Kolkata 2019 (SJV)

Dear friends, Thank you for supporting us on this unforgettable journey! You have been with us at every mass and in all of our prayers. Your generosity has allowed us an experience that will forever mark our lives as seminarians and priests. But now, it is has come time for us to return home. Perhaps […]

One of our last days in Kolkata, we had the privilege to meet with the superior general of the Missionaries of Charity – Sister Prema.  She is the third superior of the order and follows closely to the way in which Mother Teresa led the order. The moment she stepped into the room, everyone could […]

“Verily, there is no happiness but in the cross!” -St. Jean Marie Vianney The most beautiful takeaway I have from this trip is the universality of the cross of Jesus Christ. Our first week we went on a trip to a school. While at the school I encountered a child who was crying, and I […]

Throughout our time in Kolkata my mindset has been swinging between two states—the first, of thinking that this is the most wonderful experience of my life. How could one not think that, after praying a rosary at the tomb of Mother Teresa, or having watched a mentally handicapped child dance with the most joy you […]

“From his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace” John 1:16 One of these graces came at Daya Dan, a home for children with developmental difficulties where I and my brothers volunteer on afternoons. The first time I was there, I felt drastically out of my comfort zone and helpless – I did not […]

Before I even stepped onto the plane I had visions of serving the poor left and right and bringing them the love of Christ. I can say the trip has been full of those opportunities, and I have learned from the Missionaries of Charity how to treat everyone with the greatest dignity; however, what I […]

What a joy it has been serving the poor, disabled, and dying in Kolkata! There have been so many graces from the Lord and I am so thankful to be serving His children. The other day, a sister from the Missionaries of Charity shared her vocation story, and I would like to share some of […]

I think for most people the only time we ever hear about leprosy is in a Sunday reading of the Gospel. “It’s that disease that Jesus healed people from.”  “Yeah, it was incurable then.”  “Outcast or something.” It can become like a distant fairy tale, but it’s real. There are still people with leprosy, and […]

Jan Seva, the school for some 200 impoverished Indian children, is a sign of hope and a chance for a better life among the slums and soot of the busy city of Kolkata. Upon arriving we were told that many of the 3 – 5 year-old children were abandoned or orphaned as babies due to […]

After only a few hours of sleep and no coffee, most of the group made an impromptu visit to the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity and received a small taste of the streets of Kolkata on the brief walk.  The hustle and bustle of Kolkata was left behind as we walked through the […]