58. Faith in the City, Jesus in the Streets: How to love Jesus through the poor, the homeless and those struggling with addiction: Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ - A Vocation Story

Faith in the City, Jesus in the Streets: The Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ - A Vocation Story

We share how the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ lives a bold charism: serve Jesus in the poor, walk with families, and build a faith-based sobriety program called "Be Sober" to help individuals and their loved ones who are struggling with addiction (drugs, alcohol, sex addiction).

Prayer, street outreach, and Marian trust shape a path from survival to hope, faith, sobriety and freedom in Jesus Christ.

• "Jesus all, all of Jesus" as the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ's charism 
• Global congregation with a house in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 
• Scripture roots in Luke 4 and Matthew 25 
• "Be Sober" structure: prayer, formation, sharing 
• Parallel groups for sobriety and family members 
• A Catholic lens on the 12 steps of addiction recovery, and mercy 
• Street ministry with the homeless 
• Street ministry as a bridge to God-given human dignity and trust 
• Vocation story of a young Sister, Sister Maria Elisa who joined at 18 years of age. She speaks of the joy of community life 
• Turning to Mother Mary in suffering and recovery 
• Rethinking judgment, human dignity, and hope

To learn more about the Sisters' work with the poor, homeless and individuals struggling with addiction, please visit: https://sisterspoorofjesuschrist.com

To donate to the program, please contact St. Ann's Parish

https://stannhamilton.church

Chapters

• 0:00 Mission And Charism Of The Sisters
• 2:59 Host Intro And Congregation Overview
• 5:06 Global Presence And Hamilton House
• 6:26 Prayer And Marian Devotion
• 7:47 Launching The Be Sober Program
• 10:20 Structure of the "Be Sober" Meetings
• 12:41 Who Can Attend And Why It Works
• 15:01 From Brazil To Canada: Why "Be Sober" Now
• 17:06 Street Ministry Rhythm And Scripture
• 19:05 How to help
• 20:35 Vocation Story And Joy Of Community
• 22:17 Finding Hope Through Mary In Suffering
• 24:35 Homelessness Trends And Causes
• 26:09 Our God-given Human Dignity: It is a gift for all
• 29:05 Encounters That Change Hearts
• 31:00 Beyond Food: Restoring Human Worth
• 33:00 Closing Thanks And Ways To Help

Transcript

Sister Maria Elisa: 0:00

We serve the homeless as Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 25. He said, "Every time that you did it for one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me." So we need to go there to be with them, to bring this peace, this presence of Jesus, this presence of the church in the streets.

Sister Maria Elisa: 0:20

We are a Catholic community founded in Brazil in 2001 by a priest called Father Gilson. And our mission, our charism is "Jesus all, all of Jesus," which means that we have this deeper desire of having Jesus entirely, and of belonging to him entirely too. And embracing Jesus, his life is in poverty, in chastity, in obedience, and always available to the kingdom of God. We also embrace his mission, as we can hear in the gospel according to St. Luke, Jesus says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad ties to the poor. And that is our mission, too. Our mission is the mission of Jesus. Take care of the poor in their many faces.

Sheila Nonato: 1:28

Hello and Welcome to the Veil and Armour Podcast. This is your host, Sheila Nonato. I'm a stay-at-home mom and a freelance Catholic journalist. Seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration of Our Lady, I strive to tell stories that inspire, illuminate, and enrich the lives of Catholic women to help them in living up our vocation of raising the next generation of leaders and saints.

Co-Host: 1:52

Please join us every week on the Veil in Armour Podcast, where stories come alive through a journalist's lens and a mother's heart.

Sheila Nonato: 1:59

Welcome, Sister Maria Elisa of the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ. And yesterday was the 24th anniversary of your congregation, October 23rd. And would you be able to tell us a little bit about your congregation? Where are you in Canada? Where are you in the world, please?

Sister Maria Elisa: 2:22

Yeah. Again, I'm Sister Marie Elise of Jesus. I'm a sister from the Institute of the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ. We are a Catholic community founded in Brazil in 2001 by a priest called Father Gilson. And our mission, our charism is "Jesus all, all of Jesus," which means that we have this deeper desire of having Jesus entirely and of belonging to him entirely too. In embracing Jesus, his life is in poverty and chastity in obedience and always available to the kingdom of God. We also embrace his mission as we can hear in the gospel according to St. Luke's. Jesus says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor." And that is our mission too. Our mission is the mission of Jesus: take care of the poor in their many faces. Families, people struggling with addiction, depression, and people in prostitution, and all of those who are in need, where there is one person in need, the sisters form Jesus Christ and our brothers to we want to be there to help them as Jesus would do. And now we are we have houses all around the world. We are in 16 different countries. Our brothers, our sisters, and our lay associates taking care of the poor together with the church.

Sheila Nonato: 4:18

Beautiful. And so you have a house in Hamilton. Uh is do you have a house in Toronto?

Sister Maria Elisa: 4:26

Not yet. No, so just Hamilton.

Sheila Nonato: 4:28

And then are there other houses in Canada?

Sister Maria Elisa: 4:34

So far, we just we have just one house here in Hamilton.

Sheila Nonato: 4:39

Okay.

Sister Maria Elisa: 4:39

Through the grace of God , we will. Yes, God willing.

Sheila Nonato: 4:44

Um, and yeah, sorry, I forgot to pray. Um, so can we start with a Hail Mary if you wouldn't mind?

Sister Maria Elisa: 4:51

Yeah. Okay,

Sheila Nonato: 4:52

uh in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Holy Mary, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our Amen. In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you so much. I always like to have Our Lady close to the conversation. Um, so I heard about I saw a poster in my parish about the "Be Sober" program, and I had attended, thank you very much for letting me attend with my children to see uh a little bit of the "Be Sober" program at your house. And it was a very solemn, but it seemed like a very there's a community there that there that people knew each other, but they were also connected. There was a deep, there seemed to be like a deep bond or connection between all of them, even though your program just started. Can you tell us what is the "Be Sober" program?

Sister Maria Elisa: 5:58

The "Be Sober" program is a mission, a way of evangelizing and being closer with people who are struggling with any kind of addiction, especially drugs and alcohol. And also it's designed for family members. We know that sometimes to live with a person struggling with addiction is really hard. So we want to help the person and we want to help the family too. So the Be Sober mission is designated to provide a free support room for those who want to be sober, for those who have a choose sobriety, and want to make new friendships, to have this, as you said, this connection with people who are going to the same path, and for family members who want to understand a little bit better about what is addiction and how to help their loved ones. So our "Be Sober" mission here in Canada started just this September 1 7th.

Sister Maria Elisa: 7:06

So we are in our first month of experience, and it has been a grace of God, it has been a grace of God. Thanks be to God. We have people who are there united through the faith, united to God, struggling with the same problem, but together trying to be sober, and so beautiful to see. And our programming is based in um in Saint Peter, who says, "Be sober and alert." That's what we want. Be sober and alert, uniting God. And the "Be Sober" mission. , we work with the 12 steps, is a 12-step program. And our meeting is organized in three different moments. We have the prayer moment together, when we ask the Father the grace upon us, and then we have the formative moment. The formative moment we have a person who be there and we explain to us the steps and things related with the steps, but spiritual things, as we are Catholics. Spiritual things related with the church, with the Virgin Mary, with our Father in Heaven.

Sister Maria Elisa: 8:27

And then we have the sharing moment. In the sharing moment, we organize in two different groups. Those who have chosen sobriety and family members. So we have two sharing groups going on at the same time. And then we gather again and we say a prayer together to end the meeting. Has been a blessing. Beautiful. And how many people usually attend? Is it it's every week, correct? Yes. Our "Be Sober" meetings happen weekly here in Hamilton. Uh usually we have around seven and eight participants. Okay, and we are in the beginning. Yes, beautiful. And and they come, so it's not only um people who are trying to recover from um to trying to gain sobriety, but also family members or friends who come to support them. Yes. Yeah. Family members, friends. If you have someone that you know that is struggling with addiction and want to help them, so you can come and participate. You can learn from the formative moment and then you can share with people who are trying the same thing.

Sister Maria Elisa: 9:53

It's a beautiful way to learn how to help them and how to help yourself too. And people who are right now struggling with addiction can participate, but also people who see themselves as already recovered. Let's say this way. Who see themselves that in the past I was struggling with that, and now by the grace of God, I am free from that. But I wanna go, I wanna be a side of God's mercy. I wanna be to then an example that it is possible, it is good, and it is possible to live in sobriety. So it would be really helpful, would be a joy for us and for those who are attending the meetings to have this example to follow too. So you mentioned um so it's it's sort of based upon Alcoholics Anonymous, but through a Catholic lens. Is that correct? We can say it this way. Um the sober mission, the sober meetings, we use the 12 steps, and I I like to say that the things that unite us with the AA and NA are biggest than the things that make us different. So we use the 12 steps, we are there really trying to be sober, trying to help people to achieve this sobriety, this freedom. And what makes us different, what makes the sober mission different from AA and AA is the formative moment and this spirituality that we have as Catholics. Even though people from another religion, another faith, let's say, they are always welcome to come and participate. Would be a joy for us. But we know that it's um Catholic point of view of the 12 steps, let's say this way. But you so would you need to know Catholic teachings, or can you do you have to be even Catholic, or can you just can you attend, but you're open to learning? Yeah, no, you don't need to be Catholic to participate, everybody is welcomed. Awesome, awesome. Um, and there we are not trying to convince and there in the suburbation it's about it's not just talk about drugs, drugs, but how good it is to live in sobriety.

Sister Maria Elisa: 12:42

I think that's the main point. How good it is to live in sobriety, to learn from each other is not about convincing people that they are wrong and that they need to convert to be Catholics or something like that. But we are trying as a community helping each other to live in sobriety, a better life, a life worth to be lived. Yes, beautiful. And so this you had mentioned that this program is new. How did this come about? Who came up with who came up with it? The "Be Sober " Meetings, we have this in Brazil, we have this in another country through this mission. We saw here in Hamilton uh a big necessity, a big need of bringing this mission because of the reality that we found that we found here.

Sister Maria Elisa: 13:51

When we go out to the streets for our street ministries, when we talk with people, with families we see, we saw that this mission would be great of a great help for the people. So we choose this mission here and see that it is helping, it is really what God wanted for this city and for our mission here. So we sisters been more you are praying for the poor, praying for the families that are connected to us, and we said, Yeah, we need a sober mission here. How many sisters um are part of your congregation right now? Here in Hamilton, we are four sisters. Four and do you have around sorry, go ahead? We have around 500, 600 sisters in my institute. Do you all participate in the same ministry or we used to divide we used to give we used to have one sister for each ministry? So I am the one responsible for the distober, and we have a sister responsible for our lay associates. We have a sister who take care of the vacation, and we have sisters, a sister who is the formator of our remandy here. So we help each other with our ministries.

Sheila Nonato: 15:32

That sounds amazing to have that community um supporting you, supporting each other. And uh and I'm I'm also curious to know more about you. You were mentioning about your street ministry. I know through my parish, uh St. Ann's, I believe you, I don't know if you still do this, the um giving food to the homeless. Um do you still do that? What what other aspects of the street ministry does your congregation do?

Sister Maria Elisa: 16:00

Yes, we still do, and actually the sisters are doing the street ministry right now. Which it is so the street ministries we have street ministry twice a week here. We have on Thursday, and we gather at Saint Stanislaus on Barton Street. Then we gathered there and we prepare snack bags, sandwich, and we go out to the street. We start the ministry at 10 and we prepare everything and we go out at eleven. And we serve the homeless. As Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 25. He said, "Every time that you did it for one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me." So we need to go there to pick the hung to to be with them, to bring this peace, this presence of Jesus, this presence of the church in the streets. And we have also street ministries on Friday evenings, and we start here in our house at 6: 30, and during summer we have a barbecue for the homeless. But when when the weather gets colder and darker, we do it by car. So we prepare hot food for them and things that they will need for winter. And we go out with our volunteers, with our lay associates to help them.

Sister Maria Elisa: 17:29

So everybody is welcome to join us for our trick minute. Do you accept donations or how do you are there other aspects that people can help? Through is it through your website? How do they help? And everything that we have is for us, it's for the poor too. So for our street ministries, on Thursday, every week we have a parish that is responsible for the food and everything that is needed. They provide we have volunteers who go out too. And on Fridays we have a sign up, and families, uh group of friends, parishes, they sign up and they come bringing the food and everything for the homeless.

Sister Maria Elisa: 18:27

And we also accept donations of full school because we serve them here in our house too every evening for dinner. So we have our website, we have our email, the cell phone number, you can contact us if you wanna help with donations. What is your website, sister? I can also tell people afterwards, but do you do you know the website off heart by heart? Uh it's Cesis4ofjesusChrist.com. Okay. You can find us right there. And I just find your ministry and your vocation um just so inspiring that you see the face of Jesus every time you serve a person who is homeless or a person who needs who needs that human connection and who needs who needs God to embrace them, to embrace them in their time of need.

Sheila Nonato: 19:28

Um are you able to talk about how did you become a sister and doing this ministry?

Sister Maria Elisa: 19:38

When I discerned my vocation, I was 17. I was just finishing my high school, and I had to ask permission from my parents to join the community, and they did it, thanks be to God. And I joined the community when I was 18. And since then I've discovered and realized that our vocation is really the way of God wants to make us as happy as possible. This fulfillment of being connected with God, being in a community, the aspect that I like the most of being a nun is to live in community, to live with God and with my sisters. And being a missionary, this is my first mission abroad, I've always lived in Brazil.

Sister Maria Elisa: 20:34

But it's so good to see, so good to learn with other cultures, so good to see how people pray, how people is close to God in their own way, and to bring it to my own life in increase in holiness, in service the board, in teaching kids, because with families, we get to know so many people, so many realities that it isn't possible to not be holy. It is impossible to not be closer and closer to God. So I encourage uh the people who are who will be listening to us that pray to God, ask God, God, what do you want for me? And sometimes the challenge is not just getting the cross to ask God, but be attentive to what He will answer and then be brave enough to respond yes. T

Sheila Nonato: 21:47

hank you for sharing that. And just for our listeners who might be struggling with something, who might feel God is not quite close to them, um, and the cross, they feel the cross is too heavy to bear. How can you help us? What how can we see the cross in a way that can bring us out of our I guess our darkness or or whatever we're struggling with? How can we see Jesus when everything is in darkness?

Sister Maria Elisa: 22:26

From my own experience, I ran to the mother of God. I went to her going to Mary, and it's amazing to see in her life how much joy, uh how much pain. She is the mother of sorrows, mother of mercy, and looking at Mary and see that she was a human being by us, and she had this faith she despised everything and deserved to live to God, no matter what happened she was with him because she knew in her heart that God was above everything. And one time I was going through very difficult moments in my life, and through a holy cream, I got to understand everything, Mother of Mercy, Mother of Mercy.

Sister Maria Elisa: 23:36

This is what I did, and I think is Mother Mary is just a such good example for us to be always close to God, to choose Him above everything else, and looking at her just we can't be sad, looking at her of her passion, of her love. She's really our mother, and we have a mother who brings us to the father, so we have everything. Yes, and I agree that you're you're saying that sometimes for uh for some people it's hard to go straight to the father. Sometimes they have to go to the mother first to to ask the mother, "Can you help me bring me to the Father?" Or I I'd like to ask something from the father, "Can you please, Mother Mary, uh ask Him for me, because I know he can't refuse you."

Sister Maria Elisa: 24:36

So just when he in the miracle of Cana, when he when when uh Mother Mary asked him, please do this for me, and and he followed.

Sheila Nonato: 24:45

Um, but yeah, I just find that in this month of the Holy Rosary, too, as we were focusing on Mother Mary, that what your reflection uh was your sharing of your reflection is just sort of a good, a beautiful tie-in of how we are also remembering and honoring Jesus' Mother this month. Um and uh I just wanted to also um ask you about so you mentioned earlier there was a ministry for uh individuals who were um in prostitution. Are you doing that in Hamilton too, or is that just in Brazil?

Sister Maria Elisa: 25:21

Not here, in Hamilton. Not here. We assist then by our ministries and go to the street, we assist then here in our house. But we don't have to do specific ministry here, unfortunately.

Sheila Nonato: 25:34

And can you tell us uh the the situation in Hamilton in terms of people living in homelessness? Um during the how many years have you been in in uh Hamilton?

Sister Maria Elisa: 25:47

Just one year.

Sheila Nonato: 25:48

In terms of ... okay. I was gonna ask you if he had noticed if uh it's the situation has maybe deteriorated um in terms of the number of people who are now on the streets, or um I I guess you wouldn't be able to give us an idea of how the homelessness situation is.

Sister Maria Elisa: 26:10

I'm not able, but my communion has been here in the diocese for more than seven, eight years. And I've heard from our volunteers too that it it has increased. But it's always hard to say the calls because they are so many. They are so many. And for for those people who um I'm just thinking of Mother Teresa as well, when I'm hearing your story, you know, there are some people who are like, you know, they we some yeah, we sometimes, you know, this is our nature, sometimes is we pass judgment. Oh, why don't they just get a job or something like you know, something terrible? Like, but how do you see people as they are, as God created them to be? How can we, those who of us who have this mentality, might have this mentality, how can we change that to see them as a child of God and have more compassion? I need to remember that we all we are all disciples. We are all disciples, we are running to the Father because we all are lacking something. It makes me remember it's it reminds me of the parable of the beach man who went to Jesus who knelt before him and said, Master, good master, good teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus says, You know the commandments, and he said, Yes, I know, and I've done this all through all my life. And Jesus didn't correct him, Jesus didn't say, You are lying to me, you are not serving, you are not obeying the commandments, but he he did it, he was right, and Jesus says, But you are still lacking something, go sell everything you have, and then follow me. I like to say, I like to think that this man he was he fulfilled the commandments about loving brothers and sisters, but he was liking loving God above everything else.

Sister Maria Elisa: 28:38

That's why Jesus invited him to come follow me. If you say that I'm good, only God is good, so you know that I'm God, then just leave everything and come follow me, and you are gonna be perfect, you're gonna inherit, you're gonna have a treasure in heaven. But he wasn't able to do so. So here we see that we are all disciples, we are all sons and daughters of God, and we are all lacking in something I might be lacking in something different than you or than the others, but I am still a disciple as much as you are, so we need to stop to see things as I recognize there. I'm here, you are there, and people are lower than me, but we are all disciples of Christ, and we when we got to understand that so we stopped with this creating difference in distance from each other, and we are united for our purpose, our goal, and I know it is hard, I've been serving more than seven years in.

Sister Maria Elisa: 30:00

S ometimes it is hard to look at the people and do not judge and not say what you're doing in your life, you're wrong. Don't just see that you're gonna die, don't see that you are bringing pain for your family, don't you see that you're totally wrong. But everybody has have their own reasons. That just only the person God knows what they are going through. God only knows as with this rich men, maybe at the eyes of all the people around here, he was kind of perfect, he fulfilled all the commandments, but he knew and Jesus knew that he was lacking in something. Okay, God is the only one who knows the heart. So we need to run to God and say, God, make me understand that I am a disciple and that my brother and Archie.

Sister Maria Elisa: 31:12

I'm not the teacher here. I'm not the master, I'm a disciple.

Sheila Nonato: 31:20

Yes, beautiful. And I I agree with you that other people can teach us more than we think we can teach them. I just remember um this 20 years ago now in university at St. Michael's College in downtown Toronto. I had been volunteering at a soup kitchen at the university. And when I I I didn't, everyone else had a job and I didn't have, I didn't know what to do. There was nothing for me to do. So I just started wiping the tables. But it was like my way of trying to talk to the people there because I'm very shy. And it's hard for me to talk. So I had an excuse to just be doing something, you know.

Sister Maria Elisa: 31:57

And then once I started talking to them, and once they started talking to me, they would tell me stories. And, you know, they it just, yeah, it kind of like the scales fall off of my scales fell off of my eyes. And I realized, yeah, these these are this is like we are of the same family, really. Um, you know, we're all, yeah, we're all children of God. And some of us may have, you know, may have just gone into hard times.

Sister Maria Elisa: 32:26

And we just need somebody to recognize that, you know, that humanity in us. Um, and as you were saying, you know, that it was that like I I felt like it was that encounter, like I encountered not just the person. I encountered, sorry, I'm gonna cry because it makes me like really treasure that moment, like to encounter Jesus in in the other person. Um, I just thought that was such a beautiful gift. And I find what you're doing is also such a beautiful blessing for for the people that you encounter. And thank you for thank you for doing that. And sorry, I I don't know why I start crying, but but it just like really touched me.

Sister Maria Elisa: 33:07

Like I think Jesus touched my heart again. But yes, thank you for that. We move, then we see, then we like we stop and we think and realize that look at the people who live in the street, look at them, they're hungry, they're starving, they're cold, they're losing that humanity, their dignity. And if we stop and think that they choose to be there because maybe being there for them is better, it's a better life than the one they had before. Look at that. Look how terrible it is for them they prefer to to live this way because back then it was even harder for them. Look at when we see, even realize this, we stop judging and we are moved with desired. I wanna go back, I wanna listen to them. I want to see what happens, I wanna see if I can do something. Sometimes we cannot. We cannot because we can't choose for them. This decision has to come from their heart, and sometimes it's sometimes not always it's really difficult. It's not easy, they are not that because there's just wake up in the morning and I want to go to the street because I want to die. And that is more than that, there is a future, there is hope. If we are willing to stretch our hands and say, despite all of your faults, I don't even know you, but I'm here because Jesus said that every time that we felt hungry and every time that we gave at least that cup of water for those words, we did it for me.

Sister Maria Elisa: 35:19

Because we see Jesus in them. You see that they are God's creation, they are I mean God loves them as much as He loves me. So I can't just look at them and see that I'm better and they are totally wrong. They might be, but I'm not the judge, I'm not the father of them. I'm just a sister, and that's what I'm called to be a sister, and we all need to understand that we are brothers and sisters, and then we are going to go together to the father.

Sheila Nonato: 36:09

Yes, and yeah, there are a lot of stories of how people, you know, and even in our own our own lives, we have our own stories, how we ended up there, mental health, uh yeah, we're having a mental health crisis in Canada, um, and around the world, really, a crisis also of love, um of connection, of family, um, and of recognizing human dignity. And I think um I just I remember again another story. I was outside, I was in university again, um, outside a fast food place, and there was a man begging, begging. He was sitting there. A lady came outside with some food, and she angrily handed it to him, like, here, right? Like, as if, you know, she was really annoyed that she had to give this to him. And he actually said, "No, thank you. No, thank you," because of the way she did it. And I think we failed to recognize, we forget, you know, there's a human, there's dignity.

Sheila Nonato: 37:07

There's dignity in each person. When we see somebody on the street, we can say hello. It's okay, like, you know, even if we don't have anything to give, even maybe just saying hello, recognizing that they exist, that they're there, um, or just say, I'll pray for you, um, something like that. Maybe that might might help them in in some way. Maybe that might cheer them up that day, might give them hope that, you know, you're just not passing by, but you just you recognize they're there, that you recognize their dignity.

Sheila Nonato: 37:38

And yeah, again, I think this is kind of lacking in our society that we don't recognize um the inherent human dignity that we we all have been given by God. Um, was there anything else that you wanted to add?

Sister Maria Elisa: 37:55

You got to a point really important that I wanted to mention. Sometimes they don't see themselves, those who are in the street, under the effect of the drugs. They don't see themselves as a person dig who is worthy of being called dear. And they they don't realize that they are worthy, but I know they have this dignity. Sometimes we find some people who disagree with our ministries because they say that we are kinda if we give food for them, they're gonna stay on the streets. But as you said, it's not about the food. It's not about money, it's not about the food. It's really deeper. It's more than that.

Sister Maria Elisa: 38:48

So we want to be there and we will continue to go to the street because we want them to realize that they are worthy of a good morning, and they are worthy of how are you doing today, how was your week? You are important, important for me, even though you don't you don't realize it where you are. With our presence, we want to bring them hope that they can change if they want, they can have a future different.

Sheila Nonato: 39:27

Yes, giving them hope and a hope that is rooted in him, in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful story, and I hope it touches um many people. And hopefully, if you'd like to donate, I will leave the website of the sisters um in the show notes so they can get in you can get in touch with them. Um and again, Sister Maria Elisa, thank you so much. Um, my morning has been blessed, it's been filled with many graces from speaking with you. And I thank you so much again. I am I'm so humbled that you have chosen to speak with me. Thank you so much.

Sister Maria Elisa: 40:07

Thank you for the opportunity. And once more, if you in our website with our email cell phone number, if you want to have more information about our "Be Sober" mission, just contact us. Thank you. Thank you, sister.

Co-Host: 40:24

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