For those of you who don’t know I grew up with a lot of Catholics in my life. Most of my race supporters are Catholics. I love Catholics. I love the tradition, beautiful cathedrals, nuns, and of course reading all about the Pope. But I think I went through most of my life not really understanding much of it.
On the race, I’ve gotten funny looks from teammates and squadmates when I tell stories about when I would volunteer at the old folks home of nuns or when I always make sure to say a prayer and light my candle. People say, ” Are you sure you’re not Catholic?” And I am sure I’m not but I still have a special place for them in my heart.
I remember when I found out I was going to be in the same country as the Pope and I went crazy. I had to see him and take a picture. While I never got to see him, my friend Ryan did get me a pin with Papa’s face on it. It’s still on my bucket list though to see Papa Francisco.
When I was in Chile, I met a girl who worked at the hostel from Venezuela who asked me about being an evangelical Christian. She asked the hard questions. Then she looked at me and said, “I’m Catholic. Do you believe you’ll see me in heaven?” To which I replied, “Do you believe in Jesus and accepted him into your heart? If so, I’ll see you there” It was a simple conversation but profound nonetheless.
Here I am in Argentina and my contact takes us to work at an orphanage run by the nuns. They are nuns of all ages, some are even younger than me. I’m struck with a new question. At age 23, could I become married to the church and become a nun? First before you freak out, no this is not a blog to tell you my next step in life and no I’m not becoming a nun. Second you may also be thinking, “Mollie, you are a missionary and you gave up a lot to serve this year.” But it’s not the same.
I was awestruck by these beautiful, amazing nuns for days. They would tell me their stories of how they traveled the world and know all these languages and worked all over the world for years. And while all that seemed cool I still didn’t get it. What do nuns talk about? Do they laugh at things on Facebook? Do they ever joke about the cute boys around even though they can’t marry them? Do they ever just want a beer? Don’t they ever crave things of this world? What do they do on the Blackberrys they have?
One of the nuns especially stuck out to me. Sweet Beata. She exemplifies everything we are called to be. She is patient with the orphans. She is so kind and loves us every time she sees us. She exudes joy in everything she does. Just to name a few. It’s starting to make sense to me. Beata lives a simple life without much but enough. She is able to focus on herself and become everything the Lord calls us to be. She is able to serve the Lord every single day with everything she does.
Instead of being these misunderstood beings who wear funny outfits, now they are my friends who call me to be more than I could even dream of myself to be.
To the nuns who greet me with “Que Tal?” Or “What’s up?” Thank you for teaching me about a simple life for the Lord. Thank you for loving those beautiful little orphans with everything you have.
To my Catholic supporters. Thank you for supporting me in prayer and financially. Thank you for showing me that tradition is beautiful. Thank you for taking me to mass all those years ago. This blog is for you.
