Utilizing those words from the 25^th chapter of Saint Matthew’s gospel, I want to share with you the mission that the Daughters of Charity have undertaken in the Province of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (Bogotá-Venezuela) during this worldwide pandemic/quarantine.

Each day more than 250 street people come to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Walk-in Center which is directed by Sister Nohemí Sánchez, DC. They arrive a noon in order to receive lunch … perhaps the only meal they will eat during the day. These men and women are our brothers and sisters and at the same time they are hungry and homeless. They are sheltered under the mantle of God’s mercy as well as through the generosity of many benefactors and the service of the Daughters of Charity.

Many benefactors have joined in this struggle to obtain food for these brothers and sisters who live on the streets. Each day God invites people to help mitigate the hunger of these individuals who are homeless. The Vincentian Family, under the leadership of Father Tomaž Mavrič, CM, took the first step when the National Councils were invited to organize themselves on behalf of the most vulnerable and needy members of society. We were encouraged in this effort by the words: In the Vincentian Family we continue to globalize charity not indifference.

Many hands are involved in this daily ministry. Sister Cecilia Triana, DC (the Visitatrix), together with Father Álvaro Mauricio Fernández, CM (Provincial Director of the Daughters) and a group of Daughters and some young postulants, help in the alleviation of the hunger of the these people who live on the streets.

At the same time, our brothers and sisters who are homeless also have a mission … they help us spread devotion to our Lady of the Miraculous Medal by distributing medals to the people they encounter on the streets of Bogotá. Their mission has a twofold purpose: first, to ask our Lady of the Miraculous Medal to protect the people of Colombia and people throughout the world during this pandemic and second, to make our Lady of the Miraculous Medal more widely known. The older Daughters of the house put together the medals are distributed throughout the city.

We give thanks to God for the ministry of the Daughters among those persons who are poor and marginalized.

Sister Sandra Emilce Vivas Ramírez, DC