Montreal Dio was delighted to host a cohort of interns once again this summer for the Montreal Misson Internship (MMI). MMI is a summer internship that combines social service work with theological reflection and discernment.
This year’s participants were placed at various organizations around the city including The Nazareth Community, Ministry to Seafarers, and Christian Direction.
“I was drawn to this program as I was looking for a summer opportunity to serve others in simple ways and grow in my abilities to help vulnerable people and try to love them the way God loves them,” said one participant, Katharine Mallet. “I have learned to identify the unique gifts God has given me and the importance of loving people in such a way that they can receive it, among many other things. It has been hard but God has been showing me that He is definitely worth it.”
Tashiana Boodhoo, who travelled all the way from Mauritius to study at the University of PEI last year, was excited by the opportunity to spend the summer in another Canadian city, all while drawing closer to God through service.
“MMI has not only helped me to achieve my dream of experiencing life in another part of Canada while deepening my faith, but it has surprisingly enabled me to live the Montreal city life through a lens of profuse honesty and acceptance of what has been, is and can be,” she says. “I embarked on this journey with an expectation of it being just another job, but what I am ending up receiving is so much more than I could have asked for. At this point, I have learnt not to set expectations and instead be welcoming of what I am meant to experience.”
Program Director Alan Ma is optimistic about the way God worked in the lives of each of the interns over the nine weeks of the program. “From prompting vocational questions to discerning daily actions to personal healing, it has been marvelous witnessing the work of our Lord in and around the MMI participants,” he says. “I am thankful to God for the precious time that we received together as a community – walking alongside one another.”
