When invited to a Con-solatio event—whether it’s a movie, an art show, a cookout, a concert, a talk, or even a book launch(!), I know to go. I will be there. Why? No matter how humble or grand, the event will live in me for weeks and months to follow. It will affect my heart....
As many challenges I find in this country, I cannot help but fall in love with it all the more. India is a land of many paradoxes–filth and beauty, mystical and natural, joy and sorrow, all coexist in one wondrous reality. In just a short walk down a street in Chengalpet, I...
As I am drawing near to the end of my mission in El Salvador, I reflect on the moments that were more significant for me. A moment of encounter, a consoling word that was spoken, a kind gesture that created trust with those who were the most marginalized. Some of the populations that are more...
From March 28 to April 2nd, we enjoyed a great time of mission in Miami, Florida. Why Miami? Why not. And also because a Cuban family we love dearly, moved there a year ago, following a Catholic exodus from NY to the Southern state. It’s time to plant the seeds of our charism in the...
In Wolof, when someone says thank you, the typical response is: “Ñokabok”. Translated, it means, “We are together.” It’s a deeply rooted spirit of community. In contrast to our western exaltation of the individual, in Africa it is the community that reigns. The Senegalese people are always, literally, together, and always ready to lend a...
I first encountered Con-solatio as a seminarian during the winter of 2016. I was sent as a part of my formation to stay and minister with them for a month in their mission in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, NY. It was perhaps the best single month of my seven years of seminary formation....
I’ve been given a new gaze on what it means to be mother and woman by the way they live their life – simple, and somehow all-embracing. And they take seriously this simplicity! ...
On the first Wednesday in February, I attended a movie night hosted by Con-solatio in Brooklyn. I have attended many of these monthly gatherings, but they have come to mean even more amidst the increased social isolation of recent years. The opportunity to enjoy a potluck dinner, followed by a screening of “Women of Slender...
It’s 11:00pm. I am having a rare moment of peace in a patient’s room. A Con-solatio moment. A late night tv show with a laugh track plays in the background – I’m not paying attention to it. A change in tone catches my ear and I glance back to see the sitcom has been interrupted...
Pan Petro is my inspiration whenever we walk into his room. When he was 13 years old he stepped on a land mine which exploded, leaving him with only one working arm and two shriv-eled legs. One half of his face is disfigured, and he was blinded by the incident as well. Yet there is...