Students from Marymount School of New York and Marymount Los Angeles had an incredible experience when they were invited to participate in the Global Network of RSHM Schools’ first Social Service Week hosted by Marymount Cuernavaca. Students and chaperones were met at the airport in Mexico City by wonderful representatives from Marymount Cuernavaca who planned an amazing week.
In Cuernavaca, the students from Marymount New York and Marymount LA stayed with generous host families and were paired with “student siblings” who acted as their guides for the week. Students would arrive at the Cuernavaca school with their siblings for days filledwith important presentations and activities. Following the school day, they had the opportunity to engage in community service projects with organizations that have partnered with Marymount Cuernavaca in the past. Students spent an evening supporting other teens at a local Nuestro Pequeños Hermanos children’s home (which led to dancing in the rain), baking banana bread and then praying with retired nuns at an elder home, and playing games with younger children from Ministerios de Amor, an orphanage in Cuernavaca. On Saturday morning, the students served breakfast at a local St.Vincent de Paul Center and learned about authentic inclusion when they met with children who have various abilities and needs.
Saturday afternoon, the entire group traveled to a Benedictine Monastery in Cuernavaca for a brief spiritual retreat to help us reflect and think about opening ourselves up to the needs of others. We considered the importance of community service in our lives and how we can continue to live out the mission of the RSHM sisters in diverse ways. We prayed with the monks on Sunday morning when they chanted their morning prayer in their beautiful church.
This was the first time that three Marymount Schools engaged in service projects together and articulated our shared connection to the RSHM charism and the wider message, “that all may have life and have it to the full.” It was a beautiful demonstration of how Marymount schools share so much in terms of their history and their Catholic mission and identity, but also how we can all continue to learn from one another in important ways. While each of the three schools has different policies and practices related to community service hours and how we teach social justice classes, all three schools gave a presentation illustrating how students are involved in service activities both within and beyond the walls of their schools.
The hospitality and generosity of everyone in Cuernavaca helped make this well-planned experience truly remarkable. Students’ hearts and minds were impacted as they developed new friendships and engaged in new experiences. They were able to live several of the pillars of Catholic Social Teaching including honoring the life and dignity of the human person, participating in family and community, and gaining a greater understanding of what it means to stand in solidarity with those on the margins. The week ended with a trip to a beautiful natural park in the Mexican state of Morelos where students were able to reflect on their responsibility to care for creation.
The Global Network of RSHM Schools has allowed us to be connected for impactful moments like these, and we are all grateful to be part of the larger RSHM community.