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Hello readers! I’ll start off with a little about me, my name is Marrah Moreland and I am a junior, education major at St. Mary’s University. I am pursuing my degree in education because I love working with children, especially those with special needs. My goal in life is to become a special education teacher and I have to constantly remind myself of this, especially during finals J Last week I had the awesome opportunity to participate in the 2013 Marianist University L.A Breakout. Let me just put it out there; I have never blogged before and rarely post on Facebook.  This is not because I don’t like to share my ideas and opinions with others (hahaha, quite the opposite actually) but because I feel that these types of things are better shared in a closer forum where they can be discussed and not so easily taken out of context. So needless to say I have been hesitant about this whole “blogging” thing. But, when asked earlier this week at my weekly MLP (Marianist Leadership Program...

This week has been more than a great experience. This trip was so humbling, and can be hard to describe in this blog post. Friday was our last day together as a group. We went to Malibu and explored a beach while having some fantastic conversations. After Malibu we went to Fr. Jim’s house right across the street from USC. That is where our journey got real. He asked us questions and challenged our way of thinking. While doing that, he told us many different stories along with pieces of wisdom. I didn’t write them down, but I’ll paraphrase. Wisdom for young people is to keep tradition. Wisdom for old people is to be open to change. There is a difference from not believing in God and not knowing enough about God. One cannot fully experience the Eucharist/Jesus if one has never been in love. I don’t have the answers to peoples problems; only insights. There were many more in that short period of time, but those are the ones that stuck. Fr. Jim also talked about how some can use the ...

Yesterday our group visited the Catholic Worker. As we arrived we got in line to receive the food that the Catholic Worker was serving that day. Michael and I then began to look around the courtyard to find an empty spot for us to sit and visit with some of the people being served. This was a bit uncomfortable but soon enough we found two empty seats at a table with a man that seemed to know it all about the Catholic Worker. He introduced us to the founder of the LA Catholic Worker, Jeff. He was able to tell us a little bit about his life which was awesome. While we were chatting with him another man sat down right beside him and across from us. He did not look up, only stared at his food. When the man that we had been talking to left, I decided that this was the opportunity I had been waiting for to push my comfort zone and start conversation with a stranger. Michael and I introduced ourselves and he told us his name, Victor. He seemed a little apprehensive to chat but soon w...

January 10, 2013 Today I learned all about the Catholic Worker. The Catholic Workers devote their lives to living in poverty with the poor and homeless. They are a very radical group and have faith larger than these California Mountains in the distance. My day was very unexpected. The Catholic Worker did not look like I had imagined it. There was art everywhere and it almost felt like we had stepped into a small village. Volunteers to my left were caring for peoples feet because being homeless is hard on your feet. Sometimes they can't even take their shoes off when they sleep because their shoes might not be there in the morning. All around the catholic worker were signs posted that said that nobody was allowed to sit or sleep on the sidewalks. Before I knew it I was standing in line for a meal that I had no intention of eating, not because of how old it was or the quality, but because that was a meal someone else who might not have eaten in days could have enjoyed instead of myse...

Today we went to Catholic Worker and shared a meal with the community of Skid Row. It was an interesting experience to hear the stories of the homeless. Teresa’s experience was very heart warming. Hopefully you will be able to read about that when she blogs! Tonight each university made a dish from our respective regions. It was an excellent interaction that took place in the kitchen. Everyone was laughing and working together to prepare the meal. I felt this powerful sense of belonging being in this community. Bless every person I have met (Proyecto Pastoral)  Tonight’s night prayer group asked us what have we learned that we will never forget. Dave, a Jesuit Volunteer, told us that it is not about saving or fixing people. It’s about walking with them. That applies so much to my life. I want to fix the problem and get solutions so people can be happy, but that’s not always the way to go. I must learn to just walk with them. That is something that I know I’m going to start ap...

Waking up at 5am today was not an easy task, but little did I know what I was in for. As a family we ate breakfast (saw a lot of dogs.) The couple that owned the restaurant were so friendly and welcoming and really embodied the Marianist Charism of community. Our morning was spent at Delores Mission School. Their principle gave us a brief history lesson about how the school came to be and how Father Greg played a great part. We were then brought to a community member's home that was part of the "projects." Her and her family spoke of the hardships they endured. Gangs had inhabited their community and their neighborhood was known as the most unsafe city. The children spoke about how far they have come since then and how thankful they were to get out. At lunch we came across a homeless man and offered him some of the lunch we had leftover. He was so thankful for the bag of food and prayed to the statue of St. Ignacious and left the Saint the only payment he could offer, a s...

January 8, 2013 Today we spent time at Homeboy Industries. This is a place for past gang members and people with criminal records to find support. Our tour guide, Orce did an amazing job at explaining all that Homeboy does. This is a greatly run non-profit organization with tons of free enterprise to sustain their efforts. People who come in start off in maintenance/janitorial jobs all making minimum wage. They can be as young as high schoolers. In fact, Homeboy Industries even has their own high school where students can work half a day and go to school for the other half of the day. At Homeboy Industries there are many different opportunities that are given such as: Tattoo removal, alcohol anonymous, drug classes, resume building, professional help, mental services, case workers, a cafe that serves organic food, a bakery, a farmers market, and their own line of chips and salsa plus many more. The business/marketing major in me became so fascinated by the organization and how it withs...

January 7th, 2013 Today I saw the face of Jesus in the smiles and warm eyes of the people we served today at the Midnight Mission who were thankful for another day and another meal. The face of Jesus was also present in the workers and volunteers who are so dedicated to Midnight Mission. Most people see this glorious majestic man when they think of Jesus but he was just like any other human being and he didn't live like a king.  Our day was spent in the Vietnamese community. We got to explore a part of Chinatown and eat at Pho'87. It was quite an experience eating this kind of food. The people were really generous and the whole environment felt Marianist. We met Father Jim and he was very lively. We were then taken to St. Ann's Church and heard the nephew of the owner of Pho'87 speak to us about the hardships of how his people came here. Afterwards, we explored Midnight Mission which is on "Skid Row." It is a place similar to Haven For Hope in San Antonio, Tex...

 So a little story about why my blogis about her.   I’ve just been a little homesick lately and I haven’t seen my sisters in five days and this has got to be the longest I haven’t seen them since 2006.   Hearing that we are going to be visiting Dolores Mission Church was exciting for two reasons:   first because I only visualized it from the description of the book and I was very excitedabout seeing the roots of progression in the “flats,” and second, because I wanted to experience the location at which one point, it was the top areas of danger and gang banging in Los Angeles.   Little did I know that we were going to be actually interacting with children and tutoring them in whatever it is that they need help with.   T oday we visited a few places in the Dolores Mission Church community and Dolores Mission School stood out to me.   So thisis where the story of Salma comes in.   I wanted to work with younger children so I chose kinderga...

Nothing stops a bullet like a job. This was a quote that stuck to my heart by Homeboy Industries as I contemplated what I really wanted to get out of coming to Los Angeles. As you've probably before, Homeboy is about spending time with each gang member to thoroughly hear what they have to say no matter how long it takes. What ignites me is that they started as a nonprofit with a goal to bring much needed change to the city, and through that have created Homegirl, a restaurant that serves really good food (as we've sampled) along with a gift store and many ways that the company makes profit. The name is something that is well respected around the area as we've been talking to townspeople about it, and the way that everything operates internally (from hiring previous gang members to putting plaques on the wall respecting any participant that gets a GED) tells me this is my calling. As a Business Administration junior of Chaminade University, I pray that God makes our paths cl...

Hello All! My name is Amy, I attend the University of Dayton where I am pursuing a major in Religious Studies, and am one of the twelve participants on the Marianist LA Breakout. Everything we have seen in the past five days have been transformational. I think the thing that strikes me most is where we find random blessings. A few nights ago we talked about metanoia, and going against the  grain to turn around. In relation to this idea Jesus calls us to move against our culture toward the poor, where the most pure love and joy is. I can attest to the fact that in the places most inundated with gang violence, homelessness, and general poverty are the folks that say God bless you and praise God regularly. For example today we stopped in a little Mexican restaurant for breakfast, the owner was so impressed that he gave us king cake and thanked us profusely for choosing his restaurant and said God bless you repeatedly. While we were eating lunch today in the plaza of Dolores Mission a ...

Today was such a long and memorable day. I woke up at 5:30 and prepared my self to go to Dolores Mission. Dolores Mission has really touched my heart. Since they are a Jesuit institution, they work towards community, social justice, simple living, and spirituality. The principal gave a presentation about the school and it really impressed me. The teachers and students at Dolores Mission School work towards being women and men for others. Dolores Mission School is very progressive and is very proactive rather than reactive. Just the presentation alone really moved me. There is something about children that made our group very happy. When we spent time with the children at Proyecto Pastoral and Dolores Mission, there were smiles on everyone’s face. Those kids brought so much joy to me today. I’m so proud of our group. They did such a wonderful job with the kids. Martin, Michael, and I went to tutor 6 th -8 th grade students at Dolores Mission School’s after school program, ...

Hello Marianists far and wide from the Tri-Wizard tournament Marianist breakout style. (I hope at least some of you appreciate the Harry Potter reference: three schools of magic in the book, and the three Marianist Universities in the United States I hope the parallel is clear). My name is Rob Sander and I have never blogged before and I find is the story with many of my fellow "wizards" here. I am merely a twenty one year old from Cincinnati and Senior at the University of Dayton studying religious studies and secondary education. Faith is an important part of my life, and I seek to put that faith into action and become more socially aware as the example of Jesus, Mary, and our Marianist founders call us to be. Recently I have been called to become a lay Marianist and I was formed in that in April of 2012 in the Stellae Dei community. I also did a unique service program over the summer called the University of Dayton summer Appalachia Program or ...