Like a mustard seed

Hardship turned to gift and a deepening of faith through an experience of friendship

By Sr. Anie Montejo, O.L.M.
May/June 2008

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My days in Canada in the past year have been eye opening and enriching. But things were not always so.

Jennifer offered friendship and support to Sr. Anie Montejo during Anie’s time as a volunteer at the Mustard Seed drop-in. Toronto.

In the autumn of 2006 I joined on as a volunteer at the drop-in, Mustard Seed, run by the Sisters of the Congregation of Saint Joseph. The drop-in helps women in the community who are destitute or victims of abuse, or otherwise in need of friendship and support. Since I joined I have been going there once a week. The Mustard Seed experience has given life to my journey and nurtured my faith. It is one year since I have begun journeying with the women of diverse personalities at the drop-in.

My first three months there were difficult. The work and the attitudes of the people that I met were very different from that of my previous work, which included organizing and serving impoverished fishing communities in the southern Philippines. During my first few weeks in the east end Toronto drop-in, I saw myself in strange, new situations. And to top it all, there was the question of language—of me trying to be understood and of them trying to understand me. Losing confidence in myself, soon it felt as though I didn’t have the courage to face my own shadow. Everywhere I turned I encountered hardship in dealing with the people around me.

But hardship turned to gift when an experience of deep friendship helped me to see the preciousness of life and the fullness of facing life’s challenge.

L-R: Srs. Anie Montejo, Christine Gebel, and Norma Samar at Sr. Anie’s missioning ceremony, April 26, 2008, after participating in Scarboro Missions’ four-month lay mission preparation program.

I met a woman, Jennifer, at the drop-in centre who became my best friend and supporter there. From the very beginning she treated me as an equal, calling me by name, “Anie!” without adding “Sister”. Every time I heard her call me, I felt the sweetness of my name. This lady gave me a real gift during my first Christmas here. Her gift was very precious to me because it taught me that what I needed for that season of giving was not material things but real happiness and friendship. Our friendship relieved me of my homesickness. No longer was I alone in a strange land struggling with new situations and a new language, but was able to adjust to the work at the drop-in centre.

I see now, reflecting on this experience, that God raised me up. God showed me the secret of real happiness and contentment. I see myself like a tiny mustard seed that was thrown onto the soil of challenge.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a farmer sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32)

My faith, my mustard seed, has been nurtured and grows through journeying with others, with friends both old and new. In these people I have felt Jesus’ presence and I become Jesus to them. Now I take each and every beautiful moment with them, cherishing each and every one.

The best gift of this journey is learning the value of being willing and open to change and ready to embrace the challenges of life.

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