On January 7th and 8th, the Associate Missionaries of the Assumption, or AMAs, had their retreat, during which they — Elliot Simmons-Uvin, Maria Palacios Paz, Meaghan Hickey — reflected on their experiences over the past few months. In short, they grew, loved. They encountered God.
Throughout all of their journeys, there were moments of uncertainty and doubt, but these were moments they managed to overcome with graces from the Holy Spirit. Even the small things: Elliot, while he was on break, reconnected with his friends, who had all taken jobs with decent paychecks. He wondered whether he should have done a year of service. But he did so only briefly, because he signed up for a second year.
Maria worried about leaving home. When she got to New Mexico, she wondered whether she’d fit in. But she did, and then some — especially because she helped a young man get into college. Also, the Religious of the Assumption, our sister congregation, accepted her as family.
Meaghan’s time caused her to realize that, by no choice of her own, she’d been born into a life of comfort, one that many in the world don’t get to experience. And it led her to this: she had to give herself fully to the people she served.
They also listened to Nancy Small, an author and spiritual caregiver who asked them to consider the meaning of nonviolence, emphasizing that practicing it doesn’t turn you into a doormat. Rather, it asks you to fully express Love. It is about countering and disarming, not slinking away passively. She drew on such activist-thinkers as Gandhi and Martin Luther King; she drew on scripture, asking the AMAs to dive into the story where Christ saves a woman’s life by asking the crowd to look within and see if they have sinned. If they were clear of conscience — if they were totally, truly without sin — then they had permission to throw stones at her. None did. All turned away.
What does this have to do with a vocation to religious life and to the Assumptionists specifically? Glad you asked.
Everything.
Think about it.