Missionary in the USA

September 30, 2010



Ada, Maria, Anna

Today has been 10 years since I first put my feet on this blessed California land. I was coming from Argentina, where I spent 15 years of my missionary life. The trip here was heavy; my grief gave way to sobbing. My mother, who gave me life and prayed for my vocation, had passed away just 2 months before I left. We say that a missionary's "first love" is her first mission, and I was leaving mine. In Argentina, I had learned compassion, to listen and to be vulnerable with the least of His people. Yet, God in His goodness was drawing me to a new horizon, new language, different missionaries and friends.  He was asking me to be lifted up by trusting Him - to have faith.

The first years were difficult, but He was there to support, console, and encourage my journey. The Lord was smiling down on me the whole time, a smile I experienced through conversion and a change in mentality. He pruned, molded, renewed my life, so that I could blossom in this land that I now love and appreciate.

Today, I like to see the diversity of culture, so vibrant in expressions of faith and relationship. I like to be part of this reality as a presence of God, through my consecrated life sharing in the unconditional, personal, intimate, and gratuitous love that He has for each one of us.

I thank God for giving me His Blessed Mother! She is the one who directs me, puts everything in perspective, and whispers gently when I am tired, discouraged or sad. Days, weeks, months and years have passed! With Our Lady, I praise the Lord, and thank Him for the gift of time, which sanctifies!

-Anna Brizzi