Certain missioner characteristics were defined as we drove to Staten Island from Philly. Crystal and Gina talked the whole way, listening to music. Michelle and I engaged in a very worthwhile pastime……. Napping! It was enjoyable :) We were all startled by the sound of getting a flat….and each of us thought that the sound came from our part of the car, haha… Pulling over, and getting out to look, we realized that there wasn’t one at all, great! We finished the drive, everyone awake, listening to the GSV/CMC orientation music, highlighting such tunes as “We’re all in this Together.” How true! :)
Arriving at Mount Manresa, another characteristic of some of our members, myself included, was revealed. We were late. Every GSV volunteer present, Cabrini had to make an entrance….of course! We got our rooms and went to meet all the GSVers. Enroute, I met Amy! So great! :) Continued by so many more! That night at dinner, we met Peter and Luke…both members of the “Tunk” community in Wickatunk, NJ. The rest of the volunteers, accept for the 4 wonderful girls in LA, will also be in the NYC this year! It was so great to collaborate with them! Dinner was great, and we did some meet-and-greet activities that closed with prayer, a reflection involving everyone sharing one word that described our heart: open, excited, awakened,…
I went to my room, which conveniently located on a corner, had two windows. Key for ventilation, these windows in conjunction with my fan made the room….bearable. Having two beds, I readily invited Crystal to my room. She so graciously offered, in exchange, that if she began to snore, I could go to her room….thanks lol ;) "If you're already up, why would I move." haha Michelle came to visit, and our missioner brains combined, we realized that a mattress would fit between my two beds. We’re pretty strong, of course, so we made it happen. The CMCs, more popularly known as, or we just like to refer to ourselves as, MCM resided together in Room 92. The week was off to a perfect start! Collaboration with 17 Good Shepherd Volunteers, a room for 3, great directors…wonderful!
Our retreat focused on the principle of the article from Solitude to Ministry by Henri Nowen. The idea is that rather than doing powerful ministry, sharing with our community, and then finding time for ourselves, we are instead to nurture our spirituality, then contribute to community, and go out to serve. Again, a perfect way to start out the year. Nothing could be more directly related to what this next year as a missioner should be...or needed to be, for me!
Good Shepherd focuses on 4 tenants: spirituality, community, simplicity, and justice. These in conjunction with our Cabrinian call to the charism sum up what I am doing here! As we touched on and explored these areas, I found my own understanding to become much clearer. Part of the understanding was inspired by our Cabrini Time in Philly, but the collaboration solidified it.
Spirituality
For me, my spiritual need was to understand that I am Beloved by God. I came to the realization that my whole life, God has been calling me to be in relationship with Him, but I was too caught up in trying to do the right thing or be the right person, thinking that in the end, I would figure it all out! Ha! What?! Over the summer He got me with Prov. 3:5-8 …but of course, that wasn’t enough!
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what I did or didn’t do, how I prayed or didn’t pray. God loves me! Don't get worried...and you too :) Any way that I try to be pleasing to Him is pleasing by nature of effort. That’s great! I don’t hold God up…so He’s not relying on me to get it right. He holds me up. All I can do is offer Him the praise and thanksgiving He deserves and talk with him about what is going on in my life (He has to love that!! hehe). Also crucial, is the call to explore and become more familiar with His Word. I cannot speak a language that I do not study! WONDERFUL!!...that is just spirituality!
Simplicity
We reflected on this as a community: Michelle, Sr. Dianne, Crystal, and myself. Crystal broke it down. You just have to “be who you are.” In the large group, Luke quoted that we need to “Aspire not to have more, but to be more." And Priscilla shared that we cannot judge one another's simplicity because we are all on different levels. I saw it as a de-cluttering. The need to eliminate all that gets between myself and God…ALL the EXTRA! It just clouds everything when you’re trying to get a clearer picture. I got to thinking that my physical state of being cluttered was nothing more than the embodiment of my lack of simplicity….great! :( The good news is that I realized that …the bad news: I need to work on it!
Justice
Wouldn’t you like to know what all 17 of us had to say about this?! Sorry, I cannot remember them all! :( To me it is all of our God given rights being satisfied. This includes humans, animals, all of creation. Michelle quoted (forgetting the name), “Equality is not equal treatment.” This is so true! Everyone’s needs are different! Greater need requires a greater response. Crystal brought up someone needing glasses as an example. If one kid gets glasses to improve their vision, does that mean glasses for all? Even those that don’t need them? Hmmmm Think about that!
Also, Sr. Judy! Oh, so great! She said that it is being in ‘right relationship.’ I could spend my whole life in desire of this beautiful concept….and then, we’ll see it in eternity! But for now, let’s live to see that nobody has what another person needs. That doesn’t necessarily imply that everyone needs to give, give, give…but for now, unless everyone has, I think it does! That includes me. Nobody can be off the hook with the ‘right relationship’ theory, or it will not work!
Community
Funny that before I got to Manhattan I kept stressing a quote from Nowen’s article. “Community is where the person you least like to live with lives. For somebody else, you might be that person.” HELLO! In every community, you need to be accepting of two things: 1) Community will almost inevitably involve a ‘challenge’…only one if you’re lucky! 2) You need to be vulnerable to the idea that for somebody else, you may be the challenge of community!....That’s humbling! This is something that I need to be mindful of ALWAYS!
Charism –
During our time at Manresa, we had a chance to appreciate what our call to the charism and Mother Cabrini’s story has meant to us. After learning about St. Mary Euphrasia, the foundress of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, someone had to teach about the life of Mother C, right? Well, upon the unfortunate illness of our dear Sr. Grace who was to give this account, we (MCM) had the opportunity to do it. Michelle, Crystal and I each were able to share with a group of GSVers our account of Mother Cabrini’s life, vocation and ministry. My only hope is that my account portrayed as much her passion, faith, and love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus’ as that of Michelle and Crystal.
In the beginning, I was nervous, but as I continued to talk about Frances Xavier Cabrini, I realized that I knew her better than I thought. Thanks to the application process itself, Gina, Sr. Grace, the sisters, Mary Lou (teaching us about her life) and Nancy (helping us to understand the Stella Maris Province), we had come to know and understand Mother C well. The more we learn about her, the more what we are doing here makes sense! Her faith and dedication to the will of the Lord….WOW! It was so great to express that with other people.
"I can almost see it…"
The week came together very well. The speakers that we had, ranging from the different ministries provided by our orders, to panels, to the drum circle with Jesse, helped to tie together all of the concepts that we focused on throughout the week. But an account of Manresa would not and could not be complete without the finale. This was the culmination of it all. Believe it or not…and my tendency would also be towards not, our three-person suite was not only the CMC center for rest and relaxation, it was also a practice stage for what would be a talent show presentation, “Open to Interpretation.” Yes, I, Mary Meleski, as a member of community, participated in the end-of-the-week talent show performing an interpretive dance to “The Climb,” by Miley Cyrus. That's right, The Climb. And yes, Miley Cyrus. This is truth. There is video footage! I really love these girls…can you tell?!
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