This time of collection at home has led me to a necessary consumption and exchange of information by digital networks and platforms. I have discarded much of the news and comments received; I have simply not been interested, because after reading an unreactive first paragraph, I sense that the rest of you will not be able to contribute to me. This is not what happened to me when I heard the audio of a song performed and composed by a sister of the Congregation of God’s Love, our dear Antonia Valverde Fernández, Toñi, as she is known. A small note preceded the lyrics and chords also published: “This song, in coronavirus time, expresses what I do not want to be forgotten, all the good received from God and others.”
This secure WhatsApp message was shared by the religious to her friends. Behind sticky music and simple lyrics, a daily work of great closeness and dedication was discovered to children, large families, the elderly and the sick.
The truth is that since the first steps to prevent the expansion of Covid-19 were reported, the Congregation Sisters of God’s Love has continued to fulfill its mission in the Archdiocese of Havana, retraining it to the epidemiological situation of the time. By the way, New Word spoke with dear Hna. Toñi.
Sister, have you been able to keep in touch with the children of Father Usera Nursery, their families, and with the members of Missionary Childhood and Adolescents in this pandemic time?
“From March 24 we had to close the nursery in Old Havana, as only a small number of children were attending. Gradually, the parents chose to take care of them at home. However, we maintained communication with the families of the little ones through the teachers, the social workers of the sponsored children’s project and the counselors of Children and Missionary Adolescents. This relationship is still maintained by telephone, through social networks and in some cases, with due precautions, we have visited the homes.
“We were aware that three of the children have been isolated, with their families, for having had contact with positive people to the Coronavirus, but thank God they all went well, and they are already in their homes.
“In a special way, we appreciate the creativity of the counselors of Missionary Childhood and Adolescents, who with different initiatives have follow up on the boys and shared by WhatsApp photos, videos, drawings and missionary messages, which invite family prayer, the care of faith and their missionary vocation. Of great help to foster communion with the Church, it has been the participation of children in the drawing contest “The Virgin of Charity and the Family”, an idea generated by the parish of Cobre, in the Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba”.
How have you and your community lived this time of isolation? What have they done?
“During this period of physical isolation, each of the sisters has put her gifts at the service of others. In our congregational life, we have intensified the time of personal and collective prayer, to which we add the prayer of the rosary in community at the request of Pope Francis
“Through digital means, we have shown our closeness and support to the people with which we routinely relate and have tracked the educational, charitable and pastoral work that we normally do. Together with the Carmelite Sisters of San José, we accompany with the songs the Cardinal Archbishop of Havana, Juan de la Caridad García, in his Sunday radio allocutions.
“From the Office of Social Affairs of the Archbishopric of Havana and the Project to Help Sponsored Children, the nuns reach those most in need, providing them with food and personal grooming. For the realization of this work we work as a team with members of the Father Usera Union, Missionaries of Joy and Hope and with social workers, always taking due precautions to avoid contagion.
“Staying at home has also brought its benefits. We talked more to each other, cleaned and ordered parts of the house that, for lack of time in ordinary life, were pending. Without a doubt, we have learned that setbacks help us grow in solidarity responses and trust in Divine Providence.”
At the beginning of this interview he evoked his message by sharing the song he composed. You said that with her I thanked all the good received during this obligatory gathering. Is that the fundamental conclusion you draw from this stage that we still live in?
“Yes, as I reflect on this time of pandemic that we are experiencing, I have the taste of gratitude to God and so many people who do not tire of doing good, and I do not want to be forgotten, well, well paid.”
What do you think will happen after this time? What avizora for the future?
“I believe that life will take its course, but our way of dealing with it will change, for this obligatory stop has fine-tuned the senses to focus on the essentials, which endures because it is inscribed in the human heart: the love of God, who lives in us, and manifests itself in what we do, because it has no frontier.
“I therefore avizoro the future, with the hope, peace and dynamism generated by the Risen Christ, who has emerged triumphantly from death and poured out his Spirit in us generating new ways of relating to nature, the work of every day and with others.”
SINGING ON COVID 19: IT’S TIME TO THANK
Hna. Toñi Valverde, HH. Love of God
4/4
DO mim FA fam
1.- What will remain after this confinement?
DO mim FA SOL7
What don’t I want to forget about this special time?
Lam rem SOL7 DO
The charity realized, to the brother in need,
mim FA rem SOL -7 DO
And the love given to the one who lives by my side.
-7- FA fam DO
IT’S TIME TO THANK YOU, ALL THE GOOD WE RECEIVE,
-7- FA fam DO
IT IS TIME TO VALUE, THE DELIVERY OF OTHERS:
lam rem SOL DO
THE LOOK TO HEAVEN, TO THE GIVER OF ALL GRACES,
-7- SIB SOL7 DO
AND OUTSTRETCHED HANDS, READY TO GIVE.
DO mim FA fam
2.- Health workers, risking their lives,
DO mim FA fam
Scientists researching to find the way out,
Lam rem SOL7 DO
To this global pandemic that ends life,
mim FA rem SOL7 DO
And it has paralyzed the world and united families.
-7- FA fam DO
IT’S TIME TO THANK YOU, ALL THE GOOD WE RECEIVE,
-7- FA fam DO
IT IS TIME TO VALUE, THE DELIVERY OF OTHERS:
lam rem SOL DO
THE LOOK TO HEAVEN, TO THE GIVER OF ALL GRACES,
-7- SIB SOL7 DO
AND OUTSTRETCHED HANDS, READY TO GIVE.
DO mim FA fam
3.- Prayer shared in digital media,
DO mim FA fam
Priests offering for their people the Eucharist,
Lam rem SOL7 DO
The faith of the simple people, with the rosary in their hand,
mim FA rem SOL7 DO
Asking the God of heaven to give us the miracle.
-7- FA fam DO
IT’S TIME TO THANK YOU, ALL THE GOOD WE RECEIVE,
-7- FA fam DO
IT IS TIME TO VALUE, THE DELIVERY OF OTHERS:
lam rem SOL DO
THE LOOK TO HEAVEN, TO THE GIVER OF ALL GRACES,
-7- SIB SOL7 DO
AND OUTSTRETCHED HANDS, READY TO GIVE.
DO mim FA fam
4.- Church eaters, delivering food,
DO mim FA SOL7
The elderly and vulnerable of our society.
Lam rem SOL 7 DO
Quietly and lovingly sharing the little,
mim FA rem SOL7 DO
Making life pleasant, to those who suffer the most.
-7- FA fam DO
IT’S TIME TO THANK YOU, ALL THE GOOD WE RECEIVE,
-7- FA fam DO
IT IS TIME TO VALUE, THE DELIVERY OF OTHERS:
lam rem SOL DO
THE LOOK TO HEAVEN, TO THE GIVER OF ALL GRACES,
-7- SIB SOL7 DO
AND OUTSTRETCHED HANDS, READY TO GIVE.
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