New Year’s in Brooklyn: An Invitation to Remember
New Year’s was celebrated in Brooklyn in the company of several missionary alumni, who came “home” for the festivities! Here are some of their reflections.
“New Year’s Eve with the Con-solatio family is an opportunity to be reminded of our mission. It is a display of the incarnated reality of what compassionate love looks like. Coming at the end of one year and the beginning of another, this event is the perfect way to take stock of what has come before and recharge for the year to come. As always, visiting the Brooklyn community is an invitation to remember who I am as part of this family and that it is possible to live this way.” –Fr. Peter S. (Argentina, 2012)
“Our celebration of New Year’s Eve and preceding preparations was very beautiful. It brought me back to moments on my mission where we as a community spend much time and energy to attend to all the small details of getting to offer something beautiful to our friends and each other. It’s always amazing to me the planning, care, coordination, and teamwork that comes together to make something beautiful and it’s a gift to be able to contribute a small part to that. In my everyday life, I often feel like I am responsible for an immense amount of things to get done all by myself with not enough time to do it as well as I would like, especially with work where I very much feel like I’m still learning how to be a teacher. This makes it difficult to discover how to infuse details of love in the midst of an ever present sense of stress and overwhelm, leaving little energy to do that in other areas of my life as well. To be able to focus all of my attention and care with love on a task that participated in this larger offering of a joyful celebration for friends was really healing for my heart and meaningful to get to be a part of. Seeing the peace and joy on all the guests’ faces throughout the evening, taking in the spirit of love that was the fruit of all the probably “unnoticed” specific details that everyone contributed to preparing was really beautiful. It reminds me that when I experience delight in my life, I am experiencing the fruits of all the details, attention, and effort God has for my life that I could never notice fully or itemize… but I love how they are all experienced in my life.” –Elizabeth P. (Brazil, 2019)
“When invited to sing at the nursing home, I was so grateful to be asked to serve in that way. When there are sufferings in life, it can be tempting to get lost in them, submerged by them. But being asked to give, to serve is precisely what is needful. I still think of those many faces of the residents, aunt and niece from North Carolina on my right, Natalia’s infectious smile and humming, the dancing, even the less responsive who raised a hand or a head for a moment. And I also remember the faces of Joe and Caleb, completely given to the music and to being there with the residents. It is by serving and serving together that I remembered who I am.” –Justine C. (Senegal, 2019)