What do we live?

Nazareth

“…mixed in with humanity, like leaven in the dough”
L.sr. Magdeleine

In Jesus, God shared our humanity, experiencing it from the perspective of Nazareth, a village on the fringes of society. There, He allowed Himself to be shaped by work, by friendship, by daily life. We also learn by experience that it is possible to let ourselves be transformed by those who possess little beyond their essential humanity.

By their friendship and their generosity, our neighbors and co-workers reveal to us the goodness of God, inviting us to recognize that life is a gift to be received and welcomed. Life in small communities, on the fringes of our own societies, is a school of giving and receiving. Loving and letting onself be loved, letting go of the illusion that we are always the ones with something to give, that is the challenge of our daily life.

I said “Yes.”

L.Sr. Monica-Sun-Young

Occasionally when there’s too much work we have to do an extra shift. One afternoon they announced that we’d be working through that night. That meant 24 hours without stopping! When I heard the news, I didn’t have the courage to do it. They ask the supervisor of each section of the factory what they think. I said, “I’m sorry, but I will not be able to do it.” At that moment a girl came up to me and asked, “You don’t want to work tonight with us?” I knew they’d been working 12 hours a day for several weeks, while I only do 8 hours! I couldn’t resist her looking at me like she wanted us to be together…So, I said “Yes.” At dawn when everyone was completely wiped out (at the same time I felt some kind of satisfaction, some kind of light inside me), one of my co-workers said with a smile, “Now you really know how hard the workers’ life is here!”