sdlfosih

It has been almost a month since I first had my nervous excitement about traveling to LA, and looking back on the experience, I can’t possibly sum everything up into one blog post. This immersion trip has taught me the power of community, faith and friendship, and I am so blessed to have gone through this journey with a group from all across the U.S. that shares in the Marianist charisms. The relationships I formed with the other students are irreplaceable, and I am thankful to say that they are not only my new friends, but my new family. A big part of the trip was our encounters with the people of LA, whether it be running into Jos é outside of the church, hearing Paco’s story at Homeboy Industries, talking to the students at Lady of Talpa Catholic School or listening to Catherine and Jeff talk about their journey with the Catholic Worker. Two people especially had an impact on me, the first being a young man named Giod at Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row. He lived at the shelter and...

Community “We are each of us angels with one wing. We can only fly embracing each other” read the quote beautifully depicted on a mural in one of the many Los Angeles neighborhoods with a past painted with struggle and high crime rate. However, the stories of transformation and unity for these communities and for those of us who participated in this immersion are stories that we are more inclined to share. Whether we take on the identity of  messengers of God sent out to make his love known, I think it is safe to say that all of us in this immersion embraced the idea that we could do great things through community. Without a doubt, one of the first instances when I acknowledged the presence of God and the Holy Spirit was when we unexpectedly came across a man named Jose who generously shared his story along with many important lessons about life and faith. It was mind blowing to have met someone who was a part of the Homeboys program and went on to helping others who were facing so...

The days have gone by so quick and all I'm left with is the blur of the city lights we often passed at night on the highway. Here are the significant lessons I've taken away from the trip, the times I've felt the Marianist charism, and my resolutions. As I reflect back in the LA trip, there is a significant lesson that went unrecognized and, thankfully, my bad memory did not discard it. It was the time when we had dinner with Brother Ken, Brother Dave, and Fr. Jim. Fr. Jim arrived late but was lucky enough to hear our reflections. Based on what he was hearing, he gave us a word of advice. It's an advice that I've found myself constantly referring to since the school year started. It was somewhere along the lines of, "I do not know who you are, your backgrounds, or what you do, but based on the stories you all shared, you have no idea how powerful you truly are. Every single one of you is more powerful than you think, so never, ever, give up. Every little thing ...

“Good luck with achieving all your dreams.” “Sick of the System.” “God bless.” “Mom is drunk again.” The graffiti in the public bathroom at Santa Monica Pier exposed the stark contrast between two very different living circumstances in LA within just a few hours of my getting off the plane. Walking through the park, I looked to my right and saw people lying on the grass next to a shopping cart with all their belongings. To my left, I saw million-dollar oceanside condos. I remember being stunned and confused by this odd juxtaposition of lifestyles. That night, we went to Mass at St. Monica’s, a beautiful, energetic Church near the Pier. In his homily, the priest asked us to think of one word we can strive to live out in 2016, something we can return to in good times and bad, something that draws us into deeper relationship with God, others, and ourselves. The word I chose was “wholeness,” and it became the framework for my trip. On Tuesday, Paul, the head of the kitchen at Union Rescue ...

       To choose something from this experience as being most significant is somewhat of a challenge for me, I would expect it is and has been for anyone who has taken part in this immersion. There have been so many instances in which I’ve felt overcome by the Spirit, and it’s impossible to know what moment God will draw my attention to in the future. Yet, as I take more time to reflect, it is the people of the LA Immersion 2016 that have made the deepest impact on me. First and foremost I must mention the amazing people with whom I shared every step of this experience. From my fellow Flyers to my incredible new friends from St. Mary’s and Chaminade, I am tremendously blessed to have shared such an amazing journey with them, and to have witnessed their thoughts, reflections, and responses to the experience. It was beautiful to see the bonds we were able to build upon the foundation we all share, the Marianist charism, and how that allowed us to enter deep...

It has been almost two weeks since our return from the LA immersion, and not only did the 7 days in LA fly by, but so have the two weeks since we have left. Between returning to school, unpacking, and starting basically a full time job in student teaching, it’s really forced me to be intentional in setting time aside to reflect on the conversations, experiences, and friendships from the immersion. In the weeks leading up to the experience we had the opportunity to engage in several readings, and a few videos to introduce us to some of the people and injustices we would encounter, as well as to get us thinking about the experience ahead. The readings were powerful for me in the weeks leading up to the immersion, but it was actually   meeting these people we read about, experiencing Skid Row first-hand and not just in a Youtube video, stepping foot into Homeboy industries and meeting some of the homies, that was most powerful for me. It pushed me to see the importance of human intera...

Hello, My name is Elyssa Barja Lim and I come from Chaminade University. I am part of a Marianist Lay Community in Chaminade called Hokupa'a. I was blessed to be chosen as one of the four participants to present our school. This trip has sincerely opened my heart and mind to everything and everyone I never imagined. Today is the last full day we have together before we disperse to our separate directions and go back to our college life. How does one even begin the conclusion of this wonderful and empowering week? Getting to know people, filling our hearts with their faces and names, and listening to everyone's different stories, you start to realize that God has been present all along. I noticed that it was during their darkest moments that they found redemption. All the people who run the programs we've visited were great people with great stories, but as were the people whom these programs were made for; for example, teachers like Emma who stayed in St. Rays, Paco from Ho...

January 9, 2016 Hi all, My name is Barbara Falcon-Mendoza and I am a sophomore at St. Mary's University in San Antonio Texas. Back in San Antonio I would volunteer at various organizations and met many people in need, but I never really sat down to listen to them. Instead, I was always focused on how I could help them, if they needed food or clothing--mainly material things. This trip has changed that. I've learned to listen to the people's stories, because sometimes that's all they need at the moment, or all I can give them for now: an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on. Today was our fifth full day of our LA immersion and we spent our evening at the Marianist Brother's house in West Hills, LA. I got to meet new people within the Marianist community and had time to reflect on all the things that have happened throughout the week. The main question we were asked to reflect upon was: "Where have you felt the holy spirit the most throughout this week?" ...

Hello, my name is Tim Fasano and I am a junior at the University of Dayton. Today began the same as all the others, early, but unlike the last two days the rain let up and we were blessed with the uplifting sight of the sun. My group had the opportunity to work with the people of Union Rescue Mission, an organization filled with many devoted individuals who allow their faith to drive their vocation of being Christ to the people of Skid Row. We served in the kitchen preparing and serving lunch to a large number of men, women, and children.What struck me most about this experience was the opportunity I had to meet two men, Giod and Victor, both of whom are residents at the Mission. Giod had been homeless and living on the streets for some time before coming to the Mission, and Victor had found the Mission through a reference from his pastor. Both of these men shared a little bit about themselves, and on the surface our interactions may seem quite ordinary, no different from a conversatio...

January 6, 2016 Hello all! My name is Sarah and I am senior at the University of Dayton in Dayton, OH. It has been a busy past couple of days, filled with so many wonderful experiences, beautiful stories, and new friends. Today we started off making our first stop at Homeboy Industries, an amazing ministry started by Father Greg Boyle to help gang members walk away from the violence and addictions, and provide them with the tools, encouragement and love to turn their lives around. Many of us had done some reading and watched some videos about Fr. Greg and the homies, but being able to visit the ministry and hear peoples stories firsthand was really amazing as we were able to put faces to many of these stories. So many things struck me during this visit, and I wish I could write about them all. We began by sitting in on the industries morning business meeting and thought of the day. The thought of the day was given by Fabian, a past gang member who has completely turned his life around ...