Personal stories – Page 2 – Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

“A smile, a gentle word that does both sides good.”

One day, on my way to the post office in St Jacut les Pins, I noticed an elderly couple sitting outside the café "Le Cèdre Bleu". I'd seen them on other occasions but greeted them from a distance. This day, I ventured up to them and asked if they were feeling the cold on this October afternoon. On hearing their reply, I realized that they weren't French; I learned (having lived in England for several years) that they were English, living in the surrounding area of St…

News from Madagascar

Associates in Mission: Over the last several years our Associate friends: Jacques and Marie-Annick Hervieux make their way faithfully to Madagascar to provide multiple services to the sisters of the region. While Marie-Annick devotes herself to different household tasks and gives French lessons, Jacques meticulously, as he is known to do, makes furniture to help set up communities: bedside tables for the rooms in the new house in Antsirabe, an altar for the Ambositra community, and so many other things, … Entrance to the postulancy in Antsirabe:…

LTCFs (Long Term Care Facilities) in the hotseat!

We talk about it a lot. Media reports of how residents are suffering in some places. Exposing these situations is a good thing. Fortunately, this only concerns certain establishments. The social council where I live listens attentively to all the difficulties, they become aware of. According to their resources and by working with the people in charge they hasten to improve negative situations. The resident does not want things to be difficult. Difficulties come from their loss of autonomy and their advanced age. To live in a…

You Are Beautiful

A Reflection on Being Hope Cars, traveling at high speeds amid a maze of drivers keeping focused on their destinations, come to a slow crawl. I am coming close to an area that I call the “Spaghettti” because several highways connect in the area. If one is not focused, it is easy to miss the exit to a particular highway. Like eating spaghetti, which can slip quickly off my fork, I have to quickly reroute my thinking to decide what my new route will take me home. …