Alumni Weekend in Brooklyn - Amy’s testimonial

From April 1 to April 3 an Alumni Weekend was held in our Brooklyn Center. Amy K., former vol­un­teer in Honduras and member of the Fraternity of St. Maximillian Kolbe shares her expe­ri­ence during this three-day meeting :

"I have now attended 3 alumni reunions since returning home from my mis­sion in Honduras over two years ago. Each time, I return home from the weekend feeling a deep sense of renewal. My mis­sion in Honduras was a very pro­found expe­ri­ence for me, but it was only the begin­ning of the life I want to con­tinue to live. I am real­izing more than ever, I need this annual reunion to refresh me and remind me of our shared calling in Heart’s Home. I need it so I can go back “down the moun­tain” with the inspi­ra­tion to spread com­pas­sion to all those I meet in my daily life. The weekend is mostly filled with the “typ­ical” Heart’s Home life- Mass, ado­ra­tion, com­mu­nity meals and vis­iting and it is very familiar to enter into that rhythm of life once more. Sharing our expe­ri­ences with other former mis­sion­aries is very enlight­ening. It reminds me that there are many people trying to live in this spirit of com­pas­sion and I am not alone. It is beau­tiful to be able to share about our very dis­tinct cul­tural expe­ri­ences, yet find that our mis­sions were so very sim­ilar.

We were given a talk on the spir­i­tu­ality of Little Sister Magdeleina, whom Father Thierry has given Heart’s Home as a model for this year. Her simple and child­like faith is truly an inspi­ra­tion for Heart’s Home. She believes we should con­tem­plate holding Baby Jesus in our arms always. Jesus had a child­like and trusting faith all his life, hidden in the sim­plic­i­ties of Nazareth and even up to the moment as he cried out “Daddy” on the cross. Little Sister Magdeleina wanted to cry the gospel to the far­thest and loneliest corners of the world.

Being pre­sent at the Mass on Sunday where two new mem­bers com­mitted to the Fraternity of St. Maximillian Kolbe was incred­ibly inspiring. It was a beau­tiful example of the fruit­ful­ness of our little mis­sion to spread love."