As a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, I have the privilege and challenge of preparing to renew my vows every year on the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord. I am reminded that Mary’s response, “Let it be done to me according to your word” was a complete surrender of her heart and mind and body.

This year’s renewal is in the context of Pope Francis’s invitation:

“May the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ (cf. Jn 10:7.9) of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as ‘our hope’ (1 Tim1:1).”

Eager to be part of this Jubilee movement in the Church, I have been discerning: what is mine to do?

I witness the chaos in the United States since the new president and administration have taken office. I witness the cruelty of cuts to programs that provide basic needs to millions of persons. I witness the fear and distress of vulnerable people within our country and across the world. What am I called to do?

During my usual review of emails from organizations that support those who are suffering, I responded to one from Jesuit Refugee Services that was organizing an on-line lobby day in response to the termination of previously approved refugee assistance programs in Ethiopia, Uganda, Thailand, Chad, India and Iraq. The loss of already appropriated funding effectively destroyed local programs in those countries.

Soon I realized that the preparation day was the retreat day before our Renovation of Vows and the appointments with US Senators and Representatives from North and South Carolina occurred on March 25, Renovation Day.

Our team included a staff person from JRS who happens to be a refugee from Ethiopia, a college student from North Carolina who is studying at Fordham University in NY, and me.

As we prepared our talking points, I recalled gratefully the role of Jesuit Refugee Services in the resettlement of indigenous Guatemalans who spent 10 years or more in camps in Campeche, Mexico after fleeing the horrific violence in their country in the 1980’s which targeted the Mayan populations who were believed to be supporting the guerrilla movement. The army destroyed 626 villages, killed or “disappeared” more than 200,000 people and displaced an additional 1.5 million, while more than 150,000 were driven to seek refuge in Mexico. The Daughters of Charity of Mexico staffed a number of resettlement camps in Mexico but were unable to accompany the people back to Guatemala. Hence, Jesuit Refugee Services appealed for Daughters from the US provinces and four of us were able to go. We witnessed the charism of JRS programs which affirm refugees and encourage them to rebuild their lives. The Guatemalans who returned immediately built the school and a gathering area for collaborative decision making around distribution of farmland and places to build their homes. With Doctors without Borders, they built a clinic. JRS assisted with paying Guatemalan young adults who were educated in Mexico to provide quality education in the schools in Spanish and in their indigenous languages.

I thank God for the clear response: I am called to be an advocate on behalf of persons caught in violent and complex situations that force them to leave home.