Praying Becomes Our Way of Living…and today we plumbed

“When you Sisters are here, the bathrooms look great!”

I feel so proud of this fact.  When the Marianist Sisters show up, bathrooms are cleaned for women and children to use, perhaps for the first time in many days or weeks.

This might seem like the beginning of a silly reflection to some of you, but for me today my experience at ‘La Casa’ was really profound.  This very simple task of cleaning bathrooms is extremely gratifying.  In part, this is because it is a task that is able to be accomplished and the result is measurable.  Within about an hour a soap scum filled tub, clogged sink, filthy toilet and dirty floor are cleaned and different than when we arrived.

This small action is a way for me to love Jesus.

Loving Jesus.  This is really what my vocation is all about (in fact it’s what each of our vocations is all about, just manifested in different ways).  Sweeping, cleaning toilets, washing clothes are simply the ways I am called to love Jesus in my volunteer ministry right now.

This lesson in loving Jesus extends beyond my volunteer ministry though.  I am called to love Jesus in the women in my community, in my Brothers, in my family, in my neighbors, in the students in our institutions, in the people of God who I encounter each day. This lesson of small things with great love is a good reminder for me of how to best grow in holiness and virtue. This song by Danielle Rose captures well this desire.

 

“Aqui, nos trata muy bien!” (Here, [in this place] we are treated very well!)

This phrase was shared with me by a woman who will be staying at ‘La Casa’ for a bit longer time than most.  She arrived here with no family or friends and has taken, in her stay, to helping prepare the home for more guests and has really become a friend to all. She lovingly embraced a women from another country today who is taking off for her new home. She says she is grateful and treated well here, but she is also treating others well.  She is sharing her gifts in order that ‘La Casa’ be a place with even greater hospitality.  She is teaching us how to love Jesus better.

 

“We should just call you Sisters whenever we have plumbing needs!”

Today at ‘La Casa’ Sr. Gabrielle and I plumbed.  Now, before you get too excited, we just did some very basic toilet and clogged sink trouble shooting, but we did have to get under the sink.  (Thanks Mom for making me learn how to plumb when I was a kid, I had no idea how handy that skill would be!)  In our bathroom cleaning adventures we unclogged two sinks.  Sr. Gabby did the honors in the first sink, cleaning out the u-trap to find 2 toothbrushes and a pair of rusty tweezers that were preventing water from flowing freely down the drain.  This occurred after we tag teamed getting a lotion lid out of the drain with a wire hangar.  My honor was emptying the u-trap in the second sink and trying to stop the hot water from perpetually running.  While under the sink, impromptu songs about loving Jesus were shared with all and the stench from the u-trap was a reminder of just how many women and children have come through ‘La Casa’ in search of a safer life.

 

This little sign is above the door of the kitchen in ‘La Casa’.  This has been what Novitiate has been about for me; how to grow more and more into a person of prayer so that it becomes my way of living.

Tomorrow, the Novitiate 3 are headed for a week on retreat, for a time of encounter with God in prayer. Thank you for holding us and our time in your prayer! We will certainly be praying for you and for the needs of our world.  If there are any special prayer intentions we can bring before God, please message any of us. Thanks and many blessings!