Novice Sister Mary Jane Schwartz reflects on her visit to St. Agnes Convent, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Sister Jan Villemure, Sister Anne Marie Selinsky and Sister Elena Gonzales welcomed her to experience Community life with them as they served others.
From January 2 through the 9th I was on Mission Experience at St. Agnes in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I had a beautiful and rewarding experience. While on Mission I was fortunate to I observe and assist Sister Elena in her third classroom at Holy Family School. I worked in Pre-K 3,4, 3rd grade, and Kindergarten. It was amazing to be with Sister Elena in her classroom, and learn tips of how to run a classroom. The third grade students were very helpful as I taught them Social Studies, and Math. All the students were a joy to be with. I was able to experience going to Mass at different parishes, and on Thursday I spent the day with Sr. Jan and Sr. Anne Marie on their parish visits to the homebound. The evenings were filled with enjoyable moments of cards, puzzles, and watching the Packer game.
As I reflect back on my Mission Experience, I feel very blessed in that during this time, I was privileged to have many chances to see how God uses our gifts and talents in our apostolic work. I saw not only the Sisters demonstrating their faith and work in their various jobs but also saw how the lay people would touch me in their ways of loving God, such as one example was one lady who was homebound would use the early mornings when she couldn’t sleep to pray for anyone she saw on the street. It was a beautiful time of recognizing the importance of how a life of prayer and work grow and become one.
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