The Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters' clinic in Kwesi Fante isn't just far from Ghana's capital, Accra, it's far from everywhere. With limited resources, three sisters and their staff serve about 1,000 people each month. The clinic was established as part of the congregation's mission to "continue the healing ministry of Christ," says Sr. Mary Nkrumah, the clinic's administrator. Initially, sisters from Germany and the U.S. had come as missionaries to Ghana in 1946 and years later sought isolated areas to care for those far from established medical care. 

"If a religious community is truly open to the challenges that a new voice, a new lens, and a new vision will bring, then the possibilities of creative problem-solving are endless."

Notes from the Field - There is a Haitian proverb that translates to "Follow your heart," and this island and its people provide plenty of opportunities to do just that in a manner that is true to self and remembers where you came from and what shaped you.

There is no better way to begin this year's Lent than to show love to our brothers and sisters. God is wise; indeed God is wisdom herself. What better way to begin Lent if not by being charitable to my fellow pilgrims on earth?

We have a sense of the direction into which religious life is moving as seeds of a rich diversity are budding into a growing internationality and interculturality in religious communities in Canada and the United States. 

"As long as there are people in our world who are bound unjustly, oppressed, hungry, homeless and naked, Lent cannot be just for me, or just for you. These 40 days call us to much more."

Not since 1945 has Valentines' Day and Ash Wednesday fallen on the same day. I found myself intrigued by this. First, I remembered from my childhood how eager I was to see how many valentines I would receive and from whom and the weighty decision as to whom I would ask, "Would you be my Valentine?"

"The only case that we make is on behalf of the Gospel and our obligation as a community of faith to tend to the least among us. And I think that's a message that all Catholics, regardless of where they stand in the political spectrum, can hear."

As we receive from our elder sisters, so too we need to be willing to reverse mentor to share our gifts and skills of our youth with them. Through meaningful conversation, we can share with them what it is like to discern a vocation today.

"Solidarity means we're going to stay together, even when we disagree. We're not going to walk away from each other."