Sr Gemma Wilson sm reflects upon her experience of the impact the marist presence has among the people with whom she has lived and worked and the difference this can mean in their lives.
Over the years many people have remarked that we Marist Sisters are “approachable”, “ordinary”, and “human”. This has been my experience in several different countries with their contrasting cultures. Whether it is after Mass, in the supermarket, on the street, in the bus, in the queue, or in their homes, people feel they can share their lives with us. Marist Sisters are at home in the homes of the people of their parish or suburb, very especially in moments of sickness or death, birth, celebrations or tragedies, and people are at home in our houses too. Over and above any pastoral or social work we might do in a parish or town, we are very close to the people in their daily lives. We are their neighbours and their friends, and share their concerns. If there is a problem in the neighborhood it is our problem too and we are involved with our people in looking for solutions.
Perhaps the most important aspect of this “Nazareth” presence is the capacity Marist sisters have for listening. I sense that we value highly those informal, unplanned moments, when we can be a presence of Mary, as she must have been in the streets of Nazareth just by listening to someone’s story. Many of my sisters have shared with me over the years how they listened, without comment, strengthening the other just by the total gift of their compassionate, unconditional listening. Sometimes the listening is planned and formal but very often it happens spontaneously, in all sorts of places, because people feel at ease with us, feel we are their sisters.
An example comes from our experience working here in Mirador Escondido in Guadalajara. Many, many times as we leave the little Church where we go to Mass every day, or go in to the shop down the road to buy bread or milk, or sit in the bus, when we ask people how they are, we hear about the silent tragedies going on all around us. Sometimes we are able to do something practical, or suggest a line of action, but often the person just needs someone to listen to their story. I believe that it is not just the work that we do here, but also our presence, our physical and psychological closeness to the people, which contributes to the coming of God’s Reign in ways that we may never know about. They are Marist moments, “hidden and unknown” moments, powerful yet discreet moments, when we bring the love of God to our sisters and brothers as Mary did in Nazareth and in the early Church.
I have come to believe that people really do experience in us what we call a Marist “spirit” which they verbalize sometimes using the words I used before: “ordinary” “approachable” “simple” , or “like us”. It has to do with where we live and how we live. It has to do with being out there in the places where people live and work and chat, but it has much more to do with what has been passed on to us over the last nearly 200 years. Most of all it has to do with being like Mary of Nazareth, who was there among her people, discreetly yet efficaciously, quietly helping them to be free and happy and to know their God as a God of love and mercy. |
