Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Waking up to New Opportunities to Love

By Annie Klapheke

I recently found myself waking up in Anapra, Mexico, after a sleepover with Reyna, a five year old girl with Down syndrome, and Sister Carol, a member of my local community.  It was one of those moments when I couldn’t help but ask myself, ‘How did I get here?’ 

I am in my first year of formation with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati.  I live in our initial formation house located in Anthony, New Mexico, just 14 miles from the US-Mexico border.  One ministry of my local community is Proyecto Santo Niño, a center for children with special needs in Anapra, Mexico.  Reyna has been coming to Santo Niño since she was 2 weeks old, and she is now thriving in her first year of Kindergarten.  Sister Carol frequently stays overnight with Reyna and her family at their home in Mexico.  I joined Carol in order to step a little deeper into the lives of these special people. 

It was a cold November night in a simple home without heat, but Reyna, Carol and I stayed warm tucked together in a double bed.  I woke up to Reyna’s little arm flung across my face, and I simultaneously woke up to a realization:  Religious life gives me the opportunity to encounter and love people whom I otherwise would have never known


I’m waking up to see the world through new eyes: the eyes of Christ.


MEET THE BLOGGER: 
Name:  Annie Klapheke
Congregation:  Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati
Stage of formation:  Affiliate
Hometown:  Middletown, OH
Current Ministry: Dietitian

1 comment:

  1. Seeing with new eyes! If we are called to wake up the world we need to see it with new eyes -- the eyes of Christ. And with these new eyes we will see Christ in the eyes of all we encounter. Your experience is a glowing example. Thank you for sharing it. S. Marie Pauline

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