REFLECTION ON SERVICE by Maureen Hagan
In my time as Campus Minister at Roselle Catholic, I was privileged to introduce students (and myself) to many different experiences of service and to be in service with them. It was fulfilling and satisfying work, while at the same time, it could be difficult, boring, exhausting, and emotionally draining. It meant stepping out of my comfort zone, and realizing that when it was done, I was able to go back to my comfort zone. So, even thought I might “feel good” about my work, I also felt guilty about not being able to do more.Sometimes it was fun and lighthearted – running a Halloween party at the homeless coalition or playing games with the kids in the after school program.   Other times, the stories and experiences were overwhelming: a mother living in her car and struggling to care for her children, a woman in a safe house talking about what she had to do to get out and get her kids out safely, kids who were hungry or precariously housed, on and on. And again, my overwhelm was nothing compared to those living these circumstances.There were years when we traveled to Wheeling, WV during Easter break. The poverty there was devastating – not necessarily worse than what I’d seen in NJ, but different. There were not so many people living on the streets, but more living in houses that were falling down around them. We could just do our small part, each year, to help.
The difficulty was in not thinking we were the “saviors”. Coming from our places of privilege and not remaining open to the idea that we were just as needy – just in different ways. A concept with which I still struggle.
I am very grateful for those times – for the rich insights our students brought to the experiences, for all that I learned from those that I served, as well as the folks who taught me how to serve. I am grateful to have been, perhaps for a brief moment, God’s love for those who needed it most. |