Thankfulness

A few weeks ago I read a blog post written by a friend from college who is also committing a year of her life to service. Colleen is currently working as a nurse and serving the people of Guyana. In her blog post she talks about the challenges of encountering all the pain, suffering, and poverty around her. But she doesn’t stop there; she also calls to mind all the good things: the happiness, seeing God in the people she meets, the laughter, love, and joy. I think being able to find joy in the pain and suffering is so beautiful. Colleen’s words have kept coming to mind quite a bit in the past few weeks. They have served to remind me that I should be thankful to have the opportunities that I have, and to be where I am. With Thanksgiving approaching I am reminded to give thanks to God for these many blessings, many of which I must admit I take for granted most days of the year.

            Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, “We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.” There have been many times in the past month or so when I have forgotten this sentiment.

Many mornings I wake up to the sound of my alarm and grimace at the time and thought of waking up to go to Mass. As much as I am horribly embarrassed to admit that, I am telling you this because it illustrates my point. I am so incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to have a church practically right outside my door and to attend Mass every day. This amazing and beautiful gift that Jesus gives us Himself in the Eucharist; this seemingly ordinary but really extraordinary and “really not small gift,” I take for granted by not wanting to wake up early enough to receive Him.

I have been stressing a lot lately about taking the GRE’s and the idea of applying to grad school. But thinking back to Colleen’s post, I realize how thankful I should be that I get to worry about taking GRE’s and applying to grad school. I am privileged that those are my biggest worries at the moment. I don’t have to worry about most things people in the developing world have to worry about. Now, I don’t say this to bring anyone down or to make anyone feel guilty, that is not my intention. I just needed to remind myself that those stresses too, are a gift.

My community is also something I am tempted to think of as ordinary and small, but really is a wonderful and amazing gift. There have been times after long stressful days, when I want to be alone, or times when I have focused on ways my community members annoy or frustrate me. In those times I forget what a gift they are in my life; I forget to be thankful for their presence, love, support, encouragement, and the fact that we get to journey together this year. I am thankful for all of our dinners together, all our conversations about everything and nothing, all the laughter and silliness like someone stealing other people’s seats, Gilbert the turkey hat, making bear noises, and the countless jokes and fun times. I am thankful for all the evenings we’ve spent watching Gilmore Girls, all the trips to Panera or to some other food place when we were too tired and too lazy to cook for ourselves, and all the nights we sat on the floor in our hallway and shared stories. I am also thankful for the moments when we’ve shared our faith together, and all the times prayed together before bed in the chapel. These are the moments I am thankful for; these seemingly ordinary, small moments which Bonhoeffer believes are not so small and ordinary at all.

- Amanda 

The Family and Service Retreat: A Reflection

It was Friday and for some reason I struggled to remember all week that we had retreat this coming weekend. Luckily I had my community to remind me that I should pack for the weekend. For whatever reason, the Family Service Retreat came by surprise even though it had been on my calendar all year long.  Friday night, families started arriving as we put together the final pieces of the retreat.

The family service retreat was like no other retreat we have had so far. Not only did we get the joy of hanging out with our CYFMers but we got to enjoy their family too! Teens came, bringing their siblings and parents. We all had one mission, to serve families in need as a CYFM family and with our own families.  We woke up early Saturday morning to begin making bunk beds for local families who are in difficult situations and struggling to provide for their children.

Preparing for the retreat, I reflected on the family profiles of the families we were serving. I created points of reflection to help retreatants feel more connected to the people they were serving. As I created these profiles I prayed for the families and when it came time to make the bunk beds on Saturday, I felt that I was doing more than just staining pieces of wood, but something much greater. I knew that these pieces of wood were going to become a part of a bed for someone in need. Throughout the weekend, each family spiritually adopted a family in need and we all prayed for them as we worked.

My favorite part of the retreat was serving with the families who were on retreat with us. The family dynamics were something to enjoy. Families seem to be freer to be silly around each other and they tend to make others laugh by making fun of each other in a loving way. By the end of the weekend, it was hard to tell who belonged to what family, we all felt like one big family!  

Being far away from my family, I really enjoyed feeling part of a family. Families have a special kind of love and great a unique atmosphere. This weekend I really felt like I was with family and felt even more at home here at CYFM. It was so beautiful to see families being together, serving together, eating together, and praying together.

Pope Francis has been reminding us the importance of families. He has been emphasizing the Family as the miniature church and reminding us that God came to us in a family. Jesus was born into a family and through this he sanctifies our everyday life. We are all called to be saints, and it is in the family where this call to sainthood is nurtured. At the family service retreat I really saw our church alive through all the families that came to be part of the beautiful weekend!

Until next time

-Sam

Love is Our Mission: That time the Pope was in the U.S. (Part Two)

As we ended our time at Catholic Underground, we stopped downstairs to use the bathroom and to say hi to some people. We ended up running into a bunch of people from CYFM, the archdiocese, and some people from my home diocese, Rockville Centre. As I waited online for the bathroom, my fellow CCVs were able to acquire tickets to the Papal event in Central Park the next day. The CFRs were giving out their extra tickets to the attendees, and we were able to get the three we needed to go as a group. Our tickets were in the yellow section, and we had to be in Central Park by 3pm the next day.

We went into CYFM in the morning to finish preparing for our upcoming retreats, and were able to leave at lunch time to take the train from Garrison to Grand Central. We ate our lunch on the train, and napped, and then set out for central park. We walked from Grand Central so that we could see all of the sites of the city. We also weren't sure how crowded the city would be, and didn't want to squeeze onto an already packed subway car. It all worked for the best though. After an hour or so, we made our way through security and made our way into the park. We secured a spot next to two strollers (to avoid the congested crowd) and took a selfie.

So many people!

Two hours later, the crowds stood and (patiently?) waited for Papa. Now, these full time Catholic volunteers were very excited. As we got closer to 5pm, 4/5 of us couldn't see because of all the people, but lucky for us, Paul could still see and secured a video for our archives. 

He may not have been looking our way, but it was still incredible to be there. 

Knowing how much the world loves this man, makes me realize how he is leading us as a shepherd. He truly shows us what it is to love like Christ. Below are a couple of pictures of the Pope's visit to NYC and Philadelphia. In NYC he visited a catholic elementary school in Harlem where he met with students and faculty. In Philadelphia, one of his many stops was to a Philadelphia Prison.

Taken from Fr. James Martin, SJ's Facebook:
Quote of the Day: Little girl at Our Lady Queen of Angels School in Harlem to Pope Francis working a computer screen: "You have to double click it!"

Taken from Mark Hart's Facebook:

My absolute favorite pic from #PopeinUS - taken when he visited inmates in a Philly prison.
(Matt 25:39-40)
Our God is a God of hope and unyielding mercy...

I think that the majority of the Catholic (and non-catholic) world was excited for the Pope to be in the United States. But for these Cap Corps Volunteers, it was a reminder of why we each chose to do a year of service. Pope Francis taught us to serve in Humility and Love, and to love each person as Christ loves them. Love truly is our Mission.

That time the Pope was in the U.S. (Part One)

As full time volunteers, the CCVs didn't expect to partake in any of the events happening in NYC because of Pope Francis's visit to the United States and Cuba. However, that's not the way it worked out. As a community, we joked that Jesus must have really wanted us to go see the Pope (but more on that next week). The night that the Pope arrived in New York, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal decided to hold a special Catholic Underground with Matt Maher. 

Catholic Underground is an event held in NYC every first weekend of the month by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFRs). It is an evening of praise which starts with evening prayer and continues with adoration and praise and worship music. While these wonderful things are taking place, the faithful are invited to take part in the sacrament of reconciliation. Following benediction, confessions continue, and there is usually some sort of entertainment in the "underground" part of the church. The night ends with night prayer. It's all in all a really great night. In high school and college I (Mary) would go to CU with a group of friends almost every month. CU was one thing that I really wanted to share with my community here at CYFM. 

About a week before the Pope arrived, we still didn't have tickets to any of the special events in the city. However, while the lady CCVs went on an evening walk, Paul was able to get the five CCVs tickets to this event! It was totally last minute, and unexpected, but totally amazing and cool. 

A few days later was the big event. We were able to leave work early to get to the city for 3 pm. Our tickets said to arrive that early because they were expecting many people. We parked across the street from the Parish hosting CU, received our wrist bands, ate an early dinner, and waited on line for 2 hours.

We took our seats and entered into adoration. Confessions were going on at the same time, and many of us took advantage of that. After being CCVs for a month, most of us felt that we needed this night to reconnect with the Lord. The Friars played Good Good Father during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and it was incredible. I had never heard the song before, but it has become one of my favorites. Take some time and listen to the version I linked to above, you won't regret it. 

After benediction, the Friars set up a simulcast of what was happening at Saint Patrick's Cathedral. So, we prayed Evening Prayer with the Pope. It was pretty cool. 

After praying with the Pope, Matt Maher came out with his band and we worshiped with him. 

It was awesome. There are no other words for how great this night in NYC was. 

Look out for Part Two next week!

- Mary