Learning to live in community is a large part of Impact. This means to live like the early apostles who shared everything with one another. I lived with seven other women. We began and ended each day together. This usually meant waking up as early as 4:30 a.m. for morning prayer and ending our days with Oreos, peanut butter and lots of laughter. “Sharing everything” found new meaning as we had only one bathroom among the eight of us.
The biggest lesson I learned through living in community is to see purpose in the seemingly mundane activities of our everyday lives. The women I lived with offered up intentions for friends and family while they washed dishes after supper. They chopped onions with great love. Every action was done for His glory.
At the invitation of Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., we worked in 10 different parishes in the archdiocese of Ottawa. Each week, we led parishioners in faith studies. Through these studies, I grew close to many people and came to hear about their lives, which often held much suffering.
Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl writes, “Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.”
I witnessed this very statement in those around me. One girl in particular in my faith study lived by God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11. Even through a time of particular difficulty, she trusted that the Lord has great purpose for her. Her suffering ceased to be suffering.
But above all, the greatest lesson was taught by the 56 men and women I spent this summer with. They gave up their summers to spend it bringing others to Jesus’ heart. They inspired me to realize that our purpose as Catholics is to bring others to Christ. And what greater purpose could there be?
Impact taught me to see purpose in the day-to-day, to understand in my heart that God has a great purpose for my life in spite of suffering and to come face to face with the ultimate purpose of what it means to be Catholic. It was a summer that both changed my life and the way in which I view the world around me.
Saying yes to Him may seem impossible at first. I now know one thing is for certain: I am always amazed at what I find when I do.
(Hii, 21, is a human resources major at the University of British Columbia. View her full profile at youthspeaknews.org)
Making an impact on 15-week missions trip
By Eunice Hii, Youth Speak NewsWhat would happen if I said yes to God and gave up one summer for His glory? That is the question I set out to answer when I said yes to Impact Canada.
Impact is a 15-week missions trip with Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO). Every summer, students gather in a different Canadian city to carry on the new evangelization. Alongside 56 university students from across the country and under the guidance of a dedicated CCO staff team, I spent my summer in our nation’s capital sharing God’s love.
Through living in community, working in a parish and being surrounded by people on fire for Him, I came to find new purpose in my life.
Please support The Catholic Register
Unlike many media companies, The Catholic Register has never charged readers for access to the news and information on our website. We want to keep our award-winning journalism as widely available as possible. But we need your help.
For more than 125 years, The Register has been a trusted source of faith-based journalism. By making even a small donation you help ensure our future as an important voice in the Catholic Church. If you support the mission of Catholic journalism, please donate today. Thank you.
DONATE