As we move towards the end of yet another year, it is good to take time to look back. This past year in Ireland brought me the precious gift of spending time with our Sisters in Ireland. When visiting them, I often came in a rush and stayed only a short while but each visit was filled with grace and meaning. They welcomed me so warmly into lives that have been shaped by joyful hospitality, by prayer and by a love that continues to give, even in silence.
This is a time of many changes for all of us throughout the world. I watched as some of our Sisters in the Nursing Home were transferred and others prepared to move to new places. There is a tender sorrow of saying goodbye to familiar rooms and long friendships. These are not easy paths to walk. Yet what I saw in our Sisters was not fear, but faith, not resistance, but trust, not an end, but a deep and steady yes to the journey still unfolding. Their lives have been a witness, as missionaries, to what it means to follow Christ, fully, freely, and continuously. And even now, they are still saying yes to Him in every step they take forward. That courage continues to touch me deeply.
William Bridges wrote that change is moving the house, but transition is taking the heart to feel at home. And we feel at home in each other’s hearts, not in a place. In the Sisters, I saw this truth lived. They showed me that it is not the place, but the heart that makes a home and that when the heart rests in God, no change can take away what truly matters.
As I prepare to move into another chapter of my own journey, I want to carry this spirit with me. I want to respond to God with the same faithfulness and peace that I saw in our Sisters in the past year. I want to walk into the unknown, trusting that my heart will find its home when it remains anchored in Him.
I will continue to be grateful to the Sisters, for their prayers, their kindness, their quiet joy and their enduring yes to God. They will continue to inspire me more than words can say and I will carry their witness with me always and wherever I will be. They have gifted me with the courage and hope that we all need as we prepare to step into another year and all that it will offer us.
By Sr Mihwa Kim for Far East magazine