I’m the new kid on the block these days, navigating a new work/ministry environment and colleagues. After our community’s primary ministry for the poor in Steubenville closed, we decided to work alongside the Urban Mission, a Methodist-run ecumenical ministry for those in need in our local area. One of the big changes, of course, is that we don’t “run the show” and the ministry is not specifically “Catholic.” I know this has concerned some of our community friends and some sisters – will we be able to be true to our identity? Will we somehow “water down” our faith or change the way we do things?
Since it seemed pretty clear that God was inviting us to embrace the change and I’ve always felt welcomed at the Mission in the past, I didn’t dwell too much on these questions. But as “Mercy Hour” approached one afternoon, and found me sorting clothes behind the Urban Thrift, I found myself reminiscing about how at our old store we typically stopped work at three o’clock to pray the Mercy Chaplet. I knew I could stop and pray the prayers by myself, and I felt that would be fine. However, I had a feeling of sadness: everyone else would miss out on the chance to stop and remember Jesus’ Passion, God’s saving love, and our place in God’s heart.
So, guitar in hand, I stepped over to “everyone else” (which at that moment was only one other person, the woman who manages the back half of the store) to see how the idea would fly. Since it seemed a bit much to begin this proposal by explaining the Mercy Chaplet, St. Faustina, and so on, I simply said, “Hey – it’s 3:00, and that’s when Jesus died, so we have a tradition of stopping work to remember his love. Could we do that?”
Grinning ear to ear, Kathy* said, “I love that idea! How awesome! Let’s do it!” So we shared prayer intentions and sang the song, “Lead Me to the Cross”. She shed a few tears at the end of the song, and said, nearly apologetically, “I’m so new at all this – I’ve only known God for a few years.” Always eager to hear a testimony, I asked how she came to meet God and was privileged to hear her witness – and it was my turn to cry at that point! Sr. Joan Paule arrived as she was wrapping up and I asked for an encore.
In the end, half of my Mercy Hour that day was spent completely immersed in Jesus’ mercy, praising him in song and hearing of his relentless pursuit of his beloved.
Lesson? Far greater than those things which divide the members of Jesus’ body are the things we share.
*Name changed for anonymity
Watch a beautiful 3-min. video about our ministry in downtown Steubenville here.
-Sr. Agnes Thérèse Davis, T.O.R.
