Peru: On the Clouds Right Beneath the Sun

For two weeks at the beginning of August I had the great privilege to travel to Peru and Ecuador. The trip was simply amazing. The awe of the natural landscapes that we encountered is hard to describe and just as difficult to capture in images; it is something you need to experience.  Below you will find a selection of my photographs from the first half of the trip: Peru (Stay tuned for Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.) Scenes include Lima, Cusco, Moray, Moras, the Sacred Valley, and, of course, Machu Picchu. May these images  capture the mystic beauty of the land  and reveal what your eyes are meant to see.

The Call to Come Home

"Make sure you come home!"

These words didn't stand out the first time I heard them, but as they were repeated over and over by each new person I told I was going to Peru and Ecuador, they echoed in my ears.

My dear friend Michelle had just made final vows and as we congregated at the reception word began to spread among the sisters that the next day I was off on an adventure. And thus, the phrase slowly creeped up on me.

Make sure you come home.

The first person who said it I smiled at- I had just experienced a wonderful time with my fellow sisters in formation, a time of bonding, sharing, prayer, and preparation for vows- how could I not come home to this place and this group?

After that first time there were many more sisters who repeated those words. But with less than 12 hours until I was scheduled to be on a plane to South America, that same phrase repeated in my head: Make sure you come home.

To be honest, the phrase made me anxious. I had every intent on returning from this trip. To hear so many people tell me I needed to come back put me on edge. Were they forecasting something?  The weeks leading up to Michelle's final vows had been tumultuous- finishing my work at the community center, trying to establish a routine outside of that work while being constantly pulled back to it, and being hit by a car on my bicycle- I had survived all of this, how could a little trip abroad get in the way of my taking this next step of novitiate with my life?

I hadn't been bracing for Peru to capture my heart any more than (or honestly any where near the degree that) the Philippines and Kensington have already. Yet hearing it said so many times I began to think twice. I took a deep breath as I zipped up my suitcase, the words of so many people ringing in my ears.

Then the weirdest thing happened.  Each day as I stood before something beautiful the same thought flashed across my mind- I need to go home; I want to go home.

Standing before the remains of Saints Martin de Porres and Rose of Lima-  I can't wait to get home.
Overlooking the Sacred Valley from beautiful salt mines on mountainsides- I need to go home.
Looking out over Machu Picchu- I want to go home.
Watching sea lions and sea turtles in all their majesty in the Galapagos- home. home. home.

Each time it happened, I mentally slapped myself. "You need to be present to this moment," I told myself.  I knew that this was a miraculous trip, that I was seeing things that should inspire wonder and awe. They did do that; yet, in the midst of such grandeur, my mind returned to the simple excitement and expectation of home. There was no way to get lost in what I was experiencing because my soul was and is already anticipating the invitation in front of me: to get lost in God, to continue the journey of finding myself, and to make my home in this life, which I am actively choosing and exploring with Jesus.

In the weeks to come I hope to share pictures and stories from my time away and my final weeks in ministry at the Community Center at Visitation, but the first thing that struck my was that call to come home.  It is a call I believe we are all pursuing- the call to come home... to be at home in our God, to rest and be recreated through living and discovering. I don't expect that the Novitiate will always be perfect (what in life ever is?) and I honestly, don't know what to expect from it, but I do know that great excitement lies within me at the simple opportunity to grow in my relationship with Christ.

As I returned to Philadelphia yesterday, I breathed a sigh of relief... I was home. I was returning to the place, Kensington & Philadelphia, that I proudly and heart-fully call home. I couldn't be happier to be back, even as the impending transition of moving looms large just a few weeks away. Thousands of miles and millions of memories later, I kept me promise.

They told me to make sure you come home... and I have.

    

Nuns on the Bus

This past Friday the Nuns on the Bus tour rolled through Philadelphia. The brainchild of NETWORK, the Catholic Social Justice Lobby, the "Nuns on the bus" have been touring across the United States since June 17th, raising awareness about the need for reasonable revenue for responsible programs as the Senate considers the national budget. The point? The proposed budget sponsored by Representative Paul Ryan would make drastic cuts to social services in this country- the nun's wanted to raise awareness about what is happening and try to inspire people to stand up for the poorest of the poor who would be affected by this plan.  I was invited to speak about the people I work with who would be adversely affected by this budget. It was a pleasure to be a part of this wonderful cause, call for dialogue, and defense of the most vulnerable. Below are the remarks that I prepared and delivered at the Philadelphia "friend-raiser" at Chestnut Hill College on Friday, June 29th. Hopefully, video of the event will follow... Enjoy!

When I moved to Philadelphia two years ago it wasn’t because of the promise of a cushy job. No, I came because of the sisters- the work they were doing, the faith that they had, the people that they work with and the promise that our neighborhood holds.

The Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia is one of, if not the, poorest neighborhoods in Philadelphia.  The Community Center at Visitation seeks to serve our neighbors without regard for race, age, faith, education, or income.  Our neighbors are exactly that, our neighbors, those who Jesus calls us to love and serve with compassion and care.  The people that I work with day in and day out are an inspiration to me, they have captured my heart, and they are the ones who will be most adversely affected by the Ryan Budget.

Budget cuts can easily come down to a game of numbers. To save money here, we need to cut funding there- figures fly back and forth and as politicians try to balance the budget, the most vulnerable of our neighbors’ lives hang in the balance.

Of the 159 million fewer meals that low-income Pennsylvania families would receive under this plan, I can only imagine the way Theresa Hernandez will have to stretch what little she and her 3, soon to be four, children have to eat to make up for the resources that will be taken away from them.  Local food pantries will help to subsidize this loss but budget cuts will affect the resources of those organizations, too.  In the last two years alone, our food pantry at the Community Center has doubled the amount of food it gives out in a month- if fewer meals were available to our neighbors there is no way that we would be able to provide for them.

Among the over 1.6 Million seniors and children in Pennsylvania who would lose health care access is Joe Stevenson, a homebound diabetic in his 70’s who I visit each week, not to mention the home healthcare worker who comes in to check-up on Joe and who could lose her job, under the proposed budget, and be unable to provide for her family.

These are the people behind those numbers that are so easily cut in the Ryan Budget. We cannot balance our budget on the backs of the poor. By eliminating key services, we don’t give our brothers and sisters who are already vulnerable any chance at survival- and if they falter we all do. We need to stand up for change, believe in hope, and trust that the promise that is in our neighborhoods and neighbors is worth protecting.