800 miles away from home, we soon found out the answer is an absolute yes! We departed from Springfield, MO, our Regional Headquarters and took a road trip to Cincinnati, OH. This is Sr. Emeline’s hometown and our first time visiting her family since she entered the community. We took the opportunity to stop by Dayton, OH for a vocations promotion talk after Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and met many wonderful people. Being a Marian community, we couldn’t pass up the chance to explore the beautiful campus of the University of Dayton, home of the largest Marian library in the world.
The main focus of our trip was coming up. All four of us had heard of so much good that came from the St. John Bosco Steubenville Conference for Evangelization and Catechesis and were now excited to be able to attend. During these amazing days (July 11-14), we learned from wonderful, knowledgeable teachers and speakers about how to effectively catechize the Catholic faith. There were various tracks we could follow including RCIA, young adult, catechist, and diocesan official to name a few. Though the days were packed and exhausting, we met enthusiastic catechists from around the country, even Canada. They were mostly volunteers, investing their time, money, and energies to learn more about the faith to share it with others. It was inspiring to listen to their stories of experiences and faith journeys.
God’s ways are breathtaking! Together, we prayed with beautiful Praise and Worship songs in daily Masses and a soul-touching Eucharistic adoration. Most of all, it was a glorious time, witnessing to the beauty of consecrated life and creating unforgettable memories with each other : Daily morning quests for coffee, carrying up boxes of mangoes to our dorm room, and taking selfies with people we met.
We drove 800 miles back to Missouri - with our brains packed with new knowledge, hearts full, and spirits super motivated to begin our ministry of catechizing and spreading God’s Word in the 2022-2023 school year. We also can’t wait to share the treasures we gleaned with our sisters in religious life.
Check out our photos in our photogallery.
All of this was thanks to a generous grant from Serra International!
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