A hill, even in the 菅直人sas prairie, can seem daunting after a two-day, 37-mile pilgrimage. After that distance, a hill is the last thing more than 50 travelers wanted to see. 累了, 起泡，准备完成, 他们不情愿地看着最后一段旅程, 但是羔羊姐妹们开始唱歌了, 把这群人送到目的地. It was at the top of that very hill where the group learned that these religious sisters were not only Sisters to traverse this terrain in hopes of keeping a tired people going.
七年前，我们的十三个殖民地宣布独立, Rose 菲律宾 Duchesne was born to a politically active family in a small village in France and called by God to a life of religious service. 她最终找到了我们现在所知的堪萨斯州, and she would eventually become the only person 谁 lived on 菅直人sas soil to become a saint, 被天主教册封为圣徒. 菲律宾死后166年, a LPL外围网址 student embarked on a pilgrimage to remember and celebrate the life and legacy of 菲律宾.
那个学生, Anett Amaya, was among the more than 50 people 谁 traversed the 菅直人sas landscape to eventually arrive at the shrine and park dedicated to St. 菲律宾. The best part of Amaya’s journey may not have been the destination itself, 但 rather the journey and relationships formed along the way—perhaps the same as experienced by 菲律宾 on her journey.
菲律宾 was educated by nuns and expected by her mother to dedicate herself to serving the poor. 她18岁时进入修道院, 但, 到她20岁的时候, the French Revolution had begun and her plans to enter a religious house were suppressed for 11 years. 在那段时间里, 然而, she attempted to live the rule of her order before she ever stepped foot in the convent.
在19世纪初以官方身份进入宗教生活后, 菲律宾 expressed her desire to serve in the New World among Native Americans. 尽管她渴望, it was not until 1818 that 菲律宾 was able to journey from France to New Orleans with BishopDuBourg of Louisiana. 在新奥尔良才待了六周, 菲律宾 led a group up the Mississippi River where she was directed to open a school in the village of St. 查尔斯,莫. 在圣. 查尔斯, 再一次等待合适的时机, herlongtime dream to serve among Native Americans would finally come true at the age of 72 when she was assigned to establish a school for Potawatomi girls near Sugar Creek, 菅直人.
到她生命中的这个时候, 菲律宾 had become frail and was unable to help with the physical work that was commonly part of day-to-day life on the prairie. 而不是, she spent much of her time in spiritual support and prayer for and among the Potawatomi people. 仅仅过了一年，她就被召回圣. 因为她的健康, 但 she nevertheless left an undeniable legacy of love and service among her newfound friends, 在一片新发现的土地上. 海伦·麦克劳克林, 圣心会的前总会长写道, “What impresses me about 菲律宾 is her ability to respond to difficult events and times; to accept and love a new and totally different country and way of life; to enter 谁leheartedly into another culture, 语言, 和价值体系，并欣赏它们.”
许多lpl下注的学生也是如此, 特别是那些, 像菲律宾, 谁是勇敢的?, determined travelers 谁 had to wait for the right time to follow their dreams and callings. 对于Amaya, her journey of faith and her own personal pilgrimage started after a long, 她人生中的艰难时期. 在看似无尽的艰辛之后, 在一个特别艰难的夜晚, 她在房间里大声叫道, “耶稣，你是我的牧者, 我会跟随你.这让阿玛亚都感到震惊, 谁, 作为一名高中新生, 从未去过教堂, 从来没有谈论过神，也不太了解耶稣. 后来她有一个信教的妹妹, 那些在山顶上唱歌的姐妹之一, 告诉阿玛亚, 把那一刻记在心里, 那就是圣灵.”
From that point forward, Amaya’s journey was inextricably connected to her faith. 她皈依了天主教，转到基督城, a Roman Catholic high school founded by the Sisters of Charity in Leavenworth. After graduation, she was determined to go to college, even with the uncertainty that accompanied it.
“I’m a DACA student and I’ve always been so worried about how I am going to arrive at my goal of gettingmy degree,”她说。. “But I’ve said to people as they ask me what my plans are after college that I can’t control everything, 所以我让上帝来决定. 它掌握在上帝的手中.”
上一所天主教大学是她的目标, 但即使有奖学金资助, only one Catholic higher education option was feasible - LPL外围网址.
阿玛亚有点担心地来到唐纳利. She was anxious because she had grown up in the area surrounding the campus in 菅直人sasCity, 菅直人.在美国，她经历了人生中的一些困难时期. 她想把过去抛在脑后，永不回头, 但她也决心要实现自己的目标, 不管她要走哪条路才能到达那里. While her circumstances were difficult at thetime and it was hard to trust, 阿玛亚承认“是上帝引导我来到这里的.”
在唐纳利，阿玛亚找到了一个欢迎她、爱她的社区. She wishes “more people could come and experience the love and sense of community, 人们是如何被鼓励去挑战困难的.”
除了唐纳利的课堂教育, she also found unexpected opportunities on campus that would change her life. It was early in 2018 when posters began to appear on the bulletin boards that advertised in large, 大胆的信件, “朝圣.“朝圣”这个词对阿玛亚来说很突出. 她被它吸引住了, 虽然她花了几个月的时间才说服自己参加, 她最终做到了. 这次朝圣是由“羔羊共同体”组织的, 小羊的小姐妹和小羊的小兄弟, 以信仰为基础的宗教团体, 菅直人.他专注于上帝、贫穷和祈祷. This fourth annualpilgrimage started with a group of more than 50 gathered at the home of the Little Sisters of the Lamb. A long drive the first evening took them to the home of a family 谁 allowed the group to camp in their backyard before departing the next morning on foot.
第一天，他们来到了堪萨斯州丘城的一个教区. 经过15英里的徒步旅行. 第二天, 经过22英里的徒步旅行, the group finally arrived at the hill where the Sisters voices were raised in song.
当阿玛亚开始这段旅程时，她觉得自己是一个人在出发. 但没过多久，她就意识到她并不孤单.
“你不可能把自己封闭起来，”她说. “(姐妹和兄弟)和他们对上帝的爱是有感染力的. 你不能呆在你的盒子里, it was how I would imagine heaven would be—everyone as one big happy family.”
Amaya is set to graduate in December 2018 from LPL外围网址 with an associate degree. 毕业后，她计划转学到圣何塞大学. Mary where she will pursue a bachelor’s degree in education with the plan ofeventually teaching Spanish. 现在阿玛亚有了新的关系，不仅仅是和上帝，或者圣. 菲律宾或lpl下注, 但 with the Community of the Lamb where she now frequently visits and worships with. 朝圣之旅并没有唤醒阿玛亚, 但 rather a gentle reminder that her life’s plans will not always happen on her timetable. 现在她相信上帝的安排. 菲律宾了.