During my sophomore year of college I took a class to become an EMT, and during my training I was required to do a ride-along to see firsthand what the job would entail. On a few of the calls we received during that 12 hour day, I encountered two homeless patients, as well as a chronically ill elderly person who we transported to a nursing facility from the hospital. I couldn’t help but be moved with deep sadness that these people had no one else to care for them, no family to pick them up, help them out, or advocate for them. The elderly man had no one waiting for him at the nursing home after being hospitalized for some time. My trainer told me “you may be the only person that individual talks to that day.” 

Throughout the last four years being an EMT I have encountered people from all walks of life, with complex stories that are oftentimes filled with abandonment and heartbreak. What I have found in the homeless, poor, addicted, and chronically ill is, of course real physical suffering, but even more so, emotional suffering and relational poverty. Simply starting a conversation with them could bring a smile upon their face, and it was through these encounters that I began to see Christ so plainly in the suffering and neglected, and the desire to comfort Him grew in my heart. 

During my time at Boston University I was blessed with good Catholic friends, who loved me when I had nothing to give and in such a way were a testament to Christ’s love. Being able to share in the joys and vulnerabilities of life with them has been such a gift. It was also during my time at college on a Fall retreat, that I encountered Jesus for the first time in Eucharistic Adoration. Despite being Catholic my whole life, up until this point Jesus seemed far off and unreachable. This changed my life and ever since then I have loved spending quality time with our Lord in this way which has truly transformed my heart. 

After graduation the future was unclear. I worked full-time at Baltimore Washington Medical Center as a clinical technician for a year and decided to pursue more schooling. It was during this time that I first heard about Source of All Hope and started feeling the desire to serve the Lord as a missionary full-time. This did not coincide with the plan I had laid out for my future, but through continuous discernment and prayer, as well as visiting with the missionaries and meeting their friends on the streets, it became abundantly clear that God had placed this desire on my heart, and in turn, gave me the grace to say yes. 

The authentic friendships I have personally experienced, rooted in the love of Christ, and the power of Jesus in the Eucharist are at the very heart of Source’s mission. I feel immensely blessed to have the opportunity to serve Christ and thereby love Him in all the places He is most neglected; on the streets of Baltimore, in the Eucharist, and in my own soul.