God will show the path of life

And in his presence is the fullness of joy
And at his right hand there will be joy forever (cf, Psalm 16: 11).

Congratulations to you Sr. Barbara of the Sacred Heart Soondar!

In October 1979 Sr. Barbara entered our novitiate in Arouca to become a Sister of St. Joseph of Cluny. She made her first profession on May 8, 1982.  The social and cultural climate when Sr. Barbara entered was not much different from what it is today, so her decision to leave all and to follow the Evangelical Way of poverty, chastity and obedience was a deep act of faith.

This is the age when people think of mapping out their own destiny, of being independent, of setting their own goals and of achieving them.  However, Sr. Barbara was prepared to relinquish this option and choose religious life. 

Twenty-five years have passed and Sister is celebrating the privilege with which God has blessed her. She is happy to have been called to serve God and his people in the Congregation.

In July1982, shortly after her profession, Sister began a nurses’ training course in Castries, St. Lucia. This course completed, she returned to Trinidad and Tobago where she has worked in District Hospitals, Health Care Centres, catering for infants of parents in the lower income bracket – among other duties. 

She ministered to battered women and, with others helping her, she was able to help enhance their skills in cake-making and icing.  She was part of our Moruga experience of an inter-congregation community – Cluny and the Holy Faith Sisters.

Sister Barbara has visited homes, hospitals and the prisons voluntarily to bring cheer and comfort and has served in many places, including San Fernando, Princes Town, Couva, Chaguanas, Tabaquite and Gasparillo. She has also been a Eucharist minister.

Sister has laboured long and consistently in caring for people through her work in the nursing field and her voluntary social services.  Was it all plain sailing?  Certainly not, but Sr.

Barbara felt called and with her hand in the hand of God, her religious sisters and others to support her, she has been blessed with 25 years of commitment and service.  Left to herself she would have been prepared to let the day go unnoticed, or for the most part, mark it with Mass in our little chapel in the presence of her Community.

We as Cluny Sisters wanted to pay tribute to her for being one of us and for contributing to our work of service to God’s people especially, the deprived, the sick, and the poor. 

We wanted her family, our affiliates and associates, friends and well-wishers to recognise this milestone in Sr. Barbara’s life and to join with us in giving thanks to God for her.

Her passion, I think, is very clear to all those who know Sr. Barbara.  She is extremely concerned about the poor and the underprivileged, and is prepared to struggle to see justice done.  Her dream is to minister to and work among the poor in a rural setting, somewhere in South Trinidad. 

Will her dream come true?  This is still God’s secret. At present she is living and working in our novitiate house and has plans for a sabbatical that will allow her to deepen her spirituality in the hope that she will help others to do the same. 

Sr. Barbara, we wish you joy and peace and many more happy and fruitful years in God’s service!  May God bless you richly!