In less than 2 weeks, 8 Ursuline Summer Volunteers will gather for a week of service at the Humanitarian Respite Center sponsored by Catholic Charities in McAllen, Texas. The group includes students and alums of Ursuline schools in St. Louis and New York 
who know well the meaning of SERVIAM–I will serve.
The byline for our place of service is: Restoring Human Dignity on the Border. We will share in this mission as we help create hope and restore dignity to the most vulnerable among us. We expect to sort donated clothing, clean, sweep, mop, make sandwiches, clean showers and bathrooms, make soup and prepare for the afternoon rush—that rush being when the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement brings guests by bus from their holding center. Recently, 500 to 900 people a day have arrived. We’ll be on call to assist families, children, and regular staff in whatever ways possible.
How will we restore human dignity? Well, stay tuned, because we’ll be blogging right here during the week. I imagine our efforts will include Spanish greetings and smiles of welcome; provision of a change of clothing, toothbrushes, chapstick, food; babysitting and playing games with children; and a loving sendoff to the bus station for the next leg of the journey.
It’s hard to imagine doing all this without also experiencing heartbreak. Our service group will take time each evening to reflect, pray together, and draw strength from words of Jesus and of St. Angela. We’ll be support for one another. We’ve chosen to be together for this week because we share values that are rooted in our Ursuline spirit of service and our deep desire for human dignity for all persons. We’ll keep before us the wisdom of Pope Francis:
Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women, and men who leave or are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more.
Yesterday, the graduating seniors of Ursuline Academy, St. Louis, were inducted into the school’s Alumnae Association. It was my privilege to give a little reflection for that ceremony, so I used the opportunity to remind them of the worldwide Ursuline family they belong to. I emphasized both the joy and responsibility of this. It’s a joy because the Ursuline Cross, Serviam shield, and name “Ursuline” can be discovered all over the world and remind us of this international sisterhood.
them.
Last week, I was in Wilmington, Delaware for workshops with the sophomores at Ursuline Academy. What a lovely group of young women! We talked about discernment, God’s gifts, and the call from Jesus to use what we’ve been given to make a difference in this world. 
In that spirit, for those of you no longer in high school, here’s a great opportunity to serve. We, Ursuline Sisters, offer a week of service in McAllen, Texas, June 23-29, 2019 for women ages 18-30. We will work with immigrant families at The Humanitarian Respite Center of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. We’ll prepare and serve food, organize clothing and showers, help with transportation, and learn a lot about the struggles of immigrant people in the process. Housing will be at the San Juan Basilica Hotel.
It’s 88 degrees in Panama, and half a million visitors are expected there today for the opening of the International World Youth Day. When I passed through the airport there recently, on my way home from Guyana, I could see full mode preparations for the arrival of Pope Francis and a great celebration of youth.
and on TV. We’re with you in spirit!
Sunday, November 25, is the 483rd anniversary of the foundation of the Ursulines by St. Angela Merici. This gentle, holy, Italian woman had the courage and “Spirit” to begin a new way for women to give their lives to God while remaining engaged with the people and needs of their day.
