"A Life Not Lived for Others is Not a Life" Saint Mother Teresa
"Do ordinary things with extraordinary love." Mother Teresa
Today is the feast day of my personal patron, Saint Mother Teresa, and since her missionary zeal inspired an entire generation and continues to move hearts worldwide, I thought it the perfect day to finally put pen to paper, (or fingers to keyboard in this case) and share more deeply about the beautiful mission trip my son Luca and I went on this summer to Belize.
It's not too often that we know we are living one of life's disrupters in real time, but that was how every day felt while we were in Belize. When I think of something that is a disrupter, I think of something that breaks with routine, not because it is just something different from your day-to-day monotony, but because it challenges you and stretches you out of it. It literally disrupts, interrupts the status-quo and puts you in a position for a new encounter with the Lord. The trip felt incredibly graced. I keep accidentally calling it a retreat, but in reality, it felt like a pilgrimage, as our common goal was to deeply encounter the Lord through service, and leave with a heart that was different from the one with which we came.
The SOLT Family Mission Experience is a unique outreach within the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. Their aim is to bring entire families into the heart of mission life and through service deeply rooted in prayer, also into the very heart of Our Lady. What sets SOLT FME apart is their remarkable ability to mold each trip they take uniquely to the charisms, talents and ages of the group the Holy Spirit has curated for the week. I say curated very intentionally, as it became evident from almost the moment of introductions to the other families, just how much the Holy Spirit's hand was at play in selecting the groups of families which would serve alongside one another on this trip. Our group was diverse with a family joining from as far as the UK, as well as a couple families from GA and one from IN. None of us knew one another beforehand. We had an entire troupe of middle school aged teenagers on our trip, as well as several older elementary aged kiddos and the way they instantly gelled together and formed lasting friendships was beautiful to witness. (Albeit, very loud to overhear!)
From the onset of our arrival, and in the weeks leading up to the trip, we were very lovingly welcomed by the full-time SOLT missionaries living in Belize. It was so nice to be taken into the local parish community as if we belong there all along, and really brought the message of one universal mother Church home for me. Divine Mercy Parish is an incredibly vibrant community and it was a joy to feel at home there all week. The warmth from the parish poured into our newly formed missionary team, and I am certain we built stronger relationships with one another because of it. It was also lovely to be welcomed fully into the sacramental life of the parish. We celebrated Mass daily with the whole community, had opportunity for daily Eucharistic Adoration, and also opportunities for Reconciliation.
As I mentioned, each mission trip with SOLT SME will be entirely new and unique given the charisms and ages, the Holy Spirit has woven together for any given experience, but the rhythm our group fell into looked like active, parish-focused morningsand quieter, smaller mission service in the afternoons. Evenings were spent back together for a big, lively, family style dinner, and then a quieter time of praying together before retiring for the night.
In the mornings, our big group jumped right into teaching and participating in Vacation Bible school, as that was what was going on at the Parish that week. After some afternoon, rest for the Littles and for lunch, we would break out into smaller mission teams, and go hit boots to the ground for the afternoons. We packed so much into our week. We joined with the Legion of Mary to go on a few door-to-door house visits to pray and simply sit with those who are home-bound. We participated in construction projects – one very grueling project of hand-pouring a concrete foundation, Which the men handled, to a smaller project set aside for the overly energetic teenage boys – moving an enormous pile of misplaced gravel to its proper location at the newly built Mary Magdalene house. The Mary Magdalene house is a small home built by divine mercy and aided by a full-time SOLT Missionary to house women in crisis situations and to help them get back on their feet. We fed and prayed with the homeless downtown, and visited the only publicly funded nursing home in Belize – again, just to be present with them, pray with them and hand them sweet cards made by our youngest children during our quiet time the afternoon before.
We also visited a tiny mission parish to Divine Mercy out in the jungle where we celebrated mass in Spanish and were joined by several local families and their amazing a cappella Spanish hymns. As their robust voices lifted to the heavens and filled this lovely, colorful and rustic, open-air church, my own heart elevated right along with their voices.
Holy Emmanuel
Another deeply moving experience were the two Rosary walks we did through Holy Emmanuel neighborhood. In Belize City, the neighborhoods are listed as Belama 1-4, with each phase getting more and more remote and lacking in basic infrastructure, as you go. The 5th "phase" is Holy Emmanuel, which spans as far as my eyes could see on either side of the highway with true shacks- a shanty-town conglomerate of graffitied scrap metal and sometimes rotted wood or draped sheets for leaning and flimsy structures. Many are lacking even in basic amenities like running water or electricity and the residents battle the outside elements (bugs, and rodents, high heat, and jungle humidity) and the hungry dogs, on a daily basis. It's a level of poverty our delicate American and Westernized sensibilities are truly unaccustomed to seeing and might have a hard time fully processing.
For me, it was one of the most powerful moments of the entire trip to walk through these streets simply praying the Rosary. With each step and rhythmic prayer my heart was swelling within me. It is amazing work Divine Mercy Parish is doing, at the helm of Fr. Scott, to enter into this level of human need, stake a bold claim for Christ, and slowly begin to spread Love- literally bringing Jesus to the most desperate and needy of situations. It was unbelievably moving to witness and to be part of such a mission. Furthermore, it was very bonding to do this alongside my son, and to watch his own heart burst open with love right before my eyes and it left an imprint on my momma heart to hear my son be able to name that reality- how impactful and far-reaching Fr. Scott's work is all throughout this city- even before I could fully name it or process it.
Jesus was present all throughout this trip, and it was incredibly graced.
Now back home, back into our routines, with our American luxuries and very comfortable living, there is a gnawing tension. There is a tension that is so much more evident now between the life we are fortunate enough to live and those who are not afforded the same luxuries. Within that tension, something very powerful lives. It's the constant reminder that we are all called to mission. Every single one of us, from the smallest child to the elderly great-grandparent is called to the same mission. It's the mission to love. Plain and simple.
Every human person you encounter has a need for love, for compassion, for Christ. We can travel far and wide to do this, but we can also travel as far as the kitchens within our own homes.
It was a full-circle moment for me to actually live, first-hand, the messages of my two favorite saints. Mother Teresa and Saint Thérèse. Both lived a very different life of mission. One fully out in the public eye, one cloistered and private, visible only within the walls of her own home but mostly only within the shelter of her own heart. This mission was the universal call to love!
I went on this trip thinking I was finally getting the chance to go out and do something big! A mission trip! It sounds so big! And it is, in its own way. But what I realized so beautifully, is that the life of a missionary is a life surrendered to love and that love is poured out through small and intentional acts of service- of love; they're small, but they are far-reaching. The love you pour into another's soul is a ripple which stretches out into eternity. As Bishop Barron always says, "Our lives are not about ourselves."
"A life not lived for others is not a life." Saint Mother Teresa
Peace be with you,
Cristina
If this has moved you at all and you would like to learn more about how your own family can serve alongside other families, visit www.soltfme.org
