Ten days ago, I set out with 16 students, my team director Mark, and my roommate Ali on a pilgrimage to New York City for Spring Break. Every year, the Newman Center at Winona State plans an alternative spring break mission trip for students to give themselves in a week of service and prayer to our Lord and His people. I decided to go on the trip after realizing that over a third of the students attending were women I was directly investing in. I saw it as a wonderful opportunity to experience a week away from campus with these women and to witness the many ways the Lord was breaking through the walls in their hearts. What I didn't expect was how much grace God outpoured on our group throughout the week.
We arrived in Harlem, New York last Sunday afternoon after two days of traveling, about 20 hours in the car, and 1100 miles on the road. Our caravan of three minivans was quite the spectacle in this New York neighborhood as we pulled up outside the Servants of the Lord of the Virgin Matara Convent. This religious order of Sisters is devoted to a life a prayer and service to Jesus and His Church by serving in Catholic Schools and parishes. The Sisters were full of life and silliness, and our group enjoyed a wonderful time with them for 5 nights sharing delicious meals with them, playing lively card games, and having impromptu talent shows.
Our group enjoyed some classic New York City sightseeing the first two days we were there, starting it off with a visit to Central Park just a couple hours after our arrival. The following day (Monday), we spent 12 hours in Manhattan walking somewhere between 10 and 30 miles and traveling the subway (which was a first time experience for most of our group). The entire day was full of excitement-- starting off with Mass in the city, a visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral, dancing on the giant piano at FAO Schwartz, sitting on the big red steps in Times Square, having a delicious meal in Little Italy, bartering in Chinatown, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge (a lifelong dream of mine!), paying our respects at Ground Zero, and viewing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from a distance. Our group was quite exhausted by the end of the day but very satisfied with how much of the the city we were able to see in such a short amount of time.
For the rest of the week (Tuesday-Friday), we worked at the K-8 Catholic school that some of the Sisters serve at. Our group mostly helped out in the library: covering books, recording audio books for the ESL students, and entering alumni names into a database. We also had the privilege of spending recess all four days with the 1st-3rd graders and the 7th and 8th graders. They highly enjoyed having so many visitors to play with them, and our students loved seeing the face of God in these beautiful children.
We also were blessed to visit with a couple other religious communities in the New York area: an evening of prayer with the Sisters of Life in the Bronx, and Mass and breakfast with the CFR Sisters and Brothers in Harlem. The high exposure to religious life our students experienced was such a beautiful grace the Lord blessed us with on our trip. All of the students left with a greater respect and understanding of the beauty of religious life, and several of them had their hearts opened to a potential calling towards this vocation in the near future.
Never have the words our blessed mother Mary said in the Gospel of John resonated more with me and with those on the trip than now: "Do whatever he tells you." The beauty of saying "yes" to Jesus in everything is such a freeing grace, especially in the lives of young adults as the continue to fall more and more in love with Jesus Christ and his Church.
Below are some pictures from the trip:
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| Praying at a church in Akron, Ohio en route to NYC |
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| Posing on the Brooklyn Bridge!! |
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| A few students with two of the SSVM sisters |
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| Playing on the Big Piano in FAO Schwartz |
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| Praying before Our Lady of Sorrows at St. Patricks Cathedral |
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| Enjoying Irish Soda bread with the Sisters of Life |
For more information the religious communities we visited with, click on the links below:
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