Fr. Fernando Suarez: Priest Like Jesus

To God be the glory!

-written June 01, 2019-

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We give God all the glory for what He is doing in India and the Philippines.

From one drastically different mission field to another, we journeyed from India to the Philippines. We started with some R and R in Manila, then partook in a glorious healing Mass with Fr. Fernando Suarez, our friend and founder of Mary Mother of the Poor foundation and the Missionaries of Mary Mother of the Poor. In the words of one of his seminarians, since the people are coming to church less and less, the community has discerned to have Mass in the mall: "we go to them now."

The seminarians were like angels, dressed in white. They led the approximately 1,000 people in attendance in beautiful worship. The Tagalog worship music is soaring and sing-song, so affectionate towards the Lord. It is easy to enter into worship from the heart with this sound of romance with Jesus.

Father Fernando's ministry is marked with uncommon miracles. ( Acts 19) His life is completely supernatural and favoured of the Lord. We ourselves, and many of those we know, have received tremendous blessings from the Lord through the ministry of this humble priest, who always claims he is only the "instrument of the Lord."

His ministry as a priest began with leading retreats and Life in the Spirit Seminars, until his gift of healing exploded and launched him into an international healing ministry where literally thousands of people have been healed. We keep hearing more and more supernatural stories. At a healing Mass in Africa, feathers began to fall from the sky onto the congregation! Cancer, addictions, you name it and it has probably been healed by the power of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of Fr. Suarez.

A long time friend of our ministry was healed of near-paralysis when her husband simply touched the TV screen upon which Fr. Fernando was being broadcast, and prayed. Alleluia!

When we attended The Send in Orlando last February, we offered our lives totally to the Lord in prayer that was the culmination of a journey of nearly 2 years of seeking God and His will for our lives. We knew His call to serve, but so many trials sought to prevent us from following Him.

Only 2 days after The Send, Fr. Fernando called us and invited us to join the mission in India. We were praying, "absolutely anywhere, Lord!" (but thinking most likely Ontario, Canada)

The Lord took us at our word and we were truly sent. As you know, India was a blessing. But, we felt that our ministry was fully activated in the Philippines.

To our great honour, we were first invited to lead the worship during the healing service following the Mass in the mall. Beforehand, Fr. Fernando called us up in front of the whole congregation to introduce us. He said that the reason he invited us into his ministry is because of our love for Jesus- that he has never met a couple so in love with Jesus before! Wow. Praise God.

He told the people that our marriage is true love, and a sign that nothing is impossible for God! (check it out in this video: "Who We Are")

We were privileged then to attend Fr. Suarez's 17th anniversary as a priest. Lee Anne had attended his 7th priestly anniversary. Their paths had crossed many times in Canada, where Lee Anne attended many healing Masses.

What was before a convergence of streams has turned into a raging river as the anointings of two ministries are united to shake the nations.

We were humbled when Father asked us to lead his seminarians through a week workshop on the Anointing of the Holy Spirit through Praise and Worship. We taught and witnessed from our personal experiences, Scripture, the Catechism and lives of the saints that praise and worship is one special way to enter into a daily experience of the anointing. The anointing is the Father's Love poured out in a tangible way into our hearts. (Romans 5:5) We enter His courts with praise. (Psalm 100:4) We thus put into practice with the seminarians what the Lord teaches us through so many means, coming under the anointing of the Holy Spirit through praise and worship. We did this twice a day in order to soak as much as possible in the presence of the Lord, which is what Fr. Fernando requested.

We also did Bible sharing and emphasized the importance and power of daily Scripture, especially the four healing Gospels. Here is where the Lord heals and empowers us as He speaks. Lee Anne always says "a chapter a day keeps the devil away!"

The joy of the Lord was poured out, and we believe the anointing and freedom of the Spirit has flowed over the Missionaries of Mary Mother of the Poor.

In the evenings, the young men had the opportunity to practice witnessing their vocation stories, for which they were invited to prepare prayerfully. They took it seriously, and we could see that each one has experienced the call of God to deeper conversion through the example of Fr. "-Do" and Fr. Jeff Shannon.

The daily schedule of the Missionaries, which we experienced, is a blessed one: morning holy hour with the exposion Blessed Sacrament, including rosary; morning prayer; breakfast and morning session with praise and worship. Free afternoon until Mass at 5 pm and then evening session of witnessing. Amazingly, every day Fr. Jeff at daily Mass, preached the same points, that we covered without knowing the material we presented in the morning!

We are very impressed and delighted with the openness and integrity of the young men, the future of this community, and would recommend any man discerning his vocation to "dare to be a missionary like them"!

Please pray for this congregation of the Missionaries of Mary Mother of the Poor. Please take it to serious prayer that the Lord send laborers into His harvest field, priests and brothers, active and contemplative sisters.

This community is truly devoted to the Blessed Mother, the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist.

Please take to prayer if God is calling you to the mission field as lay missionaries like us, or as a religious brother, sister or priest. Doctors, dentists, nurses, all types of volunteers are needed. "The fields are white for the harvest," and it is never too late to join in God's work. If you feel God's call to help in the missions, whether it be a more permanent call, or a shorter stint working for the poor, contact us through our website.

One thing for sure is every little bit counts, whether it is time, talent or treasure.

A big thank you and extra prayers from the community to those who have already given to our GoFundMe campaign. God bless you! Donations were used to help purchase backpacks and school supplies for the poor children in the Philippines. They were distributed on May 31, in honour of the Virgin Mother:

Please pray about sowing into the mission in the way God is calling you, perhaps as a benefactor. As Mother Teresa said, "hands that serve the poor are better than lips that say prayers."

"Your people shall be volunteers in the Day of Your Power." (Psalms 110:3)

Time: pray about offering your time in service by joining the mission for shorter or longer stints. Perhaps God is calling you to be a lay missionary like us! Perhaps you are a priest, who desires to spend time in the missions doing much needed sacramental ministry, or bringing a youth group for service hours and immersion?

Prayerfully consider inviting us to your church or prayer community to share about what God is doing on the mission field.

God's people need your time, talent and treasure to experience His love in concrete ways. Join the adventure.

May the anointing of the Holy Spirit pour out upon you. May the Father's Love fill you. And may Mary, Mother of the Poor intercede for all the broken ones of the world. Perhaps that is how you are feeling today- she is ready to bless you.

St. John Paul II

St. Teresa of Calcutta

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Faustyna

St. Joseph

St. Benedict

...pray for us

All angels and archangels

...protect us

Mary, Mother of the Poor

...pray for us

May the will of God be done

...now and always!

In the Father's Love and Mother Mary's intercession,

Dan and Lee Anne

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