Beth shares her experience of visiting her daughter, Justine, on mission in Senegal. On a sandy side street of a densely populated area, the mission home in Dakar, Senegal beats with the presence of the Holy Sacrament in the chapel of a corner room. I witnessed the disciplined life of prayer that my daughter, Justine (USA),...
Andie is on mission in India. As often as we in the West talk about the weather, the people here in our corner of India talk about food. ‘How are you?’ is replaced with ‘Saptingelaa?’ (‘Did you eat?’) from which flows an entire conversation about what, when, and how much we ate. Beyond surface-level pleasantries, I’ve come...
Selen Y. lives in our Brooklyn community. There is a women’s homeless shelter that we visit every Tuesday. This facility is specific for women that also suffer from mental illness. What gathers us together is that we sing songs of worship and we pray a decade of the rosary. The women that I encounter at the shelter make me...
Thank you for coming to give thanks with me for this year of mission. I want to thank you for what was the most beautiful year because in this year I discovered where one encounters happiness. That for one to be happy does not depend on material things, nor in having a life without struggle or suffering,...
By Craig and Debbie T. As parents of a young Con-solatio missionary, Debbie and I were overjoyed to be able to visit with Mollie in Deva, Romania. It wasn't long into our visit that we both sensed that the magnitude of our visit was pointing to something much greater than the personal reunion that we had...
Our Con-solatio community in Brooklyn recently welcomed five students from the University of Notre Dame into our home for several days to share in our lives and ministry. Brigid and Meredith share about their experience! "These few days in the Con-solatio community taught me so much about how impactful the act of friendship and presence is...
Alexa is on mission in Peru. The first time I visited our weekly apostolate, a juvenile detention center for around 800 boys, I attended the Baptism and first Communion of 20 of the boys in the center. As different thoughts were running through my head, I entered the chapel expecting to witness and share this moment...
Elizabeth is on mission in Brazil. I have been surprised over and over again at the amount of gifts waiting for me here in Brazil. One of the biggest ones is the faith of people here, especially of our neighbors. There is an awareness of God’s presence here, even in the midst of the seemingly unsurmountable...
Justine is on mission in Senegal. “Tanga na trop!” is one of the first things I learned to say in wolof: “It’s too hot!” I hear other people saying it too, as they pile—quite literally—into buses. During Mass, the church is so packed that we sit shoulder to shoulder. I can feel the sweat dripping down...
By Amy K. As Autumn leaves turned orange and red in Spokane, WA, Melanie and Father Alex traveled to the west coast to spend some time with the friendships formed over the many years since I returned from Honduras. How loved we feel, that they would travel across our big country merely to bless us with...