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I often find it discouraging to witness our hook-up culture, where many young people don’t want to commit. The divorce rate is 50 percent. Is perseverance in fidelity possible? A few days ago I found the answer.
Every morning as I walk from my dorm to the chapel I see the same scenario: Celine Kelly sitting in her desk, both hands on the keyboard, looking closely at her tiny laptop’s screen. Sometimes the lights are off, sometimes on…but regardless of time or weather she is always there. As I go by her office, I often wonder what she is planning next… she is unstoppable! But last Monday, I was suddenly struck by the fact that she has persevered for 35 years in consecrated life. How has she done it? And what can I do to achieve it as well? I decided to ask her a few questions about her vocation and her journey of perseverance.
When did you get consecrated and how did you receive your call?
I got consecrated in September 25, 1976, and my call was very simple: When I was about ten years old, around summertime I just knew it. Years before, when I was very little I felt that Christ had put “something special” in my heart, but I just needed to discover what that was. That summer night, I knew Christ was asking me to dedicate my life to him. The question now was where to go.
At 17, I met the consecrated women of Regnum Christi in Ireland. The following year, I was invited to help at a girls’ camp and one night praying before the Blessed Sacrament I thought about the call from God as a drop of water that if it falls in a mountain, becomes a hermit, or if it falls in a river becomes a consecrated person among the people. Then I thought about how Regnum Christi was making an impact on the youth and the family. In that moment Jesus confirmed my call and I knew it was in Regnum Christi. I told Maricarmen Perochena, a consecrated woman, who was also in the chapel moving some chairs. She hugged me, and then we celebrated with cookies and milk.
What are the places you have worked and in what apostolates?
I had my formation in Ireland; I worked for 9 years in the foundation of a school in Guadalajara as the Dean of studies and also in a road team; I helped as the director of the center in Aguascalientes for two years; I went back to Ireland to work there for 5 years as the director of the Academy and of the center; then director of the center in Saltillo for 3 years; Greenville for one year in road teams; Detroit for 11 years helping as a spiritual guide, in the ladies section and working at the school; and now I’m in Greenville Rhode Island helping as a spiritual guide for the consecrated women and working in the fundraising office.
What is that which fulfills you the most?
To see somebody grow in their love for the Lord, in their relationship with him. I often think about the passage of the Samaritan woman, who once she found Jesus, went to share her experience with the people of her town. Then they went to met Jesus by themselves. I want to be like her, helping others have their own experience of Christ. I also like to think about the Good Samaritan; I want to be that for others, that is what fulfills me the most. Also to guide people to see the crucified Christ and help them live through their suffering with joy, help them be happy and be good.
Do you have any special stories to share?
I could tell you stories until the cows come home! I like especially the stories with little children. In the school in Detroit, I had invited the children to make a visit to the chapel. After a brief visit, one boy, Jose, comes to me and tells me,
-Miss Kelly, I’ve been puzzled for a year.
-Why have you been puzzled?
-I don’t understand why did Jesus die on the cross if he was God.
-Well, there was another boy; his name was Thomas [Thomas Aquinas] that had the same question. He knew that Jesus could have saved us with only one drop of his blood, but he couldn’t understand why Jesus decided to suffer so much. But then he realized that if not, we wouldn’t know how much Jesus loves us.
The next Monday, in our visit to the Chapel I asked the children to say their intentions. Jose raised his hand and said: I want to thank Jesus for all his love for us. He got it!
What has helped you to persevere until now?
Jesus, my prayer life, my life of grace, the love of God. He is the one who carries me and helps me. Also to see Our Lady faithful at the foot of the cross, as well as the good examples of my companions, relatives, my parents…
What helps you the most in moments of difficulty?
To look at Jesus crucified. I find all my answers there. There is nothing I can’t handle foot of the cross.
Do you have any advice on how to persevere?
Keep your eyes on Christ crucified. He is the stable one, no matter the storm.
So, is perseverance possible? More than words or reasons, the example of this faithful consecrated companion is the best proof of it. Celine’s joy, desire to listen to others, and zeal for extending Christ’s kingdom show that not only is perseverance possible, but it is fulfilling.
A few days ago as I waited in the Academic Hall, I paged through the February issue of National Geographic. An ad caught my attention: the picture of an energetic dog, running frenetically towards a beehive on the trunk of a tree. At the top of the page read: “Oh, no, he didn’t. Oh, yes, he did. You can’t explain risk to your dog” and at the bottom: “VPI Pet insurance”.
I am an animal lover. Anything with fur and four legs makes me smile. Every morning I watch the squirrels scampering about in the garden. We don’t have many squirrels in Mexico, so even when my friends here at Mater Ecclesia laugh at my interest in the squirrels, I just can’t stop loving them. When I go to a park and see a dog I have to pet them; I even keep a picture of my family’s dog in my agenda. But little by little over the years I’ve witnessed our society enter into a process of the “humanization of animals.” And despite my immense love for all four-legged creatures, I know that animals should not be treated with equal dignity to human beings – created in the image and likeness of God.
At first I couldn’t believe the extent of this new process – that is, until I did a little research last year. The Chicago Tribune reported that Ernie Yamich spent $2,100 on the funeral for his dog, after having spent more than $7,000 on medical treatment (Flynn). In England, the chocolate company Mars opened a luxury resort hotel for animals (and believe me, these pets get better treatment than humans at any Holiday Inn). “Pet owners can leave their animals at the Triple A Pet Resort in Newcastle upon Tyne while they go on holiday, or just take them there for a treat. The facilities include a hydrotherapy pool, indoor gym, Jacuzzi, beds with a duvet and pillow, sofas where the pets can recline while watching videos of their owners on their personal television sets”. The hotel also includes sun balconies for cats where they can listen to classical music. The African parrots and macaws have video screens showing jungle scenes with tropical birds squawking. The hotel even has its own pet cemetery.
In June of 2010, the state of Arizona spent $1.25 million to build bridges over a mountain road for endangered squirrels so they don't become road kill (and even I admit that is overkill) (Powers). There’s been legal battles’ calling for animal rights. For example, Steven Wise, a lawyer defending this cause in the United States, proposes that “some animal species should be given legal rights based on the capacities of some animals to experience emotions, use language, and interact in a social way (“Animal Rights and Wrongs”).
But what happens when animals are treated almost as humans?
“If animals become persons, human persons become animals" (Flynn). If God has given a special dignity to man, then only man should be treated according to that dignity. Our rational, immortal soul is what makes us different than animals. To have a rational, immortal soul means to have the faculty of reason that enlightens our minds with the truth; a heart that enables us to embrace that truth, and a will to follow it. We have the capacity to admire beauty, to desire the good, to experience happiness, to laugh, to cry, to love.
Leaving Disney movies and cartoons aside, has a dog ever been in awe of a beautiful sunset? Or has a cat ever cried after listening to a melancholic song? Our soul makes us capable of perceiving such things; that is what makes us superior to animals.
But the fact that we are superior to them doesn’t mean that we can treat animals irresponsibly. We are called to be stewards of creation, caretakers and guardians of the earth and all upon it.
I agree with the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “God has given humans the dignity of personhood, something which sets them apart from the rest of creation” (88). Man has an innate dignity that in no way can be undermined for the sake of creatures of lower dignity. It’s hard for me to see dogs going about with perms and pedicures, being pushed about in strollers, their human owners practically being owned by them. It really gets under my skin because I know (please forgive the cliché) there are children in Africa and here in our own city streets who could benefit from such exorbitant spending of money. Do animals need what even some humans do not? I love animals, but when it comes down to it, I’ll give my vote to a human over “Fido” any day.
Works cited
“Animal Rights and Wrongs” Zenit. 29 Jun 2002. Web. 09 Nov 2010.
“Animals vs. People ––Who Is More Important?” Zenit. 26 Jan 2002. Web. 11 Nov 2010.
Catechism of the Catholic Church. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1994. Print.
Flynn, John. For the Love of Pets. Zenit. 14 Feb 2010. Web. 11 Nov 2010.
Powers, Doug. Feds Give Arizona $1.25 Million to Build… Squirrel Bridges. Michell Malkin. Jun 17,
2010. Web. 26 Jan 2012
I keep finding myself in tight places.
First, there was the little lined with shelves of cleaning supplies. Then came the colorful, shinny ribbons and wrapping paper in the “gifts closet”. Next, the old fashioned-looking tiny mailroom and then to the -10 F merciless freezer and finally to the food filled pantry.
Thank God I’m not claustrophobic. I’ve learned in my years at Mater Ecclesiae College that I can handle being in small, dark places (yes, including the confessional).
Of all these obscure areas I have to admit my special love for the mail room.
Although most students can tell where it is located, they don’t really know what lies behind that door. They know the “out-going letters” slot is to the left of the door, where their letters wait like little children anxiously standing in line to receive their tickets for the rollercoaster.
How does one find the mailroom? From reception, take a right; pass by the offices of the dean of studies and the President’s office, hang a left, and you will come upon a door leading to a mudroom that has been converted into a mailroom.
The mail “room” consists of a five step stairwell between two doors, separating it from the outside and inside worlds. Only 3 by 6 ft., its walls covered with flaking paint, the rusty radiator and the old fashioned wooden door at the back with its little windows through which the light shines give an atmosphere of stepping back into the 1950s.
When inside, you’ll either hear the sound of passing cars or, if its housework time for the consecrated women, the sounds of vacuums and speedy steps. If not, mostly just silence.
At the bottom of the stairs, to the right, on top of two cheap crates, lies a battered thin-wooden shelf with compartments: one holds envelopes, another holds a funky pink box with plastic ties and a calculator, another contains tape of different sizes, and another still has a folder with all kind of stamps and a little stamp dispenser in the form of a mail box with the colors of the American flag. On top of the shelf, there is a little scale to weigh each envelope that goes out, and a wrinkled piece of paper with helpful information: $.44 for the states, $.98 international…
The job description is to stamp, sort and deliver the letters that come in and go out. Every morning during housework time, the person in charge of the mail room separates which letters go to what floor and to whom: basement, administration, second floor, teachers, etc.
You might be asking yourself, why do we need a mail room, or someone in charge of it?
In a house of 80 or so people it is just… efficacious. It would be a little complicated for each student to check the mail room to see if they’ve received anything. And for those of us who almost never receive letters or packages thanks to the non-efficacious mail systems of our countries of origin, we would miss it if we ever received something.
Small and insignificant as it can seem, the mailroom is one of the favorite places of most students at Mater Ecclesiae, without them realizing it. Sophomore Mirianna Sternhagen, the current student in charge of the mail room knows that well.
“I am a very popular person. As I walk through the hallway, there is always someone who asks me if they have received their expected package or if I have already send their important letter.”
Who doesn’t love to receive a letter from her mother, or a card from a little sibling? Ask the freshmen and sophomores about the stream of exciting packages full of candy, or the administrator who every now and then gets a donation.
“What I like about working in the mailroom” Marianna said, “is that it is similar to our mission. Every day I go around, giving good things to people, which is exactly what I want to do: I want every person I encounter to leave with something good.”
The size of a place, after all, doesn’t determine the size of the heart. I can love others even in a small dark place.
For God there are no coincidences, or so Megan McCleneghen, consecrated woman of Regnum Christi and senior at Mater Ecclesiae College, would say.
Megan, originally from Dallas Texas, was 13 years old the first time she thought about a possible vocation, but it scared her so much that she pushed it away. However, God kept insisting.
By her senior year in High school God’s call remained in her heart, but it caused her so much anxiety that she found ways to prove to herself that “it couldn’t be”.
“I had many dreams” she says, “but there was nothing like the desire to belong to someone.” One night after going out with her boyfriend, she wrote a prayer in her journal, “This just doesn’t feel right Christ, don’t me get off track here. I just want to be the woman of your heart”.
That day was October 10, 2006. Little did she know that exactly two years later October 10 would have a new meaning in her life.
After finishing high school, Megan gave a year as a volunteer with the Regnum Christi mission corps and was assigned to New York City. A battle between her plans and God’s raged inside. As part of the program, Megan joined 100 others on a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land. Of all the Holy sites they visited, the Sacred Pit was a significant place in discovering her vocation.
“I entered that place with all my walls built, trying to ‘defend’ myself from God’s call. Someone asked me to read aloud Psalm 88 which was probably Jesus prayer in that place.”
“You plunged me into the bottom of the pit, into the darkness of the abyss. (…) All day I call on you, Lord; I stretch out my hands to you. (…) Why do you reject me, Lord? Why hide your face from me?”
“In my prayer I saw the guards beat him. Christ looked at me with all the burdens on my soul and said: “Give me that”. So I gave it to him. “And also that” So I did. But the guards didn’t stop whipping him. So I said: “I’ll give you this, and this, and this….” naming all the worries and difficulties I was facing. I couldn’t think of anything else to give so I asked him ‘what else?’ In that moment He looked at me. I knew what he wanted: EVERYTHING. But I could not do it. I screamed inside, and Christ backed up.”
Back in New York, spring arrived with the Pope’s visit in April 2008. Megan’s prayer was: “Christ, if you let me see the Pope, I’ll listen to whatever he says… and I’ll do it”. Her group had been searching for tickets for months but without success. However, a few hours before the meeting with young people and seminarians, they got a phone call with the news that extra tickets had been found.
“In my excitement I forgot the promise I had made, but He didn’t; and He made sure to remind me…”
Amidst the cheers and waving of hands of the crowd, the Pope arrived smiling at the sight of the young people waiting for him. Then, his penetrating words: “What about today? What are you seeking? And what is God whispering to you? The hope that never disappoints is Jesus Christ (…) Nourished by personal prayer, prompted in silence, shaped by the Church’s Liturgy you will discover the particular vocation God has for you. Embrace it whit joy."
In the following months Megan tried to reconcile God’s call with the deep fear she felt about consecrating her life to his service.
“I wanted to do God’s will, but at the same time I could not answer. I didn’t want to be consecrated”. She expressed her interior battle with endless pages of writing in the chapel.
“After all those pages of telling Christ my fears and asking him for strength… I experienced a change of heart”. This time the words in her diary were quite different: “Lord, you are all I want… you are the best thing that could ever had happen to me”, “I want to do want you want”.
After giving her yes to God, she went home, told her parents, packed her things and was soon on a flight to the formation center for consecrated women in Rhode Island. Following a six-week discernment period, she was consecrated on October 10, 2008, exactly two years after she first experienced the desire to be “the woman of his heart”.
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