Love and Chocolate

"I'm just a regular person," says Ray the MAC Center cook while we stand in the kitchen after lunch. Ray is over 6 feet tall, stocky, and deeply tanned as he just returned from a vacation in Italy. He his in his late 20's and wears a backwards basketball cap along with baggy, colorful, pajama-like pants and a long apron. I am attempting to make small talk with him and have just asked if he lives on the property.

"I'm not like a priest or seminarian or anything. I'm just a normal guy. I've got my own place," he says.

Though he may not live on the grounds, I can tell he is a valued member of the MACCC community. He often sits and chats with the priests and seminarians who live across the street and eat their meals at the center. Staff members go out of their way to thank him for food and rave about their favorite dishes. He jokes and banters with others who work in the kitchen.

He has also endeared himself to the the nine of us missionaries. The other night, he showed us where to find a stash of chocolate-chip cookies offered us cereal and chips anytime the need should arrive. At one lunch, Julie, a vegetarian, asked him if there were any meat products in the rice and beans on the buffet. Since then he has gone out of his way to prepare big meals just for her.

What really won us over now serves as one of our biggest temptations. At one dinner, the girls here from Ireland were craving chocolate, so after eating they asked Ray where they might find a sweets shop. He told them not to go anywhere and instead gave them a massive bag of M & Ms that we are now struggling to finish or resist, depending on who you ask.

His kindness is especially meaningful as we prepare for mission. In one class, Sister Carol Ann told us that once we reach our destinations, we are going to encounter trash, poverty, pollution and crowds. In order to survive, we most become engaged with the people around us and find beauty within them.

Ray has had no reason to go out of his way for us, even though all the missionaries are friendly. However, he is making us feel part of the community at which we are temporarily residing and he is helping us all feel better about being far away from home.

Sister Carol Ann's advice on people came in the contest of a lesson on spirituality. It's one I have heard before but often forget; we are loved by God simply because we exist. God will never turn away from us and his love is not something we earn or deserve.

Jesus loved us unconditionally and we learned that though he may be gone, we can act as his hands and feet and do good works. Like Ray, we may just be regular people doing everyday tasks, but we can bring comfort and love to others.