“You give marvelous comrades to me,” we sing in Psalm 16. As we conclude our six months in the USA, we rejoice in the wonderful friendships we have made as we study English.
The Chardon winter brought many days of cold weather and snow, a new experience for Sr. Maria Lidwina. In Advent, we helped a nearby parish make blankets for a children’s home and baked Christmas cookies, and Sr. Marie JaHun joined the handbell choir at the Chardon Center. At an Asian market, we bought ingredients to make dinners of ‘nasi goreng’ and ‘kimbap’. When we had a short vacation at Our House, some of our good friends joined us for an afternoon of cards and time near the fireplace.
Our understanding of our beautiful planet grew on our visits to Cleveland’s Natural History Museum and Ventura’s Channel Islands National Park. We also met students and staff at Julie Billiart School in Lyndhurst.
Although the wildfires in Southern California delayed our travel to Thousand Oaks, the sisters welcomed us warmly at Notre Dame Center. At the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, we shared in the liturgy and met Archbishop Jose Gomez. We enjoyed a visit to Mission Santa Barbara, where we met many of the sisters in their convent homes and learned about their ministries.
In addition to learning English, we now have a deeper understanding of SND’s mission and ministry worldwide. We are grateful to the Congregation for this opportunity and to the American sisters for their welcome and friendship. How good God is!
by Dreamhost