Seminarian reflects on past summer assignment

By Liam Daigle | Special to The CFP

Expectations can sometimes hide or distract from the grace present in various moments in our lives.
This is especially true when we might attempt to constrain or define the extent of God’s generosity, which is able to “accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephes. 3:20). I found this out in a pronounced way when I was given the opportunity to spend time abroad for my seminary summer assignment.
During these months of 2025, I was blessed to study the life and teaching of St. John Paul II at the Tertio Millenio Seminar in Krakow, Poland, as well as to visit two missionary communities.
The first visit involved reconnecting with a friend in Senegal, West Africa, where I was able to join the Consolatio Missionaries in their mission located in the capital of Dakar.
The second saw a couple peers from the North American College and I assisting the Missionaries of Charity with their city apostolate for the poor in Milan, Italy. The profound witness of selflessness among these missionary religious sisters and volunteers showed how the Church spreads the Gospel through prayer, compassion, and the witness of lives given completely to Christ. I am reminded of a quote from the saintly pope, who, in Redemptor Hominis, 10, taught that “man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it.”
My time with these two communities provided the chance to see how this insight is lived out in the irreplaceable gift of personal presence and in faith-filled service.
Nobody was forgotten in the daily visits of the Consolatio Missionaries through crowded streets to meet families, students, and all who welcomed sincere conversation and cordiality. The mission of Consolatio, upon which my friend, Sam Ray, had entered as a volunteer, is a ministry of presence. They give of nothing but themselves and their time, with the idea being that persistent relationship and sincere interest in a community are a privileged way of sharing the Gospel.
This is the consolation of human presence.
The missionaries, numbering five at the time of my visit, lived among the people in a simple neighborhood with many families. Catholics make up a minority of the population of Senegal as the country itself is largely Muslim, yet the two groups live together peacefully and abide in a strong cultural sense of unity.
Prayer was an essential part of our daily routine: the holy Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, Eucharistic adoration, and the rosary all provided spiritual nourishment and support.
Once the day got started, the missionaries went out in pairs to call upon persons, homes, businesses, even schools and prisons, that have some relationship with the apostolate. Since Christ has said, “he who hears you, hears me” (Luke 10:16) and also, “whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me,” (Matt. 25:40) the goal of the mission was that the love of the Lord Jesus might be given to others through his members, the Church, and that Christ might be encountered in our neighbor.
We saw this reality lived out in the trust of an old woman sharing family photos in a second-floor room, which sheltered us from the summer heat and the bleating of animals below; and also in the friendship of a blind man, who wanted help playing music on his hand-held radio, among many other instances of personal connection.
Truly, whether near or far, the Church is “one body in Christ, and individually members one of another,” and all are called to the fullness of this communion in which persons from all nations are united in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12:5). A lesson like this is not easily learned close to home.
The Missionaries of Charity similarly displayed a single-hearted love for God manifested in care of neighbor and provided another example of this theme of solidarity in the Body of Christ. In our case, my peers from seminary, Rubén Castañeda and Kyle Rohan, and I traveled to Milan to work with the sisters at Casa Speranza, in a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of the city.
The daily work of these sisters included providing housing for women in need of a home and also a daily meal (“mensa”) for men on the street. Always in need of a helping hand, they had us assist with cooking and serving meals, which was a day-long task to prepare for the sizable crowd that frequented the convent.
By sharing in the routine of prayer and devotions that accompanies the life of the sisters of Mother Theresa, I was given to realize that the true motivation for their work is supernatural. Beyond mere philanthropy, each sister approached each task with great humility and a lively energy that comes from their love for Jesus Christ. This could be seen in the consistent, even heroic, daily sacrifices made to satisfy the needs of others.
This service to the “poorest of the poor” was a labor of love done to console the heart of the crucified Lord and to free the poor from hopelessness and lack of faith. So, along with the powerful witness I had experienced in Senegal, the Missionaries of Charity proved to be living images of God’s provident generosity and enduring faithfulness.
It was a great privilege to share this time with both communities on mission and, in doing so, to learn something of the pastoral charity so incumbent of the priesthood.
 
– Mr. Daigle attends the Pontifical North American College in Rome and spent this current summer at St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish in Clinton.