Associate called to share learning from Mercy eco-retreat

Each morning, the Sisters of Mercy and Associates had a ritual of honoring the earth.

By Catherine Regan, Mercy Associate

Coming home from the Mercy Eco-retreat, these words of Thomas Berry are ringing in my ears and in my heart: 

“All human institutions, programs and activities must now be judged primarily by the extent to which they inhibit, ignore or foster a mutually-enhancing human-earth relationship.”

I attended the week with the intention and hope of being more deeply converted to the reality of our oneness with Earth and more committed to responding to Earth’s cry for Mercy.  This has happened.  Now the questions are:  what shape will my own response take and what will help us mobilize as the Mercy Community of sisters, associates, and companions to live into our mission statement?

These questions are multi-layered and call for reflection, dialogue, and action on many levels.  A small immediate one for me:  I was stunned to learn that 200 million tons of synthetic chemicals are finding their way into our water, soil, and air every year!  They are toxic and damage earth’s capacity to support life.  I am finally choosing to use only non-toxic products!

Study.  Speak.  Act.  This is how I’m feeling called.  Aware that I have so much to learn, study has once again become a priority in my life – this time in service of Earth.  My natural desire to pass on what I learn can be offered as well, whenever and wherever an opportunity to speak and share presents itself.  And finally, I will weigh my actions – as a citizen and as a consumer against Thomas Berry’s guidelines.

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Photos from Mercy Challenge

Here I am at the far right enjoying a meal with other Mercy Challenge participants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here wer are outside the Service Center.

One of the highlights of the week was getting to see the grounds that housed Sacramento's Tent City.

People come to Loaves and Fishes for a nutritious meal.

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Mercy Challenge — Washing of the Feet

by Clare Huerter

One of the many events that Loaves and Fishes puts on during the month is an event called The Washing of the Feet. It is a very sacred event that takes place on the third Thursday of each month. The guests are able to come and let their feet soak in water, get them washed, toe nails trimmed, and then massaged with lotion. The media often wants to get a glimpse of this ceremonial- type event but the nurse there, Susie, said that it is too sacred for the media to be there.

 Susie asked our Mercy Challenge group if we would be willing to help out with that. We quickly accepted the challenge, always eager to be anywhere and do anything that was asked of us for the week. The feet washing took place in Friendship Park on the deck outside the nurse’s office. There were about 15 chairs lined up with towels in front of them. We were taken into the nurse’s office where Susie gave us a brief introduction of what we were to do. We were then handed a tiny bucket with toe nail clippers, lotion, soup, and a pumice stone. Susie told us to take this, and if we felt uncomfortable clipping their toe nails, we were to ask her or one of the other three nurses that volunteer there every Thursday during Feet Washing.

I was nervous leaving Susie’s office. I didn’t know how the guests were going to respond to me washing their feet, and vice versa. I decided it was would be more comfortable to start out with a woman so I walked up to the first woman I saw. Her feet had been soaking for awhile so I sat down and looked up at her and introduced myself. I explained what I was going to do and started. I was concentrating hard on her calloused, dirty, and worn down feet, but there were times I would look up to see her and she seemed calm and content, which was rare for any of the guests at Loaves and Fishes. I was worried I was hurting her and when I would ask, she looked down at me like I was crazy. It’s rare for the guests to get pampered like this and I know she was appreciative just by her facial expressions.

Right after that, I went to another lady. She was pregnant and her feet were swollen. The whole time while I was massaging her feet, I was thinking of how grateful I was that I was the one who got to massage her feet. I knew if anyone needed a good massage, it was a pregnant lady with swollen feet. I took my time with her and kept asking her questions so she was able to get all the stress out of her life and just relaxed even if it was just for a half hour. She had sores on her feet and bad toe nails. As I was rubbing her feet, I thought of how much she walked a day on those two feet, instead of having her feet up and taking good care of the baby growing inside her.

I had one man out of the four guests that I had. He had the worst feet out of all the women. He had sores all over them and I could tell they hurt him. He told me that there is no way I could hurt him by massaging his feet. I think they get so used to having bad feet that they don’t realize what good feet feel like. I asked him if it hurt every time he took a step and he said no, but there is no way that it didn’t. I really do believe he was immune to the pain in his feet. He was more talkative than the woman and was able to verbalize his appreciation better. I could see the woman’s gratitude in their faces but they never verbalized it, but with LeRoy, the man, he would have told me every second if he could how nice it felt. I was glad to be able to do that for him.

I don’t think I will ever have a tough enough stomach to talk fully about what I saw today. Looking back on it, it was a gruesome task. I think God was protecting me while I was doing it because not once did I find it offensive or disgusting, I found it calming and soothing for both me and the guest. I felt like I had done it for years and that I knew how to massage a foot like it was my own job. It was really quite enjoyable and to give them at least a little bit of relief gave me more joy and more humility than I have ever experience in my entire life. I really felt as though I was washing Jesus’ feet. I know that sounds a bit cliché but I really do believe that I was their servants today and I was thankful that they allowed me the opportunity to do that for them.

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Mercy Challenge — Tuesday, May 19

Working the front desk.

by Clare Huerter

Tuesday (Mary’s House)

My group was at Mary’s House. When we arrived we were split into two groups; two were going to be dividing toiletries

in certain quantities for when the women receive their monthly supply, and the other would be at the front desk helping the women as they came in. When we were asked where we wanted to go, whether we were all intimidated or nervous, we all backed down from going to the front desk. I didn’t want to disappoint the women there so I said I would do the front desk.

It was stressful at first and after I had only a brief introduction of the days duties, I was left alone at the desk. I was very nervous but it worked out okay.

Men are not allowed in this particular area. The women are able to get a membership to Mary’s Place and that allows them to get hygiene products, shower tickets, and breakfast in the mornings. It is also a safe place for them to stay. In order to receive another month of services, though, they have to renew their membership. So I was dealing with old and new members today and women who had all sorts of questions. They also get their mail there, phone messages, stamps and envelopes, pretty much you name it, and they get it here.

How it works is that they sign in under new member or old member. The new members are taken care of first. They get called into the back like a doctor’s office and they have one on one meetings with one of three counselors that get down all their information, help them with legal issues, and sign them up so they are able to receive proper care. A lot of them are rape victims…A LOT. I encountered THREE just today! It was the most heart wrenching experience of my life. Just one wrong relationship, one wrong falling out with your family, and you are in that place and I believe whole heartedly that it’s that easy to end up there. None of these women chose this life. They were all so sweet and grateful for the work I was doing, even though I was so new and didn’t really get it at all! But I learned along the way and it was wonderful.

The moment during the day that I will take with me for the rest of my life happened at the very end of the day. A girl came in and she didn’t look too worn down so I knew she was new to the whole homeless life. She had a little baby in a stroller with her. She came up and whispered to me that she was homeless, so embarrassed and so ashamed and said she needed help and was told to come here. I told her to go ahead and sign her name and sit and wait and someone would be with her in a moment. It was close to the end of the day and they called her back right away. As soon as she was wheeling the stroller back, it was almost as God was nudging me to go and pick up that baby.

The baby was 18 months but very small for her age, even though she was a pudgy baby. I walked up to her and the women in the back were teasing me because anytime there was a baby, I would ask if I could hold them. The mothers always agreed saying they needed a break. I knew they weren’t lying by their weary shoulders and sunken faces. But this little one in particular was special, and I knew it. I bent down in front of her and she looked right up at me and gave me the biggest smile. I’ve never seen a baby smile as big as she did. I put my hand down for her to grab onto my hand and the mom said there is no way she’ll go to anyone strange and almost instantaneously, the baby grabbed onto my hand and I picked her up and took her back to my seat. She was so good in my arms and never ever made a noise. I was humming to her and rubbing her back and all of a sudden, her head flopped down onto my chest and she was out like a light. She was asleep for almost an hour and a half in my arms. I prayer over her that God would wrap a circle of safety around this child and her mother. I was so choked up I couldn’t even talk. I knew the life this baby would have and I would have taken her right then and there if I had the chance.

The mother was sweet, though, but in a lot of trouble. She had a three month old and two toddlers who were living with relatives. They were all from different dads and the reason why she had this little girl with her was that her dad was trying to steal the baby from her. Already the girl has probably seen more things in her life than I ever will. I think she was drawn to my warmth and calmness. I think she knew that she would be safe in my arms, I really do believe that. She was really a little angels and I will think about her and pray for her every day of my life.

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Mercy Challenge — reflections 2009

Clare Huerter

Clare Huerter is one of the seven women participating in Mercy Challenge. This is a week long service and prayer experience for young women who wish to live in a local Sisters of Mercy community and learn more about the Mercy mission and ministries.  This year’s challenge took place in Sacramento, Calif. immerse themselves in Mercy life and community through morning prayer, ministry experience, meals, reflection, relaxation and fun with Sisters of Mercy in Auburn, Burlingame and Sacramento. During the day, the young women ministered with Sister Libby Fernandez, RSM, at Loaves and Fishes, a Mercy ministry dedicated to serving the needs of homeless persons in the Sacramento area.  http://www.sistersofmercy.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2158&Itemid=180

Here is Clare’s observation on day 1 of the Challenge:

“Expectations” May 16, 2009 4:37

Travel Alone always has its ups and downs. It gets lonely but it’s nice to get a break and get a chance to spend time in thoughts and reflection. My expectations are high for this trip. I know, I know, don’t get your hopes up but there is no doubt in my mind that the Sisters of Mercy in California have the same spirit and enthusiasm and drive as the sisters I’ve met in Laredo, Omaha, and Philadelphia.

I got an e-mail from Sr. Pat and she said that we will be working with Loaves and Fishes for the majority of the week. I’m looking forward to working with the poor. I don’t get a change to work with the poor as much as I like. I usually find myself in other volunteer position. Working with the poor brings me so much and I forget how full of the spirit I feel when I leave any sort of volunteer position with the poor. When people say they don’t work the poor because it is too hard for them, or they don’t think they can do enough for them, they don’t realize that they do much more for us.

I talked to a lady who was sitting behind me for awhile. She was interesting in that fact that I was going to California to volunteer. She was interested in what else I had done. Yes again, I got to talking about Laredo, about how much I loved it and how much I learned from it. She was very supportive. I have found that when I first start talking about my experiences in the Laredo, it’s like I’m walking on egg shells until I know what their views are. This lady was very understanding and must be some sort of teacher or social worker because she asked all the “right questions”. She told me she is inspired by my experiences and would like to someday learn Spanish and go down to the border. I guess if I can help educate one person about the border, I’ve done my job for the many people who put their trust in us with their stories while we were down there.

My mind is on Laredo, and I’m ready for it to transition to San Francisco and Sacramento. I haven’t been to either of these cities but have felt a strong pull to San Francisco since I was a little kid. At the beginning of this school year, I was planning out my life, listening to God laugh at me, and I was looking up the different Mercy High Schools around the United States. I want to teach high school most of all and I know I want to teach in Mercy High Schools. When I put it in Google, Burlingame was the first Mercy high school that came up. I know that Google is a tossup, but I didn’t realize there was a Mercy school in San Fran and thought it was interesting that it was the first thing that popped up.

I looked at the school and fell in love. Yeah, I know, It’s a gorgeous mansion and anyone could fall in love with it over the internet, but I think I’m going to find a connection there. If I have felt a pull to San Fran, and later found out there was a Mercy high school there, I think there has to be something there. So that is something that I will later blog about once I am in the college. We will be going there tonight and I’m so eager I can’t stand it. Hopefully my intuition is right, but I won’t lie about how I feel about it.

The flights today have all been smooth sailin’ and we are hopefully going to land here pretty quick. I don’t think I’m going to be able to sit for much longer. I get so ansy when I’m traveling. I insist on getting to the airport earlier than we need to.

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