This reflection comes from Cohort 10 Fellow Rebecca Kaminski. Originally from Illinois, Rebecca graduated from Christendom College in Front Royal, VA with a degree in Theology. She currently serves in the Bronx, NYC at Brilla Veritas Elementary. In this reflection on the Marian Virtues and the Joyful Mysteries, Rebecca shares how her life as a Fellow has mirrored Mary’s own submission to God’s will.
The life of a Bronx-based Fellow (as in all of our geographies), involves the experience of Christ as He presents Himself in our neighborhoods, hidden in the joys and sorrows of the scholars in our schools. It is a mystery how the Lord can bring about joy through sorrow and transform suffering into an instrument to accomplish His plan. However, I have found that meditating on the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary and the Marian virtues brings about understanding and peace with this paradox. With Mary as a model, our mission comes alive! Through the grace of God, we share a common call with Mary: bringing others to Christ and to the hope of the Resurrection.
The Annunciation
The moment that a Fellow says yes is a joyful one! I myself was immediately drawn to the faces of the children and their stories that my recruiter shared with me. Pursuing a life likened to Christ’s own and receiving the opportunity to share in a child’s growth is a beautiful thing. After all, Christ tells us to draw others to Himself, and we are naturally attracted to this call through our Christian identity. However, there might be doubts about the future after the fellowship or the distance from home or the foreignness of city life, but when a Fellow says yes, he or she embraces Mary’s words: “Let it be done to me according to thy word.” In this moment there is joy and peace! Additionally, it is humbling to know that, imperfect though I may be, God allowed me to be a part of these children’s lives, and the recruiters and staff who walked with me were docile to His will. This is the first encounter a Fellow shares in the life of Mary on mission.
Lord, grant us the grace of Marian humility and docility to God’s will.
The Visitation
What comes next? Fellows leave behind their families and friends, take a modest amount of their possessions, and travel to their mission site. For me, this was the Bronx. It takes true courage and a charitable disposition to be willing to leave behind the comfort of what is familiar. Adjusting to city life in the Bronx was not the most comfortable experience, though it’s certainly more comfortable than traveling on a donkey while pregnant! Just as Mary’s visitation was one of self-sacrifice, charity, and joy, it’s important to remember on difficult days that if Mary were accompanying us on this journey to the Bronx, she would be embracing the sights, smells, and sounds with joyful love. Her response to Elizabeth’s greeting is “My spirit exalts in God my Savior.” Without this Marian joy, our mission to love our disciples is robbed of the Christian charity it needs.
Lord, grant us the grace of Marian charity and joy.
The Nativity
Then teaching begins, and we meet our disciples and our scholars. We quickly realize that many of our students experience a poverty of love in their lives. It has been said before that children who are loved well at home come to school to learn, and those who are not loved well at home come to school to experience love. We are blessed to partner with wonderful parent and families, but just as it is in other schools across our country, many of my students crave love and attention! I hear “I love you” and receive more hugs than I have experienced from any other group of children. Mary reflected on her own poverty during the Nativity, while also recognizing the poverty of love in the world. She knew that through her littleness and her poverty, God would bring about great things. Just as Mary accepted her poverty and offered it up to God, we must also recognize our littleness and offer ourselves to the Lord, trusting that His grace will introduce a perfect love to these small souls who are so hungry for love.
Lord, grant us the grace of a Marian spirit of poverty.
The Presentation
Simeon and Anna’s prophecy told Mary that she would have to experience great sorrow during the course of her life because of the trials Christ would go through. One of the most difficult tasks of being a Fellow is to know that although we were sent to enter these children’s lives, we cannot save them from their trials. They will still grow up and face difficulty—sometimes in challenging neighborhoods and in a larger culture where they may be exposed to evils much younger than other children. They don’t always have the gift of naivety and innocence that children deserve, and that’s difficult for a teacher and missionary to experience. Our mission demands a Marian surrender to the providence of God’s plan. Mary did not doubt that her Son would bring about good from the immense suffering that He would undergo. We must not forget that either. We must have hope that our students’ sanctification will lie in these trials. Our role, like Mary’s, is to love with the love of the Father, creating trust and safety and hope in a God who promises life beyond the reach of the suffering on this earth.
Lord, grant us the grace of Marian obedience and surrender to God’s plan.
The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
After building relationships with our disciples, teaching them about God’s love, and offering them Capri-Sun parties for good behavior, one would think our disciples would always be enthusiastic and ready to learn. Nope! Some days our disciples need more attention. I remember a time when a student of mine “eloped,” meaning that they just left the room for no apparent reason. Of course, there always is a reason, but it takes individualized attention to allow a child to communicate their needs and sufferings. Unfortunately, my own patience and understanding does not compare to Mary’s patience when Jesus seemingly “eloped” and left to spend more time in the Temple. Although she did not understand, she sought to understand.
I imagine that the Spirit would have revealed to her that Christ’s disappearance was a foreshadowing of His death and Resurrection. After three days of searching for her son, Mary found Jesus, just as He rose on the third day after His death. Sometimes our students’ needs do not make sense to us, and we grow impatient due to our own lack of understanding. However, these children, like Jesus, are just seeking out the love of the Father. The mystery I constantly encounter is that instead of finding the Father in the temple, our disciples must find God in us—their El Camino teachers. A poor substitute, perhaps, but our role is to bring to them the Father’s love in hope that someday they too will encounter a Resurrection through the sacrament of Baptism.
Lord, grant us the grace of Marian patience and piety.
Want to echo Mary’s fiat and serve as a Seton Teaching Fellow? Our Fellows are radically evangelizing through urban education, and we’re hiring on a rolling basis. Explore our application today, or reach out to our recruitment team to learn more!
