Volunteer Commitment Is Transformative Experience

Nov 7, 2022

Kara McNamara

By Kara McNamara, Precious Blood Volunteer Alumna

I have always been an avid reader. One of my favorite books is “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë. When I first read it in high school, I was focused on the dramatic romance between Jane and Mr. Rochester at the center of the Gothic story. Over the years, as I’ve revisited the book, other important themes emerged: autonomy, social class, the hospitality of strangers, mental health, and morality. I have been delighted by the ways in which a story can continue to have new meaning, even when the words remain the same. Every time I read the story, I am different and the lens through which I view it changes.

Kara and fellow PBV, Leah on the Navajo Nation

The same is true for the meaning and impact of my time as a Precious Blood Volunteer! I have enjoyed the presence of Precious Blood people and Precious Blood spirituality in my life for nearly 10 years. It amazes me that what started as a six-month commitment as a volunteer on the Navajo reservation has become a formative, transformative experience and way of looking at the world. In that time as a volunteer, I learned so much about myself, spirituality, ministry of presence, and the inherent dignity of the human person. Ten years later, I continue to pursue growth in those areas and to find connections in my everyday life now, long after I left Crownpoint, New Mexico.

This formational time as a volunteer and the resulting connections with Precious Blood members and Companions taught me to recognize and follow “the cry of the blood.” That cry felt (and still feels) like a personal and irresistible invitation from God to be present to the needs of others.

I followed that call into working with youth in the nonprofit sector for several years before returning to graduate school for a master’s degree in counseling. It was obvious to me that in order to further pursue the call to support and serve others, I had some things to learn! I worked as a high school counselor for a few years, and with my professional focus on mental health and trauma-informed care for my students, I truly felt that the tenets of the Precious Blood Volunteer program to walk with those who suffer and to build community lived on in my work. The high school where I worked also implemented restorative practices, and I was extremely interested in the pursuit of reconciliation in that context.

“It amazes me that what started as a six-month commitment as a volunteer on the Navajo reservation has become a formative, transformative experience and way of looking at the world.”

Kara with her husband, Jack, and their daughter, Clare

This interest led me to my current work for the Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition, which provides training and support to those who minister to people affected by incarceration or detention. I am the communications manager for the organization, which means it is my work to invite people to discover their own call to seek reconciliation, be present to the needs of others, and work for justice.

In doing this work, I truly have felt the ordinary transform into the sacred. I may be working away on a laptop at home, but I am listening to the needs of people, I am helping to train the next generation of prison ministers, and I am working toward the creation of a justice system that upholds the dignity of every human person. It has been simultaneously grounding and energizing.

As an added bonus, after years of following the impact of the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, I enjoyed the experience of learning from Fr. David Kelly and Sr. Donna Liette through two (excellent) CPMC webinars earlier this year. I am grateful to have a job that aligns my personal values and sense of vocation with my professional tasks.

The story continues. I am grateful for the day I thumbed through the Catholic Volunteer Network catalog and found an opportunity that has brought so much good to my life. I never could have guessed all the joy and community that has flowed from that experience, including the sense of joy and community that is present in my personal life. I married my husband Jack four years ago with Fr. Al Ebach, C.PP.S., presiding. When we welcomed our sweet daughter Clare into the world this summer, we did so knowing that so many others were celebrating with us.

I am so grateful that God connected my story with this community and charism.

“We know that God is everywhere; but certainly we feel His presence most when His works are on the grandest scale spread before us; and it is in the unclouded night-sky, where His worlds wheel their silent course, that we read clearest His infinitude, His omnipotence, His omnipresence.”

-Charlotte Brontë, “Jane Eyre

Kara served in 2013 as a Precious Blood Volunteer at St. Paul Catholic Church in Crownpoint, New Mexico, Navajo Nation. She now works for Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition. Go to preciousbloodvolunteers.org to learn more about Precious Blood Volunteers. 

Welcome the 2014-2015 Precious Blood Volunteers

Sep 17, 2014

by Tim Deveney, Director of Precious Blood Volunteers
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(From L-R) Patricia Wood, Ryan Cornelissen, and Stephanie Schell

(From L-R) Patricia Wood, Ryan Cornelissen, and Stephanie Schell


Precious Blood Center in Liberty, Missouri hosted orientation for the new Precious Blood Volunteers for 2014-2015. During the week of July 20-25, we welcomed three new volunteers who will be serving this year.
Patricia Wood will be serving at St. Paul Church in Crownpoint, New Mexico. Pat comes to us with a wealth of experience during her time working as medical technician, serving at St. Joseph Indian School, and managing a farm in Kentucky and a ranch in Wyoming. She is from Owensboro, Kentucky and has three grown children. She will begin her service at the end of August.
Ryan Cornelissen is now working at Cristo Rey Kansas City High School. Ryan is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a degree in civil engineering and is from Londonderry, New Hampshire. He worked as a civil engineer for the New Hampshire Department of Public Transportation. At Cristo Rey, Ryan will be helping out with the stem (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program, campus ministry, and the music program.
Stephanie Schell is serving at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Stephanie matriculated from Creighton University with a degree in biology, and comes to us from Irving, Texas. Stephanie is our third volunteer to serve at Truman and will be working with the fresh foods market, the pet partners program, and assisting the nursing staff.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Walking on Holy Ground

Aug 27, 2014

 by Kara McNamara, Precious Blood Volunteer
When I left the orientation for the Precious Blood Volunteer program with my fellow volunteer, the wonderful Leah Yeo, I never could have imagined what would come next for me. Since that day in June, I can say that I’ve done some things that I never had done before and never expected that I would. I painted a good portion of the interior of a house, learned a smattering of Navajo, have gone off-roading, lived with nuns, cooked a cake in a pit in the ground, watched 500 hot air balloons take off, seen centuries-old Anasazi ruins, eaten homemade tortillas fresh off the fire, battled the altitude, and have begun to believe that the hour-long drive to Gallup isn’t so long after all.kara in desert web
I live in Crownpoint, New Mexico, in the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation. I am a Precious Blood Volunteer here, which can mean something different every day, depending on the needs of the community. Most days, I’m helping out as a teacher’s aide in the second and third grades at St. Bonaventure Mission School, which serves to provide a Catholic education to Navajo families. Other times, being a volunteer here means helping out around the parish: co-leading the high school religious education class, helping to run the clothes shop the church holds twice a month, doing maintenance for the parish hall, putting together the Sunday bulletin for Mass, and for a while, playing with and feeding the ten adorable puppies that were born on our property. In very rare instances, being a volunteer here has meant that you might find me delivering dinner to firefighters with Father Al Ebach during the “storm of the century,” moving a very heavy piano into the church with several burly men, or even pulling weeds (some things do grow in the desert).
Since Father Al exploded onto the scene last month, he’s had some great ideas that I’ve gotten to be a part of. The one that is closest to my heart is the “Backpack” program, which will distribute food to students in need at St. Bonaventure that will carry them through the weekend. In my role as a teacher’s aide with the little ones, I have witnessed too many signs that kids are doing without on the weekends. This program will discreetly send home a bag of food each Friday, enough to get the kids through until Monday. The food will all be things that a child would be able to prepare on his or her own, as some of these kids may not have a parent to depend on to make a meal. St. Bonaventure, affectionately called “St. Bon’s” in the community, is a really special place, a haven of sorts. The staff is incredible and the children are little miracles, each and every one (even the kids who won’t stay quiet in line when I tell them to). This program is an opportunity for me and the other community volunteers who will be involved to show our love and care for the children of this community. This project epitomizes the kind of work that I’d hoped I’d be doing out here—building relationships and meeting a practical need in the community with great love.
It can be hard to be here; it can be hard to be so isolated, to see such poverty, to witness so many broken dreams. It can be difficult to know how to comfort someone who’s experiencing something that I never have, to not be able to answer the tough questions. I have more questions than answers.
kara web
And yet I see God’s promise here too. The beauty of the land, the generous hearts of the people here, and the incredible quiet that it offers is really something. I wish everyone had the opportunity to see this place, because we all can learn something from the experience. Sister Maureen and Sister Michelle can teach us all to be flexible and to greet with open arms whatever life throws at us. Deacon Sherman and his wife Alice can teach us all how to be welcoming and generous with our hearts. Ella, who is the boss lady at our clothes shop, can teach us how to laugh at the little things. Rodel and Romina, a husband and wife duo that teaches religious education, can teach us about being humble and friendly. Some of the kids at St. Bonaventure could teach angels to be kind (other kids…could not). I have gotten to learn a little bit from everyone who has crossed my path here. Every person who comes to this community has gifts to share and lessons both to teach and learn. It’s a beautiful example of community in practice; for all that Crownpoint has some incredible challenges as well.
There is a quote that I’ve long kept in my heart because it applies to every place I’ve ever walked: “The first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion, is to take off our shoes, for the place we are approaching is holy. Else we may find ourselves treading on people’s dreams. More serious still, we may forget that God was there before our arrival” (Kenneth Cragg). This idea of going about my placement here on the reservation with the dignity and sacredness of the Crownpoint community in mind is central to my sense of mission in this volunteer experience. This is surely a holy place.
Figuratively, I do my best every day to take off my shoes. From there, I let God take me on the adventure.
Precious Blood Volunteer Kara McNamara is a graduate of the University of Dayton.
kara in desert web