Gift of Mary Missionaries
Gift of Mary missionaries welcome women as they are, offering dignity, protection, and support. Under the guidance of our Blessed Mother Mary, we live and pray together in community, while striving to build meaningful relationships and work towards trust with all whom the Lord sends our way. We are here to welcome, protect, heal, educate, and evangelize the most vulnerable women of Pittsburgh.
WHO IS A GIFT OF MARY MISSIONARY?
We are missionaries who love God and serve his poor. Modeled after Mother Teresa’s own shelter in Rome called “Gift of Mary”, we seek to spread the love of God to the poor in Pittsburgh by serving vulnerable and homeless women in need.
We do this mainly by our ministry of accompaniment to women staying at our Gift of Mary emergency shelter and our daytime Women’s Center. We also serve by helping to provide meals at the Red Door, our day shelter, and serving at Faustina’s Gate, our clothing pantry for the homeless. We assist at Brother Andre’s Cafe, a ministry designed to provide employment opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Finally, we assist in the evangelization efforts of Divine Mercy Parish, by teaching the faith to the poor through Bible studies and RCIA, and occasionally reaching out through street evangelization.
All of this is done in a vibrant atmosphere of prayer, formation, and community living. We seek first to receive Christ through prayer and daily mass, and then to serve Christ in our poor brothers and sisters who come to us. Missionaries are encouraged to live a life of abundant self-giving, while being given the tools and resources to make this a life of balance, with time for relaxation and self-growth.
Our time on mission is given over to the Lord. We live in a spirit of surrender to the ways he wants to transform us in our time as missionaries.
Rule of Life
Having a balanced rule of life enables us to work diligently for Christ's kingdom on earth while growing spiritually together as missionaries.
"The Eucharist and the poor are inseparable. This is not anything new for the Church, for we can clearly see it in the Gospels. The One who said, 'This is my body' is the same one who said, 'I was hungry and you gave me to eat'”.
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
PRAYER
As Gift of Mary missionaries, we commit to these elements of the spiritual life:
1. Daily Mass
2. Daily Holy Hour
3. Confession at least once a month
4. Regular Spiritual Direction
5. Monthly personal Spiritual Day
6. Praying Liturgy of the Hours once a day as a team
7. Team Retreat once a year
COMMUNITY
As Gift of Mary missionaries, we commit to these elements of community life:
1. Weekly one-on-one check-in
with the Mission Integration Coordinator to evaluate personal
integration and emotional well-being.
2. Weekly formation meeting
to grow in our spiritual lives.
3. Weekly house meeting
to grow in our relationships as missionaries living in community.
4. Weekly Chores for our House
To show our gratitude for the living spaces we are provided with.
5. Team Fun
Once a week, our team takes time to relax and have fun.
PERSONAL INTEGRATION
As Gift of Mary missionaries, we commit to these elements of personal integration:
1. Dating App Fast
We commit to forming deep, meaningful relationships with the people right in
front of us, rather than looking to form those connections through a screen.
2. Limiting Social Media
We limit our social media access to one hour per week to keep ourselves
grounded in the present moment.
3. Mental Health
We commit to taking care of our mental health, taking advantage of the
mental health resources available to us as needed.
4. Physical Health
We commit to taking care of our physical health, getting quality sleep,
exercise, and good nutrition so we can be our best when serving the poor.
5. Modesty
We dress in a modest way so as to honor our
dignity as beloved daughters of the Father.
DUTIES OF A MISSIONARY
“Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’”Matthew 25:34-36
I WAS HUNGRY AND YOU GAVE ME FOOD, I WAS THIRSTY AND YOU GAVE ME DRINK:
Missionaries serve at the Red Door and Gift of Mary throughout the week to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty. We also help behind the scenes to sort and manage donations, clean, prepare meals, and serve food to the hungry who come to our doors.
A STRANGER AND YOU WELCOMED ME:
Missionaries maintain a ministry of presence with the women entrusted to us. We accompany them in the Women’s Center during the day, forming relationships with them and getting to know their stories, and meeting them with the love of Christ. We encourage them to encounter Christ by inviting them to come to mass with us.
NAKED AND YOU CLOTHED ME:
Missionaries help at the Faustina’s Gate clothing pantry, sorting donations and providing clothing to those in need. From here we are also able to distribute feminine hygiene products and other needs to women who otherwise would not be able to obtain them.
ILL AND YOU CARED FOR ME:
Missionaries connect women in need with resources designed to meet their physical or mental needs. We help at Brother Andre’s Cafe weekly, a ministry designed to provide employment opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
IN PRISON AND YOU VISITED ME:
Some of those who come to our door have recently been released from prison. Meeting these women with compassion and love enables them to get the fresh start in life they so need.
In addition to ministering to those have been in physical prisons, missionaries also offer the freedom of Christ to those who are being held captive by the values of the world. We provide programs designed to evangelize the poor and vulnerable who are also spiritually hungry. Many whom we meet desire to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church or return to their faith. We walk them through RCIA and bible studies suited to their unique needs. We invite women from Gift of Mary and our Women’s Center to come to mass with us every day at noon, and we teach those who don’t know how to pray. We always meet the poor who approach us to talk about difficult situations with compassion and active listening and offer to pray with them directly in the moment.
I WANT TO APPLY!
We accept applications throughout the year on a rolling basis! The mission year lasts August 1st - June 1st with summer opportunities available for returning missionaries!
If you are interested in hearing about the Gift of Mary Mission Program and would like more information, please contact our Mission Integration Coordinator at: brookelynne@giftofmary.org
If you would like to apply to be a missionary for Gift of Mary, please upload your resume and 3 references here:
