Planting Seeds of Faith: How St. John’s Led Amanda Reese to Mercy Ecology

During a Vincentian Service Immersion (Plunge) trip to the Mercy Ecospirituality Center Amanda Reese ’25SJC planted some onion seeds. Months later, as an employee of the Center, she harvested them. That first onion of the season went into a meal she prepared for a guest. 

This cycle of planting, tending, and harvesting mirrors her journey from the Catholic Scholars program at St. John’s to her role as Hospitality and Outreach Coordinator at Mercy.

The Center, located on 39 acres in Benson, VT, is a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Mercy dedicated to fostering reverence for the Earth. Through retreats, educational programs, sustainable agriculture, and hands-on ecological practices, including gardening, hiking trails, and an educational apiary, the Center invites guests to deepen their spiritual lives while cultivating a more intentional relationship with the natural world.

“I think the most important thing that we can do is plant a seed,” Ms. Reese stressed. “The power of the work I do is in noticing. If we take the time to notice the seeds that are planted and how we can tend to them, but also how they can tend to us, there’s a reciprocity and a harmony between all the relationships we encounter within our natural world and within each other.

“I wouldn't be where I am today, in the beautiful hillsides of Vermont, if it were not for an openness and a willingness to say yes to things, and an adaptability that mirrors how our natural world adapts.”

A native of Nesconset, NY, Amanda is a triplet and attended St. John’s with her two siblings. “My faith has always been in this beautiful flow of adapting and transition,” she noted. At her home parish of St. Patrick’s in Smithtown, NY, Amanda and her siblings were altar servers, and her mother was a catechist leader. 

One of the best decisions Amanda made was joining a youth group at St. Patrick’s, a journey she continued at St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School in West Islip, NY. “One of my youth ministers in high school was Teresa LoCascio ’17CCPS, an alumna of St. John’s and Catholic Scholars. I saw this vibrancy and a fire in her for her faith,” Ms. Reese recalled.

“I saw how deeply Catholic Scholars shaped her faith life,” Ms. Reese explained, adding that it was something to which she felt called as well. A campus tour cemented her desire to attend St. John’s, and she was accepted into Catholic Scholars. Then tragedy struck. 

“Eight days before my siblings and I were due to start St. John’s, my mom passed away after a battle with cancer.” On the heels of that traumatic event, Ms. Reese was also forced to attend St. John’s virtually for her first two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I had a very unique college career,” she stressed. “We were figuring out how to grieve and also step into this new way of living. St. John’s offered us stability and flexibility we so desperately needed.”

Catholic Scholars became an anchor for Ms. Reese. “It really shaped how I live my life, and I still hold the people I went through it with very close.”

Along with the Campus Ministry staff, Ms. Reese credited Joan P. Ball Ph.D., Professor, Marketing, The Peter J. Tobin of Business, as an influential mentor. “I couldn’t recommend her highly enough to any current St. John’s student. She helped bring me to a different level of thinking and being.”

A marketing major, she knew that climbing the corporate ladder did not appeal to her. “I wanted to advocate and serve. I wanted my faith to be at the forefront of my work.” In Dr. Ball’s class, Ms. Reese was inspired to start her own clothing company, Seeds Clothing Apparel.

It wasn’t until senior year that Ms. Reese was able to take full advantage of the Catholic Scholars experience. The Plunge program was recommended to her, and her participation altered the trajectory of her life. She applied to several different Plunge locations, but a prior visit to Vermont cemented her desire to attend the Mercy program.

“We were there for a week, and it was a week of tending to heart, soil, and spirit.”

Ms. Reese explained that ever since she was a child she has had her hands in the soil. The concept of eco-spirituality was new to her, but she soon adopted its tenets. “It was something that called to me as a person and what I try to embody within my life and faith.”

“I got to the Center feeling a little lost. I left feeling a little more seen, and a little more found.”

When Ms. Reese planted those onion seeds, “I didn't have a true understanding of what I was doing, what it was that I was planting, and what it was that I was gifting.” After graduation, Ms. Reese returned to Mercy with the Mercy Volunteer Corps, a six-week immersive experience in which up to four volunteers live on the property and tend to it.

While Ms. Reese was there, she felt a stronger call to the mission and work done at Mercy. I asked if they were hiring and, in a very divine way, a position opened the day that I inquired.”

In her current role, Ms. Reese (one of two employees on site) tends to guests’ needs, coordinates events, prepares meals, and assists her supervisor with programming. She also looks after the animals, birds and bees that are on site. 

“The heart of the work is a reverence and a care for our common home.”

Ms. Reese remains deeply connected to St. John’s. She was invited back last semester to speak to current students and serves as co-chair of the Catholic Scholars Alumni Program. She is looking forward to hosting a group of St. John’s students in the spring. 
“If it were not for St. John’s and the Plunge program, I would not be here. Like so many, I did not have a clear path for where I was going to go, but the University’s Vincentian Mission acted as a light for me.”

She added, “I live my life very dedicated to that quote that we are constantly in a state of becoming. One moment can't happen without the one previous. One piece of advice I would give to any St. John's student is enjoy the process of becoming, because that is going to get you far.”