Home for Christmas

I just wanted to give a quick update. I am home for Christmas now (and 35 degrees has never felt this cold). It is a blessing to be here with my family. Like always, it is strange to come back to the States. I am still trying to wrap my head around the American version of celebrating Christmas as compared to the life of relative simplicity that I have been living. But like I said, it is a blessing to be here. I wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

I also posted some more pictures. You can view them at this link:

Jamie's Facebook Pictures

Please note, that last time some people said they could not view the pictures on Firefox. It works for me, but if you are having problems, try using a different browser.

A Special Request

Well, Advent has been going quickly which means Christmas is right around the corner. I am very excited to be home soon to visit with my family. While I am home, I would like to gather some things to bring back to the community. You can click here to see the list. If you can help donate anything, just give these things to me and I will take them down with me when I return in January. Thank you so much for your help! Have a blessed Advent.

Nuestra Señora

It has been a very Marian week to say the least (and not just my struggling to read and actually understand True Devotion by Montfort). But, since Our Lady simply leads us to Christ, it is a wonderful thing that she has been so present this week!

Last Saturday was the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It was a wonderful day and everyone was back from the mission to celebrate. A couple of the Friars decided to have a procession in honor of Our Lady. These are very common throughout Latin America and I had seen and participated in a large one while in Antigua. The Friars invited us to come along so a couple of us did. Our procession was rather small, but beautiful. Yes, walking around the neighborhood singing songs to Mary seems a little crazy (and I felt a little crazy at the time), but by the end, I had managed to move beyond my comfort zone in order to see the beauty of what was happening. A woman ending up joining us near the beginning, but it was only after the procession that she told us her story. Immediately before we stopped in front of her house, she had been praying to Mary for the health of a sick baby in the family and had been worried and crying. She told us that when we came, she knew that God had answered her prayers, through the intercession of Mary. It is amazing how God works!

Then we had the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe this Wednesday. Again, it was a joyful celebration. And for me, it was a reminder of why I am here and that this is where God has called me to be at this time in my life. It was exactly three years ago Wednesday that I began to seriously consider coming to Honduras for that first summer. The rest is history, but it has always been Mary, under the title Our Lady of Guadalupe, that has guided me to follow her Son here.

Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

Disappointment

Sometimes, life doesn't work out quite like we planned. These last two weeks were one of those times. We had a week of intense faith formation for Honduran youth and then a mountain mission. I have been looking forward to them for quite a while, but I got sick and couldn't go. I have been trying to trust that God has some sort of bigger plan for these two weeks, but it hasn't been easy. Yet, just because I don't clearly see God working doesn't mean He isn't.

My poorly-timed health problems aside, these weeks have been very beautiful. The youth that came to training week were rock-solid in their faith. It gives me hope for this country and this world. I am starting to understand better what was discussed during the formation program: we might have a comfortable life, plenty of food, hot water, and whatever else we could want, but without God, we have nothing. Isn't to be human to be in relationship with God or at least to be searching?

Thanksgiving

Hello all! Happy Thanksgiving. We actually did celebrate it here and it was quite a feast. We invited a couple Honduran families that we know. It was really beautiful to see everyone celebrate together. We went around the table and everyone shared things they are thankful for. Something that struck me was that, in addition to giving thanks for all the obvious blessings (family, life, health, etc), several people gave thanks for the difficulties in life, because they were able to grow from them. I have never heard people name that on the list of thankfulness. But it is true. St. Paul says "in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5: 18) Life isn't always easy. Being here isn't always easy. But I give thanks to God for those challenges. I have grown so much closer to Him and consequently, have grown so much as a human being.

Do Everything for His Glory

As inevitably happens in life, there are times when everyone else seems to be busy, but we have nothing to do. I think what choice we make in that moment is really important. We can chose to fill our time with the distractions of TV, Facebook, or whatnot. These things are not in and of themselves bad, but they really can distract a person from their faith and from life in general (You realize this when you suddenly no longer have access.) OR, you can find little ways of serving God by serving those closest to you. Sometimes that means doing the dishes or sweeping. Is that fun? No. But St. Therese was all about small things with great love. That way, the little action is transformed into a prayer.

I think that especially the Americans come here hoping to serve God in an "exciting" way. But the reality is that we do have to wash dishes because we use them to eat. We do have to sweep, even though it is a loosing battle against the dust. That is just part of life, but it is also serving God and neighbor if we do it with love. It is a difficult lesson to learn, especially when it happens somewhat frequently within a week. I am learning that there is more than one way we are missionaries building the Kingdom of God. Yes, there are talks and groups and retreats, there are one-on-one conversations, there is time to lift our ministries and neighbors up in prayer, there is time for us to be strengthened in our own faith to be able to serve better...but we are just as much missionaries in the ordinary day-to-day stuff. There is a song that says, "do everything you do for the glory of the One who made you." I am not there yet, but I want God to be able to work through me in everything throughout the day for His glory. I pray that we can all grow closer to this goal each day.

Weekly Update

Well, another week has come and gone. It was mostly normal. I had my regular tutoring schedule. I am starting to get to know the kids better. (And they are starting to remember my weird American name.) The kids are really fun to work with. They make me smile, even on days when I don't really want to tutor. I have also been going with the director of the scholarship program to visit the families of the kids and to check up on them. All of our kids come from great poverty and most come from very broken families. But in general, they are so much more joyful and loving than the kids I know in the States. There is a family that comes to daily Mass frequently and the kids ALWAYS hug every single person in the chapel and wish them peace. Saturday mornings, all of the kids from the scholarship program help with community service. Usually, we visit the house of an elderly person to help clean and to just visit them. I think this week we will be helping the Friars sort and package food for their distribution program. The kids are usually great about helping out, with a couple exceptions.

I think there were two highlights in my week. Last Friday I went with the Missionaries of Charity to help with a faith formation group in one of their aldeas. It was beautiful, and though fairly close to Comayagua, totally remote. And there is certainly mission work to be done there. When the Missionaries of Charity arrived four years ago, the people had absolutely no formation or faith of any sort. There is still a long way to go, but the people are growing and seemed grateful for our presence. Hopefully I will be able to go most Fridays.

Also, yesterday we went to visit the clinic run by the Friars. There is a medical mission here right now doing surgeries and they wanted us to come pray and talk with the families. We prayed a rosary and then talked and prayed with several families as they waited for their loved ones. It was definitely out of my comfort zone, but absolutely beautiful to see!  Stuff like that would just not work in the States, but the people here are so open and grateful, sometimes practically sharing their whole life stories and faith journeys with us.

Well, that about sums up my week. I hope everyone back in the States had a great one too!