center, and it's going to be a
(12:09):
home for homeless women who need a temporary shelter and
a way to get back on their feet and to
begin to dream again, you know. So their physical needs
are taken care of, but we came up with like
a schedule every day and spiritual practices they have to
take care of, you know, Mass is central, daily Mass,
(12:33):
and the liturgy of the hours and the Rosary and
chaplet and adoration. But then I was able to offer
them art, therapy and journaling and some teaching, some catechesis.
I helped prepare a woman for the sacraments. And then
there's peerish counselors that come out and people who help
with financial literacy and.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
All sorts of you know.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Their medical needs are taken care of, and and Father
provides them with a little job at this parish or
at the center if they don't have their own job.
So part of my job was to just live there.
Nobody was willing to live there. It's pretty rustic, and
I would just have my bucket of water a day
(13:19):
to wash in. And sometimes the water was dirty and
brown or sometimes you know, things were scarce. You're kind
of out in the elements the way they build the
houses is there's like a six inch gap between the
wall and the ceiling, so we'd get geckos and frogs
and all sorts of creatures in my little hermitage there.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
But I did love it.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
It reminded me of the life I lived as a
hermit in Texas, and just that life of simplicity, and
then the ability to focus on prayer and serving these
women was really incredible. I brought the holiness of womanhood
and was able to start going through.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
That with the woman that lived there.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
And people are very interested in that book and building
up that dignity of the human person. And we teach
life skills like you just saw, like you know, the
daily checklist, to make sure that they know how to
cook and how to clean up after themselves and things
(14:25):
that maybe you and I take for granted. One of
the women that lived there told me that I had
taken her to eat with some missionary families, and she
said it was the first time in her life, in
thirty eight years or however old she was, that she
had ever eaten a meal at a table with a family.
(14:46):
So these human experiences where we learn, you know, love
and communication, and where we grow in knowledge of the world,
and those are things that these people haven't necessarily had, right,
(15:06):
And so a lot of my time here was to
build up the center.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
We had.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Some construction going on because of the swamp. I had
a joke going that I lived with a moat because
I had all this water around with all these creatures
in it, and I said, well, I'm protected by a moat.
But eventually some donors felt bad and we got three
huge truckloads of stone delivered. But it was even hard
(15:35):
to get that spread over the property. We workmen are
hard to come by. They just have to go find
able bodied men and offer to give them a wage
and lunch, and then they show up. And a lot
of times they showed up barefoot on the construction site
or in you know, like slip on shoes, slippers, and
(16:01):
they don't have the work ethic of America. You know,
here a workman works eight ten hours a day, but
there after a few hours they say they're tired and
they just lay down. And a couple of times I
had ask them to leave the property. I didn't want
them just loitering with the women there. But it's hard
to find workmen. In fact, when they poured the foundation
(16:22):
for the new Montessori school, Father himself had to help
with the cement and some of the men that came
with the missionary families because they couldn't find able bodied men.
One day, we had invited a girl from one of
the missions to come to the center and have a
day of prayer with me about her vocation, and we
(16:47):
took her out to lunch because that's a treat, and
when Father was ordering food, an able bodied man, you know,
in his twenties, probably came up to me and asked
for food. He was begging to eat, and I said,
I have to ask father, And Father said, well, I
bought enough food. We'll all share. And we sat down
(17:07):
and he said, well, ask him if he'll work. So
I came and I said, do you want a job?
Father needs some workmen, and he agreed. So we took
him back to the work site and we told him
if he worked hard the rest of the day, he'd
get pay, and that if he did a good job,
he could come back the following day and put in
a full day's work and Father would hire him. And
(17:29):
it reminded me of the Gospel of Jesus going out
at nine and at twelve and at three, hiring the
men loitering around who hadn't been invited. It's just it's
interesting to see the survival mode that many people in
Belize live in. Right what you're seeing right now, we're
(17:53):
just pictures of my neighbors.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Every day.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
I made it a conscious effort to walk the neighborhood
and to just pray the Rosary.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I wanted to be a presence of God's love there.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
And when I first arrived, father did offer a car,
and I was just scared to drive.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
It's kind of crazy the way people drive.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
And maybe eventually, but at the time, I'm just wasn't comfortable.
And I said, plus, church is only a mile away,
and I can walk, and if the women I serve
need to walk, then I should walk with them, and
we can pray as we walk, and it's good for us.
And you know, sometimes the heavens would open and we
(18:36):
get soaking wet.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
But it's kind of being poor with the poor, right.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Even a lot of Bellisians wouldn't walk what I was
willing to walk, but I knew it was an important witness.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
So I decided to do that, and I would walk these.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Neighborhoods you're looking at, and I just took pictures so
you have an idea of where families lived in one
of these little homes, you know, in an overgrown swamp.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
With trash laying all over, and that's her home.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
But it was really beautiful to see the witness of
these rosary walks that I would do, because you know
by the time I left, when I would go and
walk to church in the morning or coming home more by,
because I would go very early. I would wake up
at three forty five and by five o'clock, five fifteen,
I was walking to make it to six o'clock mass.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
But I would come.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Home about nine or nine thirty, and the children would
come out in the streets running after me, Mary, Mary, Mary,
and they'd want to hug or a grating, and the
women would see me out the door and come to
the door and wave and save buenaestillas or hello Mary.
Some would invite me in for a cup of water.
And never has a cup of cold water meant so
(19:53):
much to me, as in Belize, you were soaking wet
and hot twenty for seven.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
You just get used to it.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
It's like eighty five ninety degrees and one hundred and
fifty percent humidity day and night. You're just soaking wet,
and having somebody offer you a cup of cold water
is a really big gift. But I would walk these neighborhoods,
(20:23):
and you know, one day, Father, who I worked with,
would take Fridays as his day of prayer, and he'd
often go to the cathedral, but since I had the
Eucharist at this Outskirt Chapel, he wanted to do it
there so that the people had the opportunity in that
neighborhood for adoration they don't usually, So we had Mass
(20:46):
at eight o'clock and then we would pray in adoration.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Until about four or five.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
And the people could stop by if they wanted.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
But Father and I would sit there on Fridays.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
And the first Friday, about twelve or twelve thirty, he
put he reposed Jesus and said we're going to take
a break and do a Rosary walk. And we walked
the neighborhoods where I walked, but he showed me where
the Catholic families were, which was helpful, so I knew where,
you know, my friends could be, and a few of
(21:18):
them he introduced me to them, and we went in
and that was really beautiful to know where these these
little hidden souls were. But normally during the week, the
schedule that I set up for the women, we would
begin with Mass at six am, and then morning prayer
(21:38):
with the priests, and then when we'd pray the Rosary
on our way in, and then we'd have an hour
of adoration, and then by about eight eight thirty she
would go to work in the chicken in the kitchen
for half of a day and I could be free
for ministry or prayer. And then when she would come
(21:59):
home about one or two, we would have some classes
of some sword and the Rosary and the chaplet, and
evening prayer and then meal together, and then I would
always go back for a second Mass whenever possible.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
In my life, I've always liked to do morning and evening.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
And you know, then we'd end the day together. There's
something that Salt Society of Our Lady the Most Holy
Trinity always did when, especially when I went through formation
with Father Flanagan twenty.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Five years ago.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
It's called liturgy prep where together as a team, Salt
works as ecclesial team. So you have priests sisters and
lady working together. Belize City doesn't have a full team
because it's considered an outskirt mission. The main mission in
ben Kay has a full team, but in most Salt
(22:55):
and coleasial teams, at least when Father Flanagan was forming
them right, you would every day gather at the end
of the day, and we did this in Russia with
the two years I lived there and read the readings
for masks the following day and pray about the way
that they.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
They spoke to you.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Father Flanagan always said that the readings at Mass, you
don't just read them. The Holy Spirit reads you and
he speaks to you what you need to hear. And
by sharing that and breaking open the Word together every day,
powerful graces come. You know, you really live hand in
(23:38):
hand with the Word of God right with your heart
connected through the liturgy to Heaven and everything. What you're
seeing here is the children of those neighborhoods that I
walked through.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
They became my friends.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
So anyway, that was that was the life that we
lived at the Saint Mary mag Dylan Center.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
It was very beautiful.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
I also did you know little things at the parish.
I took some night hours of adoration. I was president
at some meetings. I gave a presentation to the small
group of catechists. He found that that you know, need
a little formation themselves before they go out and form
(24:23):
souls right. And a liturgy committee, people in law involved
with a liturgy. We had a meeting, I had some
individual meals with you know, some of the musicians and
different things. One night at the parish, we uh we
hosted it like a night of culture. There was a
(24:45):
parishioner who graduated from Stupen Villain came back and she
was telling about, you know, the open mic nights that
they would have with music and poetry. And we had
one so beautiful and even Father wrote a beautiful poem
about giving the last st rites to people, and he read.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
That, and then we had a lot of.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Music and some of the mission families, the kids recited poems.
It was really a beautiful experience. But then also I
was so blessed to accompany Father to the prisons. He
was able to visit the men, but had not been
(25:27):
in to see the women. And he said it had
been years since a Catholic was allowed.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
In to see the women, so.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
He knew that I wouldn't be bothered by kind of
just being handed off to the wardens and brought in,
and I gave a presentation on the dignity of women,
and we prayed together, and I gave some copies of
my book The Holiness of Womanhood, both to the prisoners
and the wardens, and we got along. So the following
(26:01):
week we kind of got Father into the women. We
told them that he was with me, he was my sidekick,
and they permitted it, which was beautiful. So he was
able to visit the women prisoners who hadn't seen a
priest in such a long time. And then it was
(26:22):
also such a huge gift to be able to accompany
Father to the hospitals. There was a little accident with
one of the missionary families little boys. He had an
accident in the water, ended up in a private hospital,
(26:44):
So that was a blessing to be able to go
and pray with him, and that was kind of like
a nicer hospital. But then Father goes to the public hospital.
He was the only priest visiting these hospitals during COVID,
and he's still the only one that goes every week
and spends you know, six seven, eight hours whatever is needed, And.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
So I went with them.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
And when we got there, he said, we're going fishing Mary.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
So I accompanied.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
He said, shadow me for a few rooms and kind
of see what I'm doing. And then he sent me
to the women's section, and I went to them, or
he went to the men's But I would talk to
people and find out and if they were Catholic and
in need of the sacraments, then I would go and
get him. We would kind of, you know, swing back around.
(27:36):
But if not, then I would pray with them, and
you know, regardless of religious denomination, we would give them
a washcloth or a kind word. And we even went
to visit some of the maternity ward and the new babies,
and he was able to go by himself and the
nic you and to bless the children, and so beautiful.
(28:00):
I mean, he found souls that had been away from
the church for years, Catholics whose you know, pastors didn't know,
their priests didn't know they were in the hospital in
need of help. And being a public hospital, they were
kind of brought in from a greater area than just
right immediately there, right, So it was just such a
(28:25):
beautiful blessing to do that One more thing that I
did with Father was he would go to this village
on Sunday and on the way we would pick up
this like eighty year old woman who for like fifty
years was the mama in charge of this village, chapel
(28:47):
and the people out there, and she was really the
backbone of the parish. And so we would go and
then we would on our way back visit five or
six different homebound people, bringing them the sacraments, and it.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Really was the poorest of the poor.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
It was such a beautiful, a beautiful ministry, right. But
more than anything, Father emphasized that my gift was prayer.
I was the only contemplative in the country. They don't
have any religious communities that are contemplative. And having that
(29:29):
hermit vocation, I tried to live My rule tweaked a
little bit, but the rule that I lived is a
diocesan hermit here and I would spend you know, many
hours of prayer every day, really embracing that contemplative life.
I also helped with some organizational things. Can you imagine,
(29:52):
the parish didn't have a secretary full time that would work,
so a lot of that organization fell directly on the
two pre beasts, and you know, just proofreading documents or
you know, keeping tract of meetings or things like that.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Was something that I was able to help.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
But, like I said, the greatest gift and that was
I remember the homily when Father introduced me to the parish,
that there's a lot of things I can do, and
most of you who know my life know that I'm
definitely a busy lady. But what we do is not
as important as who we are before the Lord and
that gift that you know, what did Jesus say, Mary
(30:38):
has chosen the better part and it will not be
taken from her. That is the part and the gift,
the call to sit at the feet of Jesus in
prayer and to love and to just be His presence
among people. So that's something I did. You see here
in these pictures some of the icons that that I drew.
(30:58):
I also in the little hermit room that I stayed in.
Father made sure that the ladies that the peers took
me to buy paint and I was able to paint
icons frescoes kind of on the walls, and then some
individual icons that that they can use, which is kind
of a contemplative work as well, right, And you see here,
(31:22):
you know some of the construction work, the rock that
we had to lay and our team to build up
the center. So you know, there's there's a whole lot
of different things that are needed, but the harvest is
(31:43):
plenty and the labors are few there. There really aren't
a lot of people willing to live as radically poor
as is needed in this mission. And although they have
like a nice apartment available for mission families that come,
and they offered it to me if I needed it,
But you know, the deepest way to touch a heart
(32:05):
is to live next door to them. To as Father
Flan again, the founder of Salt said, to live like
they live, to die like they die, right, And so
to embrace that level of poverty with joy and with
love to bring beauty and hope to the midst of
those people as a unique call. And there aren't even
(32:27):
many religious sisters willing to live like that. And to
see the gifts that I have even gained here in
the last you know, six or seven years after I
lived as a hermit, just a lack of financial provision
and support in that vocation led me to have to
(32:48):
be like a nanny and a house manager for wealthy people,
you know, to help take care of a really large
house or.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
Two or three.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
But that's given me the skills I need to be
able to run a center like that, to be able
to see the different needs. And you know, it's it's
helped to grow my servant heart to be a servant
amongst these people. And so, you know, I see where
(33:20):
the Lord is opening a door for me into beliefs
and a unique position where the gifts He's given me
fit directly the needs that are there. But I won't
be able to go often or as long while I'm
still needing to, you know, provide, you know, for my
(33:45):
home here. Right someday I am going to be old.
I'm going to need a place to stay. And and
the house here that I have in Indiana is not
just a house. It's a center of spirituality. It's where
my foundation for the persecutor Christians is run. And even
my nieces and nephews today said, this is not just
(34:06):
your house of prayer, Aunt Mary, this is the Classica
missionary hermit house of prayer. This is our house of prayer.
And so there's a need for that to be provided
for so that I don't have to spend so much
time physically present here in the United States working, but
(34:27):
instead I can be off praying and then serving in
this mission in Belize.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
That's my hope for the.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Future, to be able to be that maternal presence of
our Lady amongst the poorest of the poor there and
to be that president of prayer. So I wanted to
share with the work that we've done there, But I
also want to use this as a time to to
(35:00):
plead with anyone watching this that you not only pray
for our work, but you pray about how you can
be part of it.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
That maybe you can.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
Make a donation to the FIAT Foundation for this purpose,
for the you know, enabling me to be able to
serve in Belize. And I've had people mentioned they want
to set up a GoFundMe or something, but there's a
need for, you know, some large donations to provide the
(35:32):
same way that sisters need people to provide for their
life and a place so that they can devote themselves
to prayer and service. You know, as a missionary hermit,
I have that same need. I don't have a community
necessarily around me.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
To provide that way.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
But God has given me you, and this is a
way that you can directly touch the people of BELIEFE
is to.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
Help me, and I am there. I have everything that.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I need right I have a home, I have an office,
and I have people willing to, you know, help me.
I don't think I'd ever go hungry. Plenty of people
offer me. I scream. But I also have a mission
back here and I need a place to run that.
And I think I see my time in the future
being spent in a divided way.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
But I certainly have a need.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
For financial help, so I'm asking you for that. So
as we conclude this little presentation, I am going to
just put here.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
This song.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
I usually start my podcast with a song, but while
you look at these pictures, will end it with Blessed
be your Name. And we pray this together, asking the
Lord whether he gives us an abundance here in the
United States or nothing except a bucket addy water, and
belize you know that we can praise him, that we
(37:05):
can say Blessed be your Name, that we can trust
in Him and his love and his provision, that we
can have the strength and the joy and the hope
that we need to fulfill his will to the full.
So glory be to the Father and the Son and
to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning,
is now never shall be world without end.
Speaker 5 (37:28):
Amen, blessed name.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
In the land.
Speaker 6 (37:55):
Is plentiful, where your streams of abundance flow, BLESSI be
your name.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
PLUSSI be your name.
Speaker 6 (38:12):
When I'm found a desert places who I walk through
the wilderness, BLESSI be your name, every blessing you Poorroa
(38:33):
turn back to Princes. When the darkness closes, and Lord still.
Speaker 4 (38:44):
I'll say, bless it be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 7 (38:51):
PLESSI be your name.
Speaker 4 (38:56):
Bless it be the name of the Lord. Lord.
Speaker 8 (39:01):
Bless it be your goods name.
Speaker 4 (39:11):
Blessed be your name.
Speaker 9 (39:14):
When the sun shineing down on me, when the world's
all is it should be, blessed be your name.
Speaker 4 (39:31):
Blissip be your name.
Speaker 10 (39:34):
On the road marked with suffering, though there's pain and
the ufering.
Speaker 6 (39:44):
Blessed be your name, every blessing you poor.
Speaker 10 (39:54):
Now turn back to prey.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
When the darkness clos as a Lord still, I'll say, bless.
Speaker 11 (40:09):
It be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 4 (40:13):
PLUSSI be your name.
Speaker 8 (40:18):
Bless it be the name of the Lord. Pless it
be your goods. You give and take away.
Speaker 12 (40:36):
If you give and take away, my heart will.
Speaker 10 (40:43):
Choose to say, would blesssib be.
Speaker 12 (40:49):
Your name, you give and take away, you give and
take away name.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
My heart will choose to.
Speaker 10 (41:04):
Say, Lord, Blesssippy your name.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
Bless it be.
Speaker 11 (41:12):
The name of the Lord.
Speaker 7 (41:16):
Bless it be your name.
Speaker 8 (41:21):
Bless it be the name of the Lord. Bless it
be your God's name.
Speaker 4 (41:36):
BLESSI be your name.
Speaker 6 (41:39):
In the lad name is plent to fallow, where your
streams of abundance flow.
Speaker 7 (41:49):
Bless it be your name.
Speaker 4 (41:57):
Bless it be your name.
Speaker 6 (41:59):
Woul found uh desert place, though I walk through the wilderness,
Blessip be your name.
Speaker 4 (42:16):
Me Messip be your name. When the sun shine down
on me, when the world's all is it should be.
BLESSI be your name. Blessip be your name.
Speaker 11 (42:39):
On the road marked with.
Speaker 6 (42:42):
Sfurry, though there's pain and the offer, Blessip be your name.
Speaker 10 (42:55):
Every blessing you poor.
Speaker 4 (43:00):
Turn back to Prince.
Speaker 6 (43:05):
When the dark miss closes and Lord still, I'll say, Blessed.
Speaker 11 (43:14):
Be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 7 (43:18):
Blessed be your name.
Speaker 8 (43:23):
Bless her be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 6 (43:28):
Bless it be your goodous name.
Speaker 12 (43:37):
You give and take away, You give and take away.
Speaker 4 (43:47):
My heart would chose to.
Speaker 10 (43:50):
Say, and Lord, blesss be your name.
Speaker 11 (43:57):
You give and take the word.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
You give it. My heart will chose.
Speaker 6 (44:10):
To say, your blesssibby your name.
Speaker 8 (44:17):
Bless it be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 7 (44:22):
Bless it be your name.
Speaker 8 (44:27):
Bless it be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 4 (44:32):
Bless it be a good.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Name.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
Hello, God's beloved. I'm Annabel Moseley, author, professor of theology,
and host of them Sings My Soul and Destination Sainthood
on w c AT Radio.
Speaker 4 (44:59):
I am invite.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
You to listen in and find inspiration along this sacred journey.
We're traveling together to make our lives a masterpiece and
with God's grace, become saints. Join me Annabel Moseley for
then sings My Soul and Destination Sainthood on WCAT Radio.
God bless you. Remember you are never alone. God is
(45:24):
always with you.
Speaker 3 (45:30):
Thank you for listening to a production of WCAT Radio.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
Please join us in our mission of evangelization, and don't
forget Love lifts up when knowledge takes flight.
You're listening to WCAT Radio, your home for authentic Catholic programming.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello and God bless you all. Welcome to the Heart
of Fiat Crucified Love. I'm going to do this as
a shorter podcast, but it's also a video that I
want to share with people interested in financially supporting the
work in Belize. As most of you know, I just
(00:31):
spent the last month down working at the Salt Society
of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Mission in
Belize City, and I've been encouraged by a few people
to share a little bit about the mission along with pictures,
(00:52):
and also to invite you to be part of our mission,
to be part of the mission through prayer, and to
be part of a mission through financially helping. I need
some financial help to be able to continue the work there,
and maybe some of you might be called a visit
at some point.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
That wouldn't be a bad thing at all.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
So I wanted to come on like this and pray
with you, and then I'm going to turn the podcast
into audio and put it together with pictures from the mission.
And sometimes what I say will line up with what
you see, and sometimes it might not.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Because I'm not professional at.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Doing this, but by listening to what I share and
by watching.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
The pictures kind of flip through, maybe you'll get an
idea of.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
The incredible work God is doing in such a hidden, little,
poor mission country. So let's begin with a prayer, Father Son,
Holy Spirit. Amen, Come, Holy Spirit, feel the hearts of
your faithful and enkindle in us the fire of your love.
Send forth your spirit and we will be recreated.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
And thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Sweet Jesus,
we thank you for being.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
With each one of us today. We ask you to
pour out your precious blood upon us. We ask you
to send out your angels to gather together the souls
that you have chosen to watch this, to listen to this,
to encounter this witness on the beautiful work that you're
doing amongst the people in Belize. And we ask for
(02:42):
an outpouring of your Holy Spirit in the hearts that
encounter this little video, that they may be inspired to
be generous in supporting the mission, both through prayer and
through financial donations. We asked our Lady as always to
(03:06):
wrap her mantle around us and to intercede for us
along with Saint Joseph, we pray remember, almost, Gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to
thy protection, implored Thy help or sat the intercession, was
left and needed. Inspired by this confidence, we fly into
(03:28):
the Oh Virgin of Virgins, our Mother, to THEE.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Do we come before THEE?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
We stand sinful and sorrowful, Oh Mother of the word, Incarnate,
despise not our petitions, but in thy mercy.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Here and answer us.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Amen al Lujah, Come Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Okay, So Belize For those of you who don't know,
Belize is a country that's between Guatemala and Mexico, and
although it has a bit of Central American taste to it,
there's also really a Caribbean feel the people there. Some
(04:17):
are Hispanic, some are from like the former slaves, right,
and there's like a creole.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Kind of flavor. And then there was a ship of
slaves that.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Sink before it reached shore, and the men swamed ashore
free and they intermarried with the Europeans, and so there's
kind of like a mixed race. I won't even try
to pronounce it right. So there's a whole conglomeration of people.
(04:54):
It's not just like one ethnicity in the country. And
just to give a quick background, I was invited to
the mission in Belize City by an old priest friend
of mine. We actually graduated from Notre Dame together in
nineteen ninety nine, but although we had common friends, we
(05:16):
didn't meet each other until he came to discern the
priesthood with Salt the Society of the Ard Lady of
the Most Holy Trinity, at the same time that I
was preparing to go to Russia. And we've been loosely
in contact over the years, but the Lord inspired him
(05:42):
to invite me to come and to help with some
of the work that he had there, and it lined
up with my work that I was able to go.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Father Scott that's his name.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
He is the pastor of a parish, the Parish of
Divine Mercy in Belize City, and a few years ago
he had gotten a relic from the Sisters of Saint
Faustina in Poland, and I was able to pick it
up when I was in Poland and bring it back.
And you know, I gave it to somebody who gave
it to somebody who gave it to somebody who took
(06:17):
it to Belize for him but his parish is really
a beautiful parish of divine mercy and very dedicated to
bring the chaplain and doing all of the divine mercy devotions.
But although he runs this parish, his work is very
(06:37):
missionary and he works a lot on the peripheries with
the poorest of the poor in Belize. Not only does
he serve just people living in you know, the outskirts,
but he you know, has set up there's a medical
(06:58):
clinic that he has tried to get doctors to volunteer
at once a month. I think it might have happened
for a little bit, and now it isn't. He goes
to some of the villages, the prisons, the hospitals. He
started the first monasory school in Belize, and they're building
the second building right there, and so he has a
(07:20):
real effect on the education. He's on the Episcopal commission
to the government to rewrite their constitution. The Belisian government
is working on their new constitution, and unfortunately there's been
quite a negative influence from the United States under you know,
(07:41):
the Biden and the Liberal administrations, and so they're trying
to defend the rights of the child and to fight
against you know, LGBT and different kind of issues, especially
in the schools, and and the effect that it's having
on the marin of the people. Right.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
So there's just there's a whole lot. Belize City is
the capital, was the capital.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
For many years until they moved it inland because of
the hurricanes, and the whole diocese is the whole country, right.
They had a handful of seminarians and they unfortunately had
to close the seminary.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
And you know, I was thinking about.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
That as as we were talking, and I was the
only person with a doctorate in theology that they knew
in the country. If I was able to spend a
little more time there, I might be able to help them,
either with seminarians or with the catechisas and the parish.
It's been hard to find well formed Catholics to form Catholics, right,
(08:59):
And so I know first Communion had to be put
off last year because they didn't have anyone to teach
the children.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And there's just a lot of poverty there.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
What you see here is the little home that I
was brought to start with Father Scott, and they had
received a grant from the Vatican, the Peters Pence Grant
to to build the Saint Mary Magdalen's Center, and it's
in the poorer neighborhood. Panama has built up these little
(09:31):
neighborhoods in Belize.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
For the poor.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
They're called Balamas, and the further out you get, uh
kind of the more rustic and poor it becomes. So
there there's Balama one, Balama two, Balama three, and I
lived in Balama four, and right now they're beginning to
build up Balama five. But most of the roads back
(09:58):
there aren't very good. And much of that neighborhood is swampy,
and they have these like wood shipping curtains that they
make roads out of that you have to climb on.
And so I was a little leery to go too
far into that area because there are big snakes and
crocodiles and things like that, and I'm a little nervous
(10:20):
in the swamp. But father was able to get some
land in Bulamaphore, and unfortunately it all of the rain
water drains into it, so it's very swampy. But they
have this beautiful chapel you see here, and what they
have is like the sanctuary is enclosed and there's like
(10:42):
big barn doors that you can close and secure with
several locks. And then when people come and there's a mass,
or when I was there and wanted to pray, I
would just open those barn doors.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
And allow GeSe Is to be present to the people.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Normally, the blessed sacrament isn't left there because there's no caretaker.
But when I was there, Jesus was able to be
in that chapel amongst those people. And the surrounding neighborhood
is very, very poor, he said. There's about nine hundred
and fifty families that need to be evangelized, and many
people flee to that area from Central American violence. And
(11:28):
although it's physically poor, many people don't have water or
they just live in like these like you know, six
by ten ten cans. I mean it's up on stilts
because of the rain. They consider it a very peaceful
place to live. Belize in general is much more peaceful
(11:48):
than you know, the violence of El Salvador, Venezuela or Colombia.
So you have a mixed mash of people there, but
they're very sweet and and but they want people that
we're willing to live here at them. It's called the
Saint Mary Magdalene Center, and it's going to be a
(12:09):
home for homeless women who need a temporary shelter and
a way to get back on their feet and to
begin to dream again, you know. So their physical needs
are taken care of, but we came up with like
a schedule every day and spiritual practices they have to
take care of, you know, Mass is central, daily Mass,
(12:33):
and the liturgy of the hours and the Rosary and
chaplet and adoration. But then I was able to offer
them art, therapy and journaling and some teaching, some catechesis.
I helped prepare a woman for the sacraments. And then
there's peerish counselors that come out and people who help
with financial literacy and.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
All sorts of you know.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Their medical needs are taken care of, and and Father
provides them with a little job at this parish or
at the center if they don't have their own job.
So part of my job was to just live there.
Nobody was willing to live there. It's pretty rustic, and
I would just have my bucket of water a day
(13:19):
to wash in. And sometimes the water was dirty and
brown or sometimes you know, things were scarce. You're kind
of out in the elements the way they build the
houses is there's like a six inch gap between the
wall and the ceiling, so we'd get geckos and frogs
and all sorts of creatures in my little hermitage there.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
But I did love it.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
It reminded me of the life I lived as a
hermit in Texas, and just that life of simplicity, and
then the ability to focus on prayer and serving these
women was really incredible. I brought the holiness of womanhood
and was able to start going through.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
That with the woman that lived there.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
And people are very interested in that book and building
up that dignity of the human person. And we teach
life skills like you just saw, like you know, the
daily checklist, to make sure that they know how to
cook and how to clean up after themselves and things
(14:25):
that maybe you and I take for granted. One of
the women that lived there told me that I had
taken her to eat with some missionary families, and she
said it was the first time in her life, in
thirty eight years or however old she was, that she
had ever eaten a meal at a table with a family.
(14:46):
So these human experiences where we learn, you know, love
and communication, and where we grow in knowledge of the world,
and those are things that these people haven't necessarily had, right,
(15:06):
And so a lot of my time here was to
build up the center.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
We had.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Some construction going on because of the swamp. I had
a joke going that I lived with a moat because
I had all this water around with all these creatures
in it, and I said, well, I'm protected by a moat.
But eventually some donors felt bad and we got three
huge truckloads of stone delivered. But it was even hard
(15:35):
to get that spread over the property. We workmen are
hard to come by. They just have to go find
able bodied men and offer to give them a wage
and lunch, and then they show up. And a lot
of times they showed up barefoot on the construction site
or in you know, like slip on shoes, slippers, and
(16:01):
they don't have the work ethic of America. You know,
here a workman works eight ten hours a day, but
there after a few hours they say they're tired and
they just lay down. And a couple of times I
had ask them to leave the property. I didn't want
them just loitering with the women there. But it's hard
to find workmen. In fact, when they poured the foundation
(16:22):
for the new Montessori school, Father himself had to help
with the cement and some of the men that came
with the missionary families because they couldn't find able bodied men.
One day, we had invited a girl from one of
the missions to come to the center and have a
day of prayer with me about her vocation, and we
(16:47):
took her out to lunch because that's a treat, and
when Father was ordering food, an able bodied man, you know,
in his twenties, probably came up to me and asked
for food. He was begging to eat, and I said,
I have to ask father, And Father said, well, I
bought enough food. We'll all share. And we sat down
(17:07):
and he said, well, ask him if he'll work. So
I came and I said, do you want a job?
Father needs some workmen, and he agreed. So we took
him back to the work site and we told him
if he worked hard the rest of the day, he'd
get pay, and that if he did a good job,
he could come back the following day and put in
a full day's work and Father would hire him. And
(17:29):
it reminded me of the Gospel of Jesus going out
at nine and at twelve and at three, hiring the
men loitering around who hadn't been invited. It's just it's
interesting to see the survival mode that many people in
Belize live in. Right what you're seeing right now, we're
(17:53):
just pictures of my neighbors.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Every day.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
I made it a conscious effort to walk the neighborhood
and to just pray the Rosary.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I wanted to be a presence of God's love there.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
And when I first arrived, father did offer a car,
and I was just scared to drive.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
It's kind of crazy the way people drive.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
And maybe eventually, but at the time, I'm just wasn't comfortable.
And I said, plus, church is only a mile away,
and I can walk, and if the women I serve
need to walk, then I should walk with them, and
we can pray as we walk, and it's good for us.
And you know, sometimes the heavens would open and we
(18:36):
get soaking wet.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
But it's kind of being poor with the poor, right.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Even a lot of Bellisians wouldn't walk what I was
willing to walk, but I knew it was an important witness.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
So I decided to do that, and I would walk these.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Neighborhoods you're looking at, and I just took pictures so
you have an idea of where families lived in one
of these little homes, you know, in an overgrown swamp.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
With trash laying all over, and that's her home.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
But it was really beautiful to see the witness of
these rosary walks that I would do, because you know
by the time I left, when I would go and
walk to church in the morning or coming home more by,
because I would go very early. I would wake up
at three forty five and by five o'clock, five fifteen,
I was walking to make it to six o'clock mass.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
But I would come.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Home about nine or nine thirty, and the children would
come out in the streets running after me, Mary, Mary, Mary,
and they'd want to hug or a grating, and the
women would see me out the door and come to
the door and wave and save buenaestillas or hello Mary.
Some would invite me in for a cup of water.
And never has a cup of cold water meant so
(19:53):
much to me, as in Belize, you were soaking wet
and hot twenty for seven.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
You just get used to it.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
It's like eighty five ninety degrees and one hundred and
fifty percent humidity day and night. You're just soaking wet,
and having somebody offer you a cup of cold water
is a really big gift. But I would walk these neighborhoods,
(20:23):
and you know, one day, Father, who I worked with,
would take Fridays as his day of prayer, and he'd
often go to the cathedral, but since I had the
Eucharist at this Outskirt Chapel, he wanted to do it
there so that the people had the opportunity in that
neighborhood for adoration they don't usually, So we had Mass
(20:46):
at eight o'clock and then we would pray in adoration.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Until about four or five.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
And the people could stop by if they wanted.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
But Father and I would sit there on Fridays.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
And the first Friday, about twelve or twelve thirty, he
put he reposed Jesus and said we're going to take
a break and do a Rosary walk. And we walked
the neighborhoods where I walked, but he showed me where
the Catholic families were, which was helpful, so I knew where,
you know, my friends could be, and a few of
(21:18):
them he introduced me to them, and we went in
and that was really beautiful to know where these these
little hidden souls were. But normally during the week, the
schedule that I set up for the women, we would
begin with Mass at six am, and then morning prayer
(21:38):
with the priests, and then when we'd pray the Rosary
on our way in, and then we'd have an hour
of adoration, and then by about eight eight thirty she
would go to work in the chicken in the kitchen
for half of a day and I could be free
for ministry or prayer. And then when she would come
(21:59):
home about one or two, we would have some classes
of some sword and the Rosary and the chaplet, and
evening prayer and then meal together, and then I would
always go back for a second Mass whenever possible.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
In my life, I've always liked to do morning and evening.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
And you know, then we'd end the day together. There's
something that Salt Society of Our Lady the Most Holy
Trinity always did when, especially when I went through formation
with Father Flanagan twenty.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Five years ago.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
It's called liturgy prep where together as a team, Salt
works as ecclesial team. So you have priests sisters and
lady working together. Belize City doesn't have a full team
because it's considered an outskirt mission. The main mission in
ben Kay has a full team, but in most Salt
(22:55):
and coleasial teams, at least when Father Flanagan was forming
them right, you would every day gather at the end
of the day, and we did this in Russia with
the two years I lived there and read the readings
for masks the following day and pray about the way
that they.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
They spoke to you.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Father Flanagan always said that the readings at Mass, you
don't just read them. The Holy Spirit reads you and
he speaks to you what you need to hear. And
by sharing that and breaking open the Word together every day,
powerful graces come. You know, you really live hand in
(23:38):
hand with the Word of God right with your heart
connected through the liturgy to Heaven and everything. What you're
seeing here is the children of those neighborhoods that I
walked through.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
They became my friends.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
So anyway, that was that was the life that we
lived at the Saint Mary mag Dylan Center.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
It was very beautiful.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
I also did you know little things at the parish.
I took some night hours of adoration. I was president
at some meetings. I gave a presentation to the small
group of catechists. He found that that you know, need
a little formation themselves before they go out and form
(24:23):
souls right. And a liturgy committee, people in law involved
with a liturgy. We had a meeting, I had some
individual meals with you know, some of the musicians and
different things. One night at the parish, we uh we
hosted it like a night of culture. There was a
(24:45):
parishioner who graduated from Stupen Villain came back and she
was telling about, you know, the open mic nights that
they would have with music and poetry. And we had
one so beautiful and even Father wrote a beautiful poem
about giving the last st rites to people, and he read.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
That, and then we had a lot of.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Music and some of the mission families, the kids recited poems.
It was really a beautiful experience. But then also I
was so blessed to accompany Father to the prisons. He
was able to visit the men, but had not been
(25:27):
in to see the women. And he said it had
been years since a Catholic was allowed.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
In to see the women, so.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
He knew that I wouldn't be bothered by kind of
just being handed off to the wardens and brought in,
and I gave a presentation on the dignity of women,
and we prayed together, and I gave some copies of
my book The Holiness of Womanhood, both to the prisoners
and the wardens, and we got along. So the following
(26:01):
week we kind of got Father into the women. We
told them that he was with me, he was my sidekick,
and they permitted it, which was beautiful. So he was
able to visit the women prisoners who hadn't seen a
priest in such a long time. And then it was
(26:22):
also such a huge gift to be able to accompany
Father to the hospitals. There was a little accident with
one of the missionary families little boys. He had an
accident in the water, ended up in a private hospital,
(26:44):
So that was a blessing to be able to go
and pray with him, and that was kind of like
a nicer hospital. But then Father goes to the public hospital.
He was the only priest visiting these hospitals during COVID,
and he's still the only one that goes every week
and spends you know, six seven, eight hours whatever is needed, And.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
So I went with them.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
And when we got there, he said, we're going fishing Mary.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
So I accompanied.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
He said, shadow me for a few rooms and kind
of see what I'm doing. And then he sent me
to the women's section, and I went to them, or
he went to the men's But I would talk to
people and find out and if they were Catholic and
in need of the sacraments, then I would go and
get him. We would kind of, you know, swing back around.
(27:36):
But if not, then I would pray with them, and
you know, regardless of religious denomination, we would give them
a washcloth or a kind word. And we even went
to visit some of the maternity ward and the new babies,
and he was able to go by himself and the
nic you and to bless the children, and so beautiful.
(28:00):
I mean, he found souls that had been away from
the church for years, Catholics whose you know, pastors didn't know,
their priests didn't know they were in the hospital in
need of help. And being a public hospital, they were
kind of brought in from a greater area than just
right immediately there, right, So it was just such a
(28:25):
beautiful blessing to do that One more thing that I
did with Father was he would go to this village
on Sunday and on the way we would pick up
this like eighty year old woman who for like fifty
years was the mama in charge of this village, chapel
(28:47):
and the people out there, and she was really the
backbone of the parish. And so we would go and
then we would on our way back visit five or
six different homebound people, bringing them the sacraments, and it.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Really was the poorest of the poor.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
It was such a beautiful, a beautiful ministry, right. But
more than anything, Father emphasized that my gift was prayer.
I was the only contemplative in the country. They don't
have any religious communities that are contemplative. And having that
(29:29):
hermit vocation, I tried to live My rule tweaked a
little bit, but the rule that I lived is a
diocesan hermit here and I would spend you know, many
hours of prayer every day, really embracing that contemplative life.
I also helped with some organizational things. Can you imagine,
(29:52):
the parish didn't have a secretary full time that would work,
so a lot of that organization fell directly on the
two pre beasts, and you know, just proofreading documents or
you know, keeping tract of meetings or things like that.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Was something that I was able to help.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
But, like I said, the greatest gift and that was
I remember the homily when Father introduced me to the parish,
that there's a lot of things I can do, and
most of you who know my life know that I'm
definitely a busy lady. But what we do is not
as important as who we are before the Lord and
that gift that you know, what did Jesus say, Mary
(30:38):
has chosen the better part and it will not be
taken from her. That is the part and the gift,
the call to sit at the feet of Jesus in
prayer and to love and to just be His presence
among people. So that's something I did. You see here
in these pictures some of the icons that that I drew.
(30:58):
I also in the little hermit room that I stayed in.
Father made sure that the ladies that the peers took
me to buy paint and I was able to paint
icons frescoes kind of on the walls, and then some
individual icons that that they can use, which is kind
of a contemplative work as well, right, And you see here,
(31:22):
you know some of the construction work, the rock that
we had to lay and our team to build up
the center. So you know, there's there's a whole lot
of different things that are needed, but the harvest is
(31:43):
plenty and the labors are few there. There really aren't
a lot of people willing to live as radically poor
as is needed in this mission. And although they have
like a nice apartment available for mission families that come,
and they offered it to me if I needed it,
But you know, the deepest way to touch a heart
(32:05):
is to live next door to them. To as Father
Flan again, the founder of Salt said, to live like
they live, to die like they die, right, And so
to embrace that level of poverty with joy and with
love to bring beauty and hope to the midst of
those people as a unique call. And there aren't even
(32:27):
many religious sisters willing to live like that. And to
see the gifts that I have even gained here in
the last you know, six or seven years after I
lived as a hermit, just a lack of financial provision
and support in that vocation led me to have to
(32:48):
be like a nanny and a house manager for wealthy people,
you know, to help take care of a really large
house or.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
Two or three.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
But that's given me the skills I need to be
able to run a center like that, to be able
to see the different needs. And you know, it's it's
helped to grow my servant heart to be a servant
amongst these people. And so, you know, I see where
(33:20):
the Lord is opening a door for me into beliefs
and a unique position where the gifts He's given me
fit directly the needs that are there. But I won't
be able to go often or as long while I'm
still needing to, you know, provide, you know, for my
(33:45):
home here. Right someday I am going to be old.
I'm going to need a place to stay. And and
the house here that I have in Indiana is not
just a house. It's a center of spirituality. It's where
my foundation for the persecutor Christians is run. And even
my nieces and nephews today said, this is not just
(34:06):
your house of prayer, Aunt Mary, this is the Classica
missionary hermit house of prayer. This is our house of prayer.
And so there's a need for that to be provided
for so that I don't have to spend so much
time physically present here in the United States working, but
(34:27):
instead I can be off praying and then serving in
this mission in Belize.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
That's my hope for the.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Future, to be able to be that maternal presence of
our Lady amongst the poorest of the poor there and
to be that president of prayer. So I wanted to
share with the work that we've done there, But I
also want to use this as a time to to
(35:00):
plead with anyone watching this that you not only pray
for our work, but you pray about how you can
be part of it.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
That maybe you can.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
Make a donation to the FIAT Foundation for this purpose,
for the you know, enabling me to be able to
serve in Belize. And I've had people mentioned they want
to set up a GoFundMe or something, but there's a
need for, you know, some large donations to provide the
(35:32):
same way that sisters need people to provide for their
life and a place so that they can devote themselves
to prayer and service. You know, as a missionary hermit,
I have that same need. I don't have a community
necessarily around me.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
To provide that way.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
But God has given me you, and this is a
way that you can directly touch the people of BELIEFE
is to.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
Help me, and I am there. I have everything that.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I need right I have a home, I have an office,
and I have people willing to, you know, help me.
I don't think I'd ever go hungry. Plenty of people
offer me. I scream. But I also have a mission
back here and I need a place to run that.
And I think I see my time in the future
being spent in a divided way.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
But I certainly have a need.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
For financial help, so I'm asking you for that. So
as we conclude this little presentation, I am going to
just put here.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
This song.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
I usually start my podcast with a song, but while
you look at these pictures, will end it with Blessed
be your Name. And we pray this together, asking the
Lord whether he gives us an abundance here in the
United States or nothing except a bucket addy water, and
belize you know that we can praise him, that we
(37:05):
can say Blessed be your Name, that we can trust
in Him and his love and his provision, that we
can have the strength and the joy and the hope
that we need to fulfill his will to the full.
So glory be to the Father and the Son and
to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning,
is now never shall be world without end.
Speaker 5 (37:28):
Amen, blessed name.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
In the land.
Speaker 6 (37:55):
Is plentiful, where your streams of abundance flow, BLESSI be
your name.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
PLUSSI be your name.
Speaker 6 (38:12):
When I'm found a desert places who I walk through
the wilderness, BLESSI be your name, every blessing you Poorroa
(38:33):
turn back to Princes. When the darkness closes, and Lord still.
Speaker 4 (38:44):
I'll say, bless it be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 7 (38:51):
PLESSI be your name.
Speaker 4 (38:56):
Bless it be the name of the Lord. Lord.
Speaker 8 (39:01):
Bless it be your goods name.
Speaker 4 (39:11):
Blessed be your name.
Speaker 9 (39:14):
When the sun shineing down on me, when the world's
all is it should be, blessed be your name.
Speaker 4 (39:31):
Blissip be your name.
Speaker 10 (39:34):
On the road marked with suffering, though there's pain and
the ufering.
Speaker 6 (39:44):
Blessed be your name, every blessing you poor.
Speaker 10 (39:54):
Now turn back to prey.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
When the darkness clos as a Lord still, I'll say, bless.
Speaker 11 (40:09):
It be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 4 (40:13):
PLUSSI be your name.
Speaker 8 (40:18):
Bless it be the name of the Lord. Pless it
be your goods. You give and take away.
Speaker 12 (40:36):
If you give and take away, my heart will.
Speaker 10 (40:43):
Choose to say, would blesssib be.
Speaker 12 (40:49):
Your name, you give and take away, you give and
take away name.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
My heart will choose to.
Speaker 10 (41:04):
Say, Lord, Blesssippy your name.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
Bless it be.
Speaker 11 (41:12):
The name of the Lord.
Speaker 7 (41:16):
Bless it be your name.
Speaker 8 (41:21):
Bless it be the name of the Lord. Bless it
be your God's name.
Speaker 4 (41:36):
BLESSI be your name.
Speaker 6 (41:39):
In the lad name is plent to fallow, where your
streams of abundance flow.
Speaker 7 (41:49):
Bless it be your name.
Speaker 4 (41:57):
Bless it be your name.
Speaker 6 (41:59):
Woul found uh desert place, though I walk through the wilderness,
Blessip be your name.
Speaker 4 (42:16):
Me Messip be your name. When the sun shine down
on me, when the world's all is it should be.
BLESSI be your name. Blessip be your name.
Speaker 11 (42:39):
On the road marked with.
Speaker 6 (42:42):
Sfurry, though there's pain and the offer, Blessip be your name.
Speaker 10 (42:55):
Every blessing you poor.
Speaker 4 (43:00):
Turn back to Prince.
Speaker 6 (43:05):
When the dark miss closes and Lord still, I'll say, Blessed.
Speaker 11 (43:14):
Be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 7 (43:18):
Blessed be your name.
Speaker 8 (43:23):
Bless her be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 6 (43:28):
Bless it be your goodous name.
Speaker 12 (43:37):
You give and take away, You give and take away.
Speaker 4 (43:47):
My heart would chose to.
Speaker 10 (43:50):
Say, and Lord, blesss be your name.
Speaker 11 (43:57):
You give and take the word.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
You give it. My heart will chose.
Speaker 6 (44:10):
To say, your blesssibby your name.
Speaker 8 (44:17):
Bless it be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 7 (44:22):
Bless it be your name.
Speaker 8 (44:27):
Bless it be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 4 (44:32):
Bless it be a good.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Name.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
Hello, God's beloved. I'm Annabel Moseley, author, professor of theology,
and host of them Sings My Soul and Destination Sainthood
on w c AT Radio.
Speaker 4 (44:59):
I am invite.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
You to listen in and find inspiration along this sacred journey.
We're traveling together to make our lives a masterpiece and
with God's grace, become saints. Join me Annabel Moseley for
then sings My Soul and Destination Sainthood on WCAT Radio.
God bless you. Remember you are never alone. God is
(45:24):
always with you.
Speaker 3 (45:30):
Thank you for listening to a production of WCAT Radio.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
Please join us in our mission of evangelization, and don't
forget Love lifts up when knowledge takes flight.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.