The Trellis

Where to begin?

Where to begin? Or continue rather? It’s been terribly long since my last entry, Je comprends…
Oh yes, I could start there. I recently returned from France…Paray-le-Monial, which is about an hour from Dijon, which may mean nothing to many of you, but it’s in the middle of France. This place is known as a special pilgrimage site for many Catholics because it is the site where Jesus appeared to a woman named Marguerite Marie Alacoque in the 16th century. It was there that He showed her His sacred heart. She has since been canonized a saint because of the devotion she showed to Him, and consequently compelled others to do the same. The message of Paray, of Jesus’ Sacred Heart, is one of love—total, self-giving, pure love for the Lord and for all humanity. The ESM Roma met there with the three other Emmanuel Community mission schools (from Paray-le-Monial; Altotting, Germany; and Vienna, Austria). It was an historical event, because never before have all four of the schools come together for a weekend such as this to work together and get to know one another.

The weekend doubled as a winter retreat for youth run by the Emmanuel Community, hence the reason why we were there. If you can, imagine a small-scale version of a Steubenville Conference. Or if that makes no sense to you either, it’s essentially a time of praise (prayerful, energetic singing), adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Mass, times of teaching, testimony, silence and fellowship. It was a real gift to be there and to experience the peace of Paray-le-Monial, after the hustle and bustle of Rome. I also helped out as part of the music ministry team by singing the English versions of the songs we prayed with. That was also a gift and a great learning experience. It’s certainly something I’ve found I have a great strength for, and one that I want to continually develop.

Another great joy of this weekend was making the decision to take a first step into the Emmanuel Community. It’s called a step of ‘Welcome and Discernment’, and basically means that I’m just checking the community out. I have essentially been doing that by living the life of the school, through praise, adoration, daily mass, and mission work. So this step, which could last a couple of years even, is for me to discern whether or not the charism and life of the community is something that will help me go deeper in my faith, and most importantly bring the life and light of Christ to others. It’s not binding. I’m not necessarily going to be a nun, nor will I have to give them my first-born child. It is a great joy and freedom to have made a step towards a commitment like this. I have such a desire to continue doing something for my faith, for my family—the family of brothers and sisters I have “acquired” in the community, and the family of the Body of Christ in the world.

Another huge thing we have experienced since the last time I wrote was the mission in Ireland (I’m going backwards). We spent the weeks after Christmas vacation preparing teachings, classroom encounters, testimonies, and skits. When we got to Newbridge, County Kildare, we were welcomed by so many parishioners and community members…some who were anticipating our arrival and some who only discovered the mission as we met them on the streets, in the schools, and in the pubs. Yes, I did say pubs! One of our particularly effective ministries was to be present in the pubs, where we engaged people in speaking about our lives and how Christ has affected us. Sometimes it was incredibly difficult to make the first step to communicate, but after a while there were many encounters that truly showed the Holy Spirit working in their hearts and ours. Many lives were touched.

We also spent much of the daytime hours in the various primary and secondary schools in the parish. In the former we sang songs and played games, and in the latter we even sang some songs too, but our main focus there was to give our testimonies. This part for me was the most interesting, moving, challenging, and profound part of the mission. After spending much of the time in the boys and co-ed schools, the time I spent in the all girls’ school was very rewarding. That is not to say of course that I didn’t like the boys. It was just that I felt like I found my particular niche and strength in speaking to the young women in the Holy Family secondary school. I could relate to them, being a young woman myself, and felt a certain kind of call to work with youth in this type of capacity in the future. One of the young ladies I encountered came up to me just before we left, and intimated to me that our coming had changed her life, and it brought her a whole new way of looking at life. That not only touched my heart, and made me want to cry, but it helped me firm up my desire to teach. Whereas before I knew that teaching was something I could do, now I think teaching is something I really want to do.

You may recall from previous posts that the idea of a ‘bridge’ is a recurring image in our lives at the school this year. The motif still persisted with the mission in Ireland because before we even had any chance to mention this to them, the parish team themselves came up with the theme of building a ‘new bridge’ for Newbridge. And as it turns out they are building a new physical bridge over the river that runs through the town. We really took Christ from the tabernacle to the streets on our mission, and praise God for the people we met and hearts that were changed. My Christmas vacation was blessed as well.

I got the chance to spend much time with my whole family and Stephen, all twelve of us. My nephews are growing up so well. They are incredibly intelligent, funny, and cute. Lots of energy…God save their mother! Of course there was not enough time to spend with each of my brothers and sister, but I think overall it was a great time for the whole family. I personally felt much peace. And of course seeing my girlfriends was awesome as well. I miss them, and wish we could all be doing exactly what we wanted to do, in the same country…

My dear friend, and European traveling companion, went and got herself hitched on January 7th, and I was honored to be a part of her wedding. It was beautiful, and I can’t wait till she has babies…all in due time of course ;)

So...I’m going to sign off for now. We’ll be traveling to the Netherlands in a couple of weeks for another mission, so please keep us in your prayers. We’ll need them greatly. Easter is just around the corner as well, so if anyone is interested in making a retreat for the Easter Triduum, attached is a link to some information about it.

I hope the New Year is treating you well, and please let me know if there is anything you’d like me to pray for. Pace!

posted by Mish @ 16:54