JV Reflects: On Leaving, Returning and Reflecting on “Home”

Although I am far from family and friends in California, working with and for these children teaches me that finding one’s home is a journey which requires vulnerability and an openness to have one’s reality broken open and rebuilt by love.

Jesuit Volunteer Reflects: Advent – Called to Something Simple

Last Christmas brought perspective, providing me with a crash course to my JV experience. It asked me to be present to it all—the awkwardness of something new, the season, the budding relationships. As I enter Advent with a year of JVC under my belt, I understand that Christmas and Advent calls me into something simple: time spent with those I love, those I call my community. It invites me into what simplicity has meant for me this year, an attentive presence.

Jesuit Volunteer Reflects: Feeling God’s Presents

I felt my heart accept what my mind already knew: that God is in all things, including the people who cause me stress and provoke conflict in my life; that myself and my reactions are the only parts of my community that I can or should try to change; that I feel closer to God when I am listening to people rather than judging them.