Catholic Extension Society announces LUMEN CHRISTI AWARD to the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary working in the Rio Grande Valley

I am very happy to share with you the news that the Catholic Extension society has awarded the LUMEN CHRISTI Award this year to the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary working tirelessly here in the Diocese of Brownsville to build up the community in the area of western Hidalgo County, in and around Pueblo de las Palmas. Here is the text of the announcement:

"We are proud to announce the 2014 recipients of our Lumen Christi Award! Sister Carolyn Kosub, Sister Emily Jocson and Sister Fatima Santiago of the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville have spent more than a decade ministering to the needs of residents in one of the most impoverished areas of the country by building up a vibrant Catholic community in southern Texas. Watch the video and click the link to read about their extraordinary efforts to shine the light of Christ and transform lives through faith. Full story: cathext.in/1s6NWhi "

God continue to bless the Sisters!

This announcement brings great joy to my heart. I have shared many happy moments with the Sisters, and look forward to many more. This is a moment to give thanks to God for all the generous prayer and work given by the Sisters over the years, and for the fruit that God has brought forth through their efforts. Let us thank God, let us also thank Sister Carolyn, Sister Emily and Sister Fatima, and the members of the IHM community world-wide, and let us thank Catholic Extension for their strong and vital support of the missionary work of the Church here in the Rio Grande Valley and throughout the  United States.

A happy moment at St. Anne's Church earlier this summer,
as the community gathered to celebrate the Feast of Saint Anne.

Their work and that of so many other religious and lay persons, serving as living messengers of the Gospel in some of the poorest regions of the Rio Grande Valley, are what have made it possible for beautiful things to happen in the lives of so many of our brothers and sisters. The Rio Grande Valley is a generous and hospitable place, welcoming and kind; this spirit of the Gospel which is so evident here is the result of God's grace and the work of so many religious women and men who served here and who have served here for over 160 years.

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