On October 24th, twenty-seven students went on the Notre Dame mission trip, serving those in need and experiencing the Notre Dame campus.
“We got to visit four different chapels and churches, and it was truly a great experience to see different forms of worshiping our God. During adoration on Saturday night, I put it into perspective. This huge, beautiful church, with forty to 50 foot ceilings, all for this tiny piece of bread that had been transformed into Jesus, our God. Man made all of that to just try to glorify God” said Aleksandr Careaga.
Although four may seem like a lot to a student at Helias Catholic, Notre Dame has over sixty chapels, including one in every residence hall. Also, Notre Dame is ranked fifth in ‘The Most Beautiful Colleges in America’ by Best College Reviews. But The campus’s beauty is not limited to sight, but also the feel of the campus itself.
“The university, you know you see movies and stories about it, but you don’t know until you’re at the university itself. You truly feel the presence of God on campus. You could just tell that there was a Holy Presence there,” Gavin Hoelscher remarked.
Despite God being with them, they still had some difficulties, like the heat going out and the temperature dropping to twenty six degrees. The students were okay, as they changed this struggle into a fun opportunity: building a fort.
“Our living conditions were horrible; we stepped outside our fort one morning and we could see our breath. Everyone was freezing, but they had smiles on their faces. It was all jokes and fun,” Caraega remarked. “It was a humbling experience, thinking our conditions were bad, but the homeless had it worse,” Hoelscher commented.
The students served at Our Lady of the Road, a day shelter that offers food and hygiene stations to those in need. Some of the services provided include haircuts, showers, laundromats, and even just having a conversation with the volunteers.
“My favorite part of the trip was the service. Just having conversations and doing something for someone, like washing dishes and carrying furniture” reflected Careaga. “It’s great knowing that what you’re doing directly impacts someone,”
The students enjoyed conversing and serving cornbread and chili to those in need. Also, the students packed meals at food rescue, which provides meals to underprivileged children.
