A Reflection by Sr. Barbara DeMoranville, MSBT
General Custodian of the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity On the Occasion of the Margaret Healy Leadership Assembly of the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate
Holy Trinity, Alabama, March 29, 2003
As members of the Missionary Cenacle Family, we are so aware that missionary is at the core of who we are and that being missionaries influences our lives profoundly.
For me, there are certain words that inspire, inform and challenge our lives, which is why I want to reflect upon Love means Service with you, because I believe that these words are hallmarks for all of us.
I suggest the image we hold before us be that of Jesus washing the feet of his Apostles. Jesus wished to show his Apostles how much he loved them before He left them. He performed a tender service. In responding to the call to leadership, it is essential that we know Jesus through His words and actions.
Love means service, and therefore a very evident mark of a real love for Jesus Christ is to do something for His cause.
I heard these words spoken by Father Judge in one of his conferences that was read (no, I did not personally know Father Judge) at one of our Cenacle meetings when I was a young girl in the MCA. The words stirred in my heart and have stayed with me my entire life. As a teenager, these words were actualized by the Holy Spirit leading and guiding me as my Junior MCA group visited local nursing homes in my hometown, Hyannis; as we taught religious education to some children that lived in a local housing project; as we were very involved in the MCA meetings, Days of Recollection and Retreats, as well as Christ the King and Pentecost Missionary Meetings. Some of us were also on hand year after year to help with the kindergarten graduations and plays that our Sisters had each year. And some of us went to a Summer School of Catholic Action in Philadelphia, PA, that has a modern day counterpart in SUMMER MISSION INSTITUTE.
