Carla's Mission Story - Programa Cielo, St. Anthony's Hospital

Pilsen "Little Village," Chicago, IL
August 2006-June 2007

Mission, I have come to discover, is not something that others can tell you how to do. It is a personal way of life. How you relate to others is your internal mission being put into action, and being a missionary is doing just that.

Orientation helped to prepare me in the true spirit of Saint Frances Cabrini. It was a time when I was able and encouraged to seek God everyday and in everything around me. What amazing things were revealed when I just took the time to recognize God at work. This practice has benefited me more than anything else.

During orientation, the idea of "being present" was habitually reinforced. God was definitely trying to make a point. Point well taken, God! I have made it one of my personal goals to not let the daily "tasks" or "duties" get in the way of me being PRESENT to those around me. I just think about it like this, "people come before paper, because paper doesn't smile back!" This has shown to be very rewarding thus far. Here is just one example. Every morning I walk the 7 blocks to work and on the corner, before the office, is a girl that sells tamales. Each morning as I pass I make sure to greet her with an "hola" or "buenos dias." Then one morning I felt God telling me to buy a cup of whatever she was selling. We started chatting and I didn't understand much beside the fact that she was 18 and had a 4-month-old baby. Well, I guess she appreciated the chat because she gave me one of her delicious tamales for free. Since that day, I have invited her to take advantage of the free services that our program offers to mothers and babies. Can you imagine? She was selling tamales right next to a program that can get her and her baby free health insurance and WIC and she never knew it.

One afternoon I walked into the office and I heard, "Carla, this is my baby!" I looked over and saw the girl holding up her baby with the biggest toothless smile you have ever seen. She handed me her son and as his little hands slapped me on the face I knew that this is what mission was all about. Thank you God!

Sarah's Mission Story - Annunciation School and Mother Cabrini Shrine

Denver and Golden, CO
August 2005-June 2006

During my time on mission as a teacher's assistant for second and third grade at Annunciation School in Denver, Colorado, I have witnessed the value of a Catholic school education for children from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. The prevailing atmosphere at this school is a sense of family and peace. The faculty and staff are gifted and compassionate. Every day, they create a positive and supportive environment for the students.

One of the teachers I work with, Dorothy Leonard, has a gift for teaching religion and sharing her love for God with the students. When teaching the students a prayer, she explains to them what the words mean and the feelings she hopes they will hold in their hearts while praying. The students are so eager to learn about God and love religion class.

One day, I came into Dorothy’s classroom at the end of a religion lesson and found, to my dismay, a third of the students crying. I wasn’t sure what to make of it until Dorothy explained. She had been finishing up a lesson on God being our Father in heaven when she noticed one of the students, Carlos, had a terribly sad look on his face. She asked him what was the matter? Carlos started crying and said between sobs, "I don't know who my father is. I've never met him." Dorothy told him to come up to the front of the room, gave him a hug, and began crying with him. Other children in the class started to cry as well, some sharing similar stories of parents unknown or absent, some weeping empathetically with Carlos’ situation.

Dorothy had not expected any of this to happen and was unsure how to deal with this display of emotion. She explained to the class that even though someone does not have or know their father on earth, we have our Daddy in heaven who loves us and looks out for our every need. Finally she said, "Everyone put your heads down and let's all say the Our Father together." I had been holding back my own tears until this moment. But when the students put their heads down, I cried for all of them. What I saw next is a scene that will stay with me forever—a class of children saying the Our Father together between their sobs. This education of the heart cannot change the hard realities of their lives. But, as I saw that day, it can teach them that they are on a faith journey and they do not walk alone.