Bringing Relief to Those in Need

Dear Friend in Christ,

“We may only have one meal a day,” Elizabeth told Irene as they prepared to leave for the MJ Hurricane Relief mission in Puerto Rico. “Food is still hard to come by and we will be spending all of our time buying groceries for the people who still have nothing even after all these months since the hurricane.” Elizabeth, MJ, native of Puerto Rico, and Irene, MJ, native of Guatemala, left the comforts of Phoenix and Chicago, respectively, to embark on their Christmas mission to the Island of Enchantment, as Puerto Rico is fondly called. Fortunately, conditions had improved enough that they could eat regular meals to sustain them in their work.

While electrical power continues to come back to the island, it is mostly concentrated in the cities and industrial areas. As of late December, 45% of Puerto Rico’s residents are still without power.

Since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico back in mid-September, Miles Jesu members have developed a grass-roots mission in and around the southern city of Ponce to bring food, clothing, flashlights, batteries, baby items, medicines, and most recently, lumber and cement for home repair, to the most needy of families in the remote mountainous areas that have not yet been reached by government help agencies. Over 1,000 bags of three-day supplies of groceries have been personally delivered to needy families, especially the elderly. They wait on the street side or on what remains of their balconies to greet the MJ ladies as they make their daily rounds to the most severely stricken neighborhoods. With what joy they receive a simple bag of groceries! One elderly man said he had prayed to God because he had nothing left to eat, and the very next day is when the MJ ladies first came to his area. “What an answer to prayer!” he exclaimed.

“Being that it was Christmas time, we also went out and bought all kinds of toys and gifts for the children in those remote areas where people still have no electricity or water,” Elizabeth recounts. “We didn’t want to just hand the kids unpackaged gifts; we wanted to make Christmas special for them, so we took the time to wrap every gift, hundreds of them, and then took them to the poorer households wherein children resided. They were SO happy, all of them, for the excitement of opening their Christmas gifts! And then the treat of candy and cookies was so welcome… their faces were aglow with joy as we spoke to them of the best gift of all… Baby Jesus in Bethlehem and the true joy He brings to the human heart.”

We are helping people one family at a time the best we can through our Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief effort, but imagine if our MJ members had not been there to help. We are making a difference because of you, our benefactors. So far we have spent nearly $40,000 to support our hurricane relief effort in Puerto Rico. And now the need increases as we seek to buy construction materials to help rebuild damaged or destroyed homes.

Would you please help the Miles Jesu Missions today, such as our Hurricane Relief program in Puerto Rico, with your donation. The more you help us, the more we can help them. Your sacrifice of a large gift, a monthly pledge or whatever you can give truly makes all the difference. In Miles Jesu we pray for our benefactors daily at Mass and in our holy hours and rosaries because the Miles Jesu Missions depend upon God’s help through people like you.

Yours in Jesus through Mary,

Fr. Thomas Cahill, MJ
General Director