A deep breath and then a release

It will be a matter of days and hours before our plane touches down in Jamaica. Our last meeting before the trip was a mixture of prayer, smiles and laughs. Some of us are concerned about being open to being a vessel for the work of God. Others are trying not to have expectations. We're all excited that one week from today we'll be sitting in Mustard Seed Communities.

With semester break peeking around the corner we are now kicking into high gear for our academics as well as our trip. Two of our members are completing the first draft of their thesis and others of us are preparing papers that are due this week.

Tonight, we discussed what emotions, smells and sights we will encounter as we touchdown in Montego Bay. Words such as community, cacophony, release, interesting smells and excitement rose during our conversation.

Having only known each other for a short while it will be interesting to see how our relationships develop in the next two weeks.

Logistics are planned out with drivers to and from the airport assigned. We are packing our things and gathering items such as sunscreen, bug spray, medications and water bottles.

We have a sending forth liturgy planned for 12:15 p.m. Tues. at the Holy Spirit Chapel at the STM.

It is hard to believe our trip is here after months of planning, fundraising and raising awareness.

We are unsure how the blogging will work at Blessed Assurance if it will work at all.
A running notebook(s) will be kept from each day and perhaps posted once we return.

Thanks for all your prayers, thoughts and kind words thus far. The most exciting part of our journey awaits.

Story from the BC Chronicle about the trip

Here is a story that ran in the Jan. 29 issue of the BC Chronicle. Please follow the link to view the rest of the story.

Planting the seeds
School of Theology and Ministry graduate student Wendy Samuel remembers the comments volunteers made to her during her work at the Mustard Seed Communities, a home for abandoned and disabled children in Jamaica.
Many adults looked past the children's twisted limbs and their impoverished backgrounds, she says, and instead saw Christ in the children whose parents abandoned them on park benches and in sugar cane fields. The experience was personally and spiritually inspiring, to say the least — and she's expecting more of the same.
Samuel will be leading a group of fellow STM students on a service immersion trip during spring break to Jamaica, where they will volunteer in the Mustard Seed Communities for a week.

The service trip, which begins Feb. 28, will be the first for STM, which opened last fall. It also will be a homecoming for Samuel and her husband, Nathaniel, since both volunteered and worked in the community for several years.

http://www.bc.edu/publications/chronicle/around-campus.html

Finding community, working toward a sacramental life

I have been reflecting on community lately having just got back from a five day retreat at Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham.
Our prayer, fellowship, and the opening of our hearts and souls by the grace of God through the hospitality and faith of the monks made me realize how important it is to share our lives in God's love.

I am glad to have another community to share some of my journey with- first this BC mission trip, and second the Mustard Seed Community itself. I am glad that to know that we are holding each other in prayer, and have been getting to know each other.

I realize there are challenges also to community when my fears come up. I believe this is a good opportunity to grow, and to become more fully alive.

I know the sacramental life is critical in forming community. Sharing in liturgy and Eucharist is very important, and this helps us have the strength and confidence to truly open ourselves to God and one another.

I know I am better at theory than practice. And I hope and pray to have the trust and courage to practice this.

Another thought kicking around in my head is the hardship we will see not only in the handicaps of the children but also in the poverty of Jamaica. I believe this will also reveal my own spiritual poverty.

Blessings to y'all and look forward to seeing you soon.

Bill Gural

Freedom and beyond

As our year starts to wind down we think more of schedules and 'to-do' lists than we do living in the moment. For many of our fellow students within the STM our thoughts are on finishing finals, packing for our Christmas trips home or perhaps how we'll spend our holiday time.

There's a hurried pace at which people scurry by us on the sidewalks or around campus. With books and papers in hand everyone is in a rush to finish the semester strong or at least as strong as they can.

It feels almost breathless some days. But in the midst of the hectic times of holidays and finals our group gathered for another meeting to talk about another pillar of Mustard Seed.

Our focus that afternoon was freedom. We talked about images, phrases and people that meant freedom. Our conversation led us to images of water, children playing and Martin Luther King Jr.

Some of us also shared where Mustard Seed fits in our prayer lives. We were asked, "Have you been praying about Mustard Seed?"

And one of us admitted that it hadn't entered into prayer yet. That was echoed around the group. It seems tough enough to complete assignments for class, work part-time jobs and find time for friends.

But for the sake of our journey as a community and as individuals some of us acknowledged it was time to start chipping away at that part of our lives.

Welcome to our virtual community!

In the midst of our graduate studies at Boston College, a dozen of students associated with the School of Theology and Ministry are embarking on what could be a life-changing journey.

For a few days this winter we’ll be packing our bags and heading to Jamaica for a service immersion trip with the Mustard Seed Communities. The community has created a home and cared for disabled and handicapped children for the past 30 years.

We’re not sure what our journey will hold but the unknown is a little exciting. Our team has started talking about the trip’s nuts and bolts. We’ve begun gathering ideas for fund raising but we’re always looking for others. We’ve also begun praying about our upcoming trip as a group.

So why are we choosing to head down to Jamaica for spring break? Sunshine? Maybe. New experiences? Sure. Wanting to give back? Yeah, some of that also.
How about the possibility of experiencing something new and challenging? Most definitely.

We’ve heard from folks who went on last year’s trip that spending time with the community’s children will be an eye-opening experience.

We’re being led by our classmates Nat and Wendy Samuel, who worked in the community before coming to the STM to study pastoral ministry and church management.

During the next few weeks and months we’ll be studying and praying about the four pillars of Mustard Seed spirituality: simplicity, generosity, freedom and community to guide our journey.

Hopefully, our lives will not only be enlightened but also transformed by the journey we have already begun. We leave Feb. 28 and return March 7.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We'll certainly be keeping our friends, relatives and community members in our thoughts and prayers as we prepare for our trip.

And for those who can give a little donation toward our trip please visit the link titled, 'Group fund raising page' under the links on the right side.