Love Can Be Kept Only By Being Given Away

Editor’s note: Missioner Maggie Van Roekel describes a meal that she and her campus ministry group organized in the Carmen Pampa community.

“Love can be kept only by being given away.” —Tomas Merton, No Man is an Island

This month our campus ministry group, pastoral, organized a lunch for older people in the Carmen Pampa community. We spent all morning in the kitchen cooking and preparing a full lunch.  A Mass was celebrated partly in Aymara, the most common indigenous language in the department of La Paz. Before eating, the nursing students presented on topics of health and patient medical rights, which they explained in both Spanish and Aymaran.

The day was very special, as the students really put a lot of heart, time, and effort into sending invitations, cooking, and sharing with the local community. There was such a great outpouring of love, generosity and gratitude for life.

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In what special ways do you express your gratitude for life?