World Youth Day

Well, Pope Francis has certainly been challenging the youth, as he has been challenging pretty much everyone else since he became Pope. Unfortunately with the upcoming mission we can't watch any of the footage on the internet, but I read his message to the youth of Argentina this morning.Yikes. In honor of World Youth Day, I thought I would post some highlights from that.

I would like to say something. What do I expect as a consequence of the Youth Day? I expect a mess. There will be one. There will be a mess here in Rio? There will be! But I want a mess in the dioceses! I want people to go out! I want the Church to go out to the street! I want us to defend ourselves against everything that is worldliness, that is installation, that is comfortableness, that is clericalism, that is being shut-in in ourselves. The parishes, the schools, the institutions, exist to go out!

Messes aren't comfortable, nor do we like being uncomfortable, but if I have learned anything here, it's that if I am totally comfy and taking it easy, I'm not following Christ.

And faith in Jesus Christ isn’t a joke, it’s something very serious, it’s a scandal. That God came to make Himself one of us is a scandal! And that He died on the Cross is a scandal, the scandal of the Cross. The Cross continues to be a scandal, but the Cross is the only sure way, Jesus is the only sure way, Jesus’ Incarnation! Please, don’t liquefy faith in Jesus Christ! There is orange milk shake, apple milk shake, banana milkshake, but please, don’t take liquefied faith! The faith is whole, it’s not to be liquefied. It is faith in Jesus. It is faith in the Son of God made man, who loved me and died for me.

So much for domesticating our faith, which is so easy to do, especially in the States, because it is easier and more comfortable. Like CS Lewis says, Christ was either a lunatic, a liar, or the Son of God. Notice that nice teacher isn't on that list.

Have a blessed week and I pray that as the world see more of what Pope Francis has said we are all uncomfortable and challenged.

Do you believe in miracles?

You always hear about the miracles that Jesus worked in the Bible. Every once in a while you hear of something incredible that happened to someone who knows someone who knows someone. It is easy to say we believe in miracles, but I don't know if I ever really believed what I said. I think God is trying to teach me that He still works powerfully in the lives of those who have faith because these last couple weeks I have been hearing story after story after story.

It started with my mothers group that I lead on Sundays. I have been meeting with them for almost five months, but they are finally opening up to me. As I listen to their life stories I am amazed. They have nearly no access to medical care and have told me many of their family histories when someone was seriously ill and then somehow recovered. One mother was suicidal because her husband left her. She was also pregnant at the time. But she picked up a Bible and started to read. That was a year ago and she probably participates in the group more than any other. She is totally different now. I count that as a miracle.

This lesson in miracles continued on this last mission to La Union. On several house visits the woman told me about ways that God had worked in their lives. The first told me about how she had serious heart troubles and was in the hospital. She could hear everything, but couldn't open her eyes or move. The doctors thought she was dead because her vital signs stopped and her husband has crying over her. She could feel his tears on her cheeks. She prayed to God and then opened her eyes to comfort her husband. And that was just one woman. There were several others.

Whether you call these miracles or simply God working in people's lives, it is humbling to hear. Maybe the reason we find it hard to believe in miracles is because we don't trust in God. We are self-sufficient. We can go to the doctor. We know where our next meal is coming from. When something goes wrong there is a safety net. The people here have none of that. They know their absolute and total dependence on God. It is something profound that we can learn from them.

Why Me?

Sorry this post has been a while in coming; we’ve been busy. But now that the team has left for the States I can finally write an update.

We had the first mountain mission of the summer last week. I went to two villages: Plan Grande and Quebradas. They were both very beautiful towns high up in the mountains in the heart of coffee territory. The title of this post refers to a question I asked myself continuously throughout the week, not in a negative way, but with awe and gratitude.

It is incredible to think that God has me of all people in a foreign country, in a place few ever see, working among such incredible people as a missionary. Every time I gave a talk or had a conversation I wondered why God chose me. I have done things I never thought I would do here. Wasn’t there someone better to work alongside the Hondurans? It is a mystery why God chose me, a mystery I doubt I will ever know the answer to. But that’s ok because I chose to live it and embrace it. I am so grateful for this.

Summer is Here!

Well, summer has started. Our first team is down here right now and we finished orientation for the Hondurans that will be with us this summer. It is a little surreal that we have teams again. I feel like we just did this in March. But I am excited. It is sometimes a personal challenge with the teams because you get to know them well, but then they leave. And when you are first getting to know them, you know that they will soon be leaving. It would be much easier simply to give my orientation talks and complete whatever other responsibilities I have without really getting to know the groups. But part of our job as the North Americans on mission is to accompany them and help walk with them through this experience. I remember how important that was for me when I first came down, that someone listened to my questions, concerns, frustrations, and excitements and taught me about the life here and what it means to be a missionary. It is essential for them too and so even though it is a challenge, it is worth it. It is also a blessing because I am reminded of why I am here. (I don’t know how many times I have told my story, but it’s a lot.) I am also reminded of why we are here. It really is a blessing. Please pray for us next week while we are on mountain mission!

Ready, Set, Go!

Sorry it has been so long since I have written. I don't really have a good excuse. But now I am writing again.

We are just gearing up for summer, by far the busiest time of the year. There is a lot more that we do now than what we did three years ago when I came as a summer-termer: more, missions, more teams, more retreats, more activities. Plus, I don't think as a summer-termer I quite grasped the amount of behind-the-scenes things that happen.

In one of our meetings we have had, Carol challenged us to remember that we are not here for ourselves, especially this summer.  It isn't bad to see how you are growing, but we can't focus only on that. We have to give. This summer I will meet hundreds of people both from the States and from mountain villages. How sad if they don't leave a bit closer to Christ, because that is Who we all hunger for. They don't need Jamie; they need Jesus. Please pray for us that we will be able to serve selflessly this summer.

St. Therese

Something that has always surprised me is that St. Therese is one of the patrons of missionaries. St. Francis Xavier makes sense; he traveled the world sharing the message of the Gospel. But St. Therese lived her entire short life in France, she entered the Carmelites when she was very young, and she never did anything that would make anyone think of her as a "missionary." Yet, she has a lot to teach us about being missionaries in our everyday lives.

I think the main things that strike me about St. Therese are her simplicity, her incredible love of God manifested in love of neighbor in all the little things throughout the day, and her total trust that He will take care of her, guide her, lead her, form her, etc, etc, etc. Slowly God is showing me though various books I am reading and conversations I have had the importance of these things. We must rely totally on Him. And He will slowly teach us how.

The Many and Varied Experiences of a Missionary

Sorry for not writing in a while. I am doing well. Right now we are in a more calm time right before the summer excitement begins. That means we have time to dedicate to our usual ministries here in Comayagua. For me, that means a lot of tutoring and other things with our scholarship program as well as catechesis in a couple of villages the Missionaries of Charity work in. Those kids are so fun.

Even though we are following the normal routine right now, it amazes me the variety of things that a missionary experiences here. There are times where you want to cry in gratitude for all that God has done, times where you don’t know what you got yourself into, times when laughter comes easily, times when you give to God the situation because it’s too big to carry. You never quite know what each day will bring and have to be ready for whatever comes. For example, coming back from one of the mountain missions we were waiting at a bus stop. Two teams had just been reunited and we were talking about how our week went and about how tired we were. Lo and behold, all of a sudden, we ended up in a deep conversation about the Church teaching on confession and the Eucharist with another person waiting. A couple weeks ago I was visiting the families of the kids in the scholarship program to hand out letters we had gotten from their sponsors. It was supposed to be a quick and easy visit, but we found out that one of the fathers had been severely burned in a cooking accident the night before. We ended up staying to talk and pray with him for quite a while. Last night I had planned to relax a little bit after dinner and work on a couple little projects I have going. God had other ideas. At dinner I learned I was going to be spending the night at a nearby retreat center with a mentally handicapped women staying there who had come to the local clinic after suffering severe abuse. I never know when my plans will be completely changed and these are only three examples, but conversations, talks, and pretty much everything else have the potential to happen without any warning. I am learning to always be ready and flexible. I am learning that one is never not a missionary. And most of all, I am learning Who’s in charge here (hint: it’s not me or any of us in the Missioners of Christ).