Independence Leads To Pride
At our City House education session last week, Janice Andersen, the Director of Christian Life at the Basilica of St. Mary’s in Minneapolis was our speaker. One of her responsibilities is leading the St Vincent DePaul program that serves the poor. It is in that context that City House partners and provides volunteer spiritual companionship for persons who find themselves poor. We asked Janice to tell her own story about how she came to work with the poor and how her own spirituality had been shaped by that work.
Basilica St Mary’s Minneapolis
Janice was articulate, passionate, and vulnerable. She acknowledged, to my surprise, that she herself is someone who is in chemical dependency recovery. “I could just as easily be one of those persons we serve here at the Basilica in our drop in homeless shelter,” she explained. “My connection to the poor grounds me and reminds me of the vulnerability and hope of life. They remind me that the more I can accept myself the more I can accept others. They teach me that my tendency towards independence is a defeat and a loss - that my independence leads me to pride.”
I have always known Janice to be a person of spiritual depth and so passionate about her work. At the end of her presentation, I felt more human, and inspired by her sense of purpose. Thank you Janice for who you are and for all that you do.
