Sunday, November 25, 2012

Fellowship of the Unashamed

I seriously cannot believe I have let myself go more than a month without updating this. Ah! I realllly want to write a proper update, but I just have no time!! Tomorrow we start a week of mission formation, training up other young people from Honduras to go on mission. The following week, all of us will be going on mission with these young people for a week, in different villages in the mountains. Pray for us!

One short reflection though. I came across this a few months before I came down to Honduras. It really struck me, and at this point in my life, its really how Im feeling. It’s a little bit intense, but I tend to be lukewarm so easily, so I need the intensity! Im so sick of being lukewarm! So……


FELLOWSHIP OF THE UNASHAMED
“I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed, the die has been cast, I have
stepped over the line, the decision has been made. Im a disciple of Jesus Christ. I
wont look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed,
my present makes sense, my future is secure. Im finished and done with low
living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed
visions, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits, or
popularity. I dont have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or
rewarded, I now live by presence, lean by faith, love by patience, live by prayer
and labor by power.
My face is set, my gate is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is
rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot
be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity,
negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in
the maze of mediocrity. I wont give up, shut up, let go, or slow up until I have
prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Jesus
Christ.
I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go until He comes; give till I drop; preach till
everyone knows; and work till he stops me. And when he comes for His own, he
will have no problem recognizing me, because my banner will have been clear.”

I hope to update soon! Love and miss you all! Prayers!
Erick

Friday, October 26, 2012

Random Stories...


Back in Honduras! It really seemed like I was in Antigua for at least 3 months! Although my first few days in Honduras were difficult, and my time in Antigua was really beautiful, I was excited to head back to the mission. The first thing that struck me when I arrived back was how much peace I felt. I no longer felt anxious about the language, or the fact that I can´t leave our house, or the cold showers. I had been praying the whole time in Antigua for this peace, and here it was! God definitely answers prayers!

My first morning back, we went over to the house of one girl who helps with the mission, because her grandmother had passed away 9 days before. Here in Honduras, they have a tradition that when a person passes away, the family and friends set up a beautiful altar in the house with flowers and pictures, and each day for 9 days they come to pray for the person´s soul. On the 9th day, they have a big gathering with food, and one final prayer to lead the person´s soul to God. It was truly a beautiful experience – the faith and unity of these people is incredible. So many family members and friends were there to offer support, and they truly pray, from the depths of their heart. This is something I´ve noticed – the people here pray so deeply, and they expect their prayers to be answered. I guess when you don´t really have “things” to rely on for security, hope and trust in God are all you have.

So many things have happened since my 2 weeks back here, so really I´m just going to share random stories:

Random story number one: My second day back, we found a huge poisonous toad in our kitchen. Such a wonderful dinner guest, don’t you think?! Unfortunately, I don’t think we´ll be inviting him back…You see, he was a bit ornery, and when he got mad, he inflated his cheeks to warn us that he was only moments away from spraying out his liquid poison all over us. I´m sure we´ll have other lovely guests over for dinner soon!

The people here are not self-conscious in the least bit. This becomes so apparent in the way that they sing, especially in church. They literally don´t care how they sound, which at first seemed rather unpleasant to my ears…but then I realized how beautiful this is! They are just expressing their joy, and they don´t care what other people think about them. This is so freeing! I think a lot of times we feel so self-conscious, and feel that we have to be so perfect at something before we let it out and allow others to see it. We´re so afraid of being judged. But why? Maybe we should forget about the others, and sing out loud.

A priest came to do Mass at our chapel last week. His name is Father Max, and he is really young. He started a school in the mountains for orphans and kids who can´t afford to go to school. In this area, there are many villages high up in the mountains that are hard to get to, and who rarely receive priests. So he gets up around 3 in the morning to prepare things in the school and then travels to different mountain villages to offer the Mass for the people. There are definitely hidden saints living in this country.

There is a monastery of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal across the street from our house, and they come to our chapel to celebrate Mass once a week. One day, Padre Francisco said something that really struck me. He was speaking about how stressful his life had been lately, offering many ministries, running a free medical clinic, etc. He had been saying to God: “Why didn´t you call me to a quieter, simpler life. This would surely be better!” But then he realized: No. This would not be better. Because God called him here. Exactly here. God knows what he needs. This must mean then, that he is meant to grow right here, in these exact circumstances, with these exact people, in these exact circumstances. This spoke to me so much! The life here isn´t always easy, and I was doubting why God called me here; couldn´t I do more good elsewhere? But I know for a fact God wanted me here, so it must be here that I need to grow, here that He wants to use me, here that I can become holy.

Welp, gotta go! I´m leaving tomorrow for a mission in the remote villages in the mountains. Prayers please! I´ll updated when I get a chance.

 

God bless you! Choose joy each day!

Erick  

Friday, October 5, 2012

Hablas espanol?

Well, my first 4 days in Honduras were difficult, to say the least. But I guess any new beginning comes with its challenges! Luckily, God is so good, and constantly reminded me of His presence. One day, when I was feeling particularly lost and lonely, I prayed that God would give me a word to remind me that He is with me, and I randomly opened the Bible to Deuteronomy, chapter 31, and read: “The Lord will go over before you…be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be in dread…for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; He will not fail you or forsake you…” I really needed this! Just another reminder that God is there, He truly cares about even our smallest needs, and He wants us to trust in His Love.


So, after 4 days in Honduras, I took a 13 hour bus trip through the incredibly beautiful mountains of Honduras (my stomach didn’t necessarily think the crazy mountain roads were so beautiful…), and ended up in Antigua, Guatemala. This city used to be the capital of the Spanish Empire in Central America, and today it is a beautiful little city, nestled in a valley between 3 massive volcanoes, and is famous for its Spanish language schools.


Upon my arrival, I got to meet Jamie Berns, a fellow missionary who will be serving with me in Honduras with the Missioners of Christ. We are the 2 “new ones” coming down to serve. We stayed in the house of a lovely woman named Hilda (or Gilda in español), who lives on her own. She made us 3 amazing meals every day, and helped us with our Spanish (since she doesn’t speak a word of English).

 
I took 4 weeks of Spanish classes, one on one with the same professor for the whole month. Not a word of English was spoken...it was a bit intense, but really good! Our schedule was the same each day: class from 8-12, back to Hilda´s for lunch until 130, and class again from 130 to 4. We lived really close to a beautiful old church called San Francisco. It was built around 1570, and was partially destroyed during 2 earthquakes in the 1700s, so it looks really crazy, half standing and half in ruins. The only saint in all of Central America, Santo Hermano Pedro, is buried there. He came from the Spanish Canary Islands to serve the people of Guatemala, especially the sick and poor. Pope John Paul II came to Antigua in 2002 to canonize him. So each day after class, we would go to Mass there at 5, and then pray at the tomb of this Saint. I felt a connection to him, since he also came from a foreign land to serve the poor. So I loved to ask for his help and guidance for my mission.

            After this, we would return to Hilda´s for dinner, and then go to adoration – there was a chapel very near our house that had adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 24-7. So each day I would go to pray to Jesus in the Eucharist and to spend time with Him. Receiving peace and strength in these times of Mass and adoration each day is the only thing that kept my brain from exploding from Spanish overload!!
 

The classes were just great. The school is situated in a big garden next to the ruins of a huge church, with little private cabanas dispersed throughout, which are the classrooms. My Spanish professor´s name was Paola, and she was amazing! We had 6 hours each day together, and much of this time was spent laughing J The universal language! We also talked about many really interesting topics…everything from saints, the Hunger Games, politics…you name it! She was so kind as to allow me to skip class in order to take me to a parade that her son was in and to her mom´s house for lunch, and she even bought me LOADS of typical Guatemalan sweets!!


Coming from the mission in Honduras, where I was shocked to find that it is too dangerous to go out of our house, I could tangibly feel the FREEDOM that I had in Antigua. I never thought I could be filled with such JOY just by being able to walk around outside!!! I lived this freedom so intensely, not taking it for granted for even an instant. One of my first evenings, I went out after dinner and bought a banana split. I could not even believe how much I enjoyed it! I savored every ATOM of flavor…literally. Its amazing…at home I would have gulped it down without thinking. But when we take the time to really enjoy something, to recognize that it is a gift that God has given us to make us happy and to show us His Love, we can truly enjoy it so much more! It´s so easy to take things for granted…but I definitely think that I am learning here to accept everything (especially the smallest pleasures like ice cream or walking around) as a gift.

 
Guatemala received its independence from Spain in 1821, and their “4th of July” is on September 15, so I was there for the celebration! During a parade on the 14th, one of the volcanoes next to Antigua named Fuego (fire) erupted in a BIG way! Throughout the day, they had to evacuate 33,000 people from their homes in the surrounding villages. I was literally just walking down the street when I looked up to see a huge cloud of smoke in the sky…so crazy! So, that night, I did the only rational thing a person could do…I climbed the volcano! I went with friends from my school, and we took a huge truck and began our journey up toward the peak. The “roads,” (or lack thereof) where CRAZY…we had to go about 3 miles per hour, and many times we were sure the truck was going to flip. We were all in the back of the truck, so we were planning how to best jump out and survive. Eventually, after crashing through the jungle-like terrain for half an hour, we made it to our stopping point. The volcano was spewing out lava and rocks with such force, hundreds of feet in to the air, for hours and hours on end. It was such a sight to see. Really a witness to the mystery and power of creation, and even more so to its Creator. I was just in awe.

 
The Independence Day festivities were so beautiful. The people of Guatemala are very proud of their culture and their heritage, and it really shows in their celebrations. Even today, 40% of the population is indigenous or native, and the people still wear their native, extremely colorful clothing. In the parades for Independence Day, kids and high school bands marched around in various types of native clothing or costumes, playing really fun and upbeat music. It was really very simple, but so deep and so meaningful. They raised their flag and sang songs to Jesus. It´s still such a Catholic culture there, and the people express their faith outwardly in public constantly. EVERY store, shop, even bank, is named after Jesus, Mary, the Holy Spirit, a saint…its really quite incredible!

 
And the faith of the people is just incredible too. Many of them don’t have very much, but they trust so much in God and have a sense of joy about them. One day, I was exploring the city, and I found a really beautiful church just outside the city. I entered, and went toward the front to pray. There were only 2 other people in the whole church--- a mother was sitting on the floor in the very front, holding her handicapped son, who was probably about 30, and staring up at the Tabernacle repeating over and over again: “Gracias, Jèsus…Gracias.” I was hit so hard by this. We live in a world where many would say that the old, weak, and suffering have no quality of life, and should just be euthanized. And here is a woman, holding her son, who doesn´t live up to many of our standards of having a good “quality of life”…and yet she´s just thanking God for him, over and over again.

 
Each day when I went to adoration, I would meet a man and woman who stood outside the whole day. I would always just stop to talk to them a bit, and eventually we became friends. The woman, Maria, tries to earn money by selling things that she knits, and the man, Romero, offers to wash the cars of people who park near there. They´re there every day, 9am to 9pm, basically just standing around. I learned that they are brother and sister, have never been married, and haven no one else in the world but each other.

            One evening, I came out of adoration, and began to talk to Maria. She told me that her face hurt, and I asked her why. She told me that Romero, her brother, had hit her in the face really hard. She went on to tell me that he does this very often, for no apparent reason. She said she is so sick of this awful life, and really just wants to kill herself…….What could I do? I just stayed with her, and she cried and cried. She has an amazingly deep faith in Jesus, and I just reminded her how precious she is in His eyes, how much her life means to Him. It was so devastating to see the depth of her pain. We prayed together to God and asked for His help. As I left, I just felt sick, and burst in to tears. What could I do?! Nothing. This is a woman who is poor, has to stand outside hungry all day, and is abused by the only person she has in this world. It´s such a horrendous feeling to see this suffering and injustice, and be absolutely helpless to do anything about it. I can offer her love, remind her that although things are just awful, there is something better that awaits her. But sometimes I wish I could do more! I think that a lot of the problems in the world, we must accept that we´re not going to be able to fix them by ourselves. We just have to be there for people, and love them as much as we can. This in itself, although not much, is actually a bigger help than I think we could ever imagine.

 
I made a bunch of new friends, learned a lot of Spanish, and had some incredible experiences…it was hard to leave! But I didn´t come down to Central America to be on vacation; I came to be on mission. So I was really excited to get back to Honduras and start my mission!

 
This is getting excessively long (I warned you last time!!), so I will stop for now. Please keep my new friends Maria and Romero in your prayers, as well as friends and family members of my Spanish professor (Ottoniel and Rony) who recently passed away.

 
Thanks for the continued prayers! I can seriously feel them every day, and I will need them more and more as my true mission begins!

 

Peace and all good things!
Erick

Thursday, September 20, 2012

A Time of Contrasts

What a couple of  weeks it´s been! From the US, to Honduras, to Guatemala…a lot to adjust to in a few short days!

I can´t believe I´m finally on mission. I feel like this has been in the making for so long. And actually, God has been showing me more and more through prayer how He has carefully planned this for quite a long time. It´s almost mind-blowing! It has really made me realize the incredible significance of EACH and EVERY day. Every moment, really, is a part of the path of our life, and every little thing we think, do, say, pray…all of it leads us on a certain path. It´s sometimes incredible to look back and see the way that God has used us, both the good and the bad, to bring us to the point we are at now!

And that point for me at this moment is Antigua, Guatemala. Never thought I´d be saying that! After a few days at the mission in Honduras, I was sent here for language school. I´m now studying away, trying my best to understand the language I will need to serve the people of Honduras.

My transition to Honduras was a bit of a shock. Coming from a month in Europe, a week in California, and finally from my home, to this country in Central America is such a huge change. I had an idea of what to expect (since I had been to another part of Honduras before, 2 years ago), but still...It´s definitely a different world.

We pulled in to the house of the Missioners of Christ, and I met my fellow missionaries! There are 4 from the US (counting myself) and about 8 from Honduras. We live in a little complex, with separate halls for guys and girls, a communal kitchen, and a big chapel. It´s really quite beautiful and peaceful. Something I wasn’t expecting is the massive barbwire-topped wall that surrounds the place. Because our ¨barrio¨(neighborhood) is really quite dangerous (especially for me as a ¨gringo¨). The combination of desperate poverty, drugs, and easy access to guns makes it…well, lets just say it´s not the kind of place you´d want to go skipping down the street. Actually, we´re not really able to leave our complex at all, unless we´re driving somewhere. This, combined with not really being able to speak the language, adjusting to the food, cold showers at 5am, and large spiders that I found near my bed has made for quite an experience!!

Simply put, it´s hard. It´s hard to be isolated since I can´t communicate (yet!). It´s hard to be inside our complex when I´d love to be out in the barrio meeting all the people. It´s hard to sleep when gunshots wake you up at 3am.

But this is where God comes in. Thankfully! First of all, I know that I have an army of people praying for me. This makes all the difference in the world. I can really feel it, and I think without this, I would have fled home after my first spider-spotting! So keep up the good work J

But it really comes down to the Mass. The Mass is my salvation. As a Catholic, I truly believe with all my heart that Jesus is present in the Eucharist. So what can hold me back? What can stop me? A stupid spider? Food that makes my stomach…not so happy? Not being able to speak with others? As if! I get to receive God – the God who made something out of nothing; the God who became small and suffered for us; the God who is Love – each day in the Mass. With this knowledge, no matter what comes my way, I know that I can do anything, between two Eucharists. But this is ONLY if I can rely totally on God, and not let myself get in the way at all. This is the hard part. We love to get in our own way! It´s good to be so tested in this way, because I´m able to see that, in my daily life, I allow so many distractions to get me so off track. When all of those externals are stripped away, and I´m forced to face myself and God, I can see so much more clearly that I need Him for EVERYTHING, because ALL that is good comes from Him. This is a painful lesson to learn and a hard one to remember, but I am glad that God is teaching me.

Ok, I could keep going on all day. For those of you who know me, you know I can´t limit myself when I write! More about language school and other recent experiences to come soon!

Please keep the prayers coming…I need them! You are being prayed for in return.

United in Him!
Erick (the new Spanish spelling of my name J)

Monday, August 27, 2012

Headed to Honduras!


Leaving for Honduras in the morning...........!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe the time is here!! This summer literally FLEW!

I've only been home for 5 days in the past 2 months. These 8 short weeks have been a whirlwind of adventures, blessings, and reunions. I finished working at Sts. John and Paul on July 9th, and went directly to our annual family reunion with my dad's 8 siblings and their kids for 3 days. From here I went to New York City to stay with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal for a week. The day after I got home, I traveled to Germany for a wedding, visiting friends in France, Spain, and Portugal on the way, as well as Our Lady in Lourdes and Fatima. The bride was one of the girls I went to the Emmanuel School of Mission with last year in Rome, and out of the 20 total students from our year, 17 of us were reunited at the wedding, from as far as Australia and Brazil!!! It was a beautiful moment, to be together to celebrate this sacrament with our sister!!! I returned home for 4 days, then drove to another wedding in North Carolina, this time for a friend from Catholic Heart Workcamp (another huge reunion!), and flew from here to California to meet my family for vacation. And I got back this morning!

Phew! There were literally times when I woke up and had to use all my brain power to remember where I was and who I was with! God blessed me soooooo much in so many ways, and  really filled me up, to be able to give myself on mission. I knew that I wasn't just randomly going on all these journeys just to have fun, but that God wanted to teach me specific things and make me grow in ways that I would need for the mission.

One experience in particular really taught me to be ready for mission ALWAYS, even when my emotions don't really feel like being on mission at the moment. After the wedding in Germany, I went to a Youth Forum in Germany that was run by the Emmanuel Community (the Catholic community that I belong to). To be honest, I was excited to go mostly to meet up with many friends from across Europe who I met last year. I didn't really question why God was bringing me there. I got there expecting to hang out with friends, and to receive a lot from the different teachings, prayer times, etc. God had other plans. 
I got there, and immediately the superiors asked me if I could help out with various services. First, I was asked to lead a one hour workshop on Theology of the Body during the week. Sure, why not? Next I was asked to join the praise and worship team. Ok, I can do that. After this, it was requested that I help lead a prayer/sharing group. Yep, I think I can squeeze that in there. Soon after, I was asked to help make video diaries documenting each day. And finally, to take the cake, I was asked to MC the evening programs........in front of almost 1,000 people. And I found out only hours before the first evening! Ahhh!!! Needless to say, I was overwhelmed. But in the craziness of all these little missions, I found my purpose in coming here. God has given me SO MUCH, it's time for me to give back, to serve others. Ya, it would have been great to sit around with friends and go to different talks - but I both gave and received so much more by using my gifts and talents for God! I learned that I need to be ready to give my FULL self to serve Him, all the time, especially when I least desire to. Only in this way can I truly live out the call to Love.

So, as I leave for Honduras, I am going with a lot of peace - peace because I know that God is calling me there; peace because I know He will provide as long as I rely on Him; and peace because I know that "it is in giving that we receive." 

Know that you will all be in my prayers each day. And your prayers for me are VERY much appreciated! :) This is the only way I will have the courage, faith, and energy to be able to serve FULLY each day.

A big hug to you all! I'll update you next time from Honduras (maybe in Spanish....kidding!!!!)
Peace of Christ be yours,
Eric

Wednesday, July 4, 2012



The adventure begins......Well, not quite yet. I don't technically leave until August 28th, but there is much to do in the area of preparation before I go. Not to mention I'll be doing a LOT of traveling before I embark to my new home in the south.

I feel like I just got back from Rome! I've had a great year, living at home with my parents and working at Sts. John and Paul on the faith formation staff. I've learned a lot and made some great new friends.

Now, time for another adventure! This time, God is calling me to the land of Honduras. I had the blessing to travel there on a mission trip 2 years ago with a group from Franciscan University. We served the poor coastal villages and remote mountain towns, bringing with us three priests to administer the sacraments which the Catholic people there are so lacking.

Honduras is a beautiful country. Originally part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, it became an independent nation in 1821. A land of about 8 million people, it is slightly smaller than the state of West Virginia. About 80% of the people today are Catholic. Unfortunately, the country has been caught in cycles of poverty for many years. More than half of the country lives below the poverty line.

It is amazing, because I really know that this is God's will for me. He has been quite clear - He basically needed to hit me over the head about 8 times before I finally trusted Him!! I am very humbled that He has called me to this. I feel very weak and ill-equipped to be able to serve down there. It is a COMPLETELY different world from what I am used to! The people, the language, the scenery, the problems, the food, the poverty, the TARANTULAS AND SCORPIONS!!!!! Everything is different!

I will be serving with a group called the Missioners of Christ. They were started as a response to John Paull II's call for a New Evangelization. They are an active/contemplative mission group. Each day consists of praise and worship, Mass, a Holy Hour with Adoration, and personal prayer time. We also pray morning prayer, evening prayer, and night prayer together each day. In between all of this, I will do "Apostolic works" for 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon. These works cover a vast range: providing food/clothing for the poor, leading retreats, youth ministry, catechesis, disciple-ing (is that a word?) teens and young adults, etc etc. We will also take trips to the mountain villages around the country. These villages are hard to get to, so they VERY rarely get priests. In Honduras, there are barely any priests. One priest could be in charge of between 90-100 parishes!!!!!!!!! The people might only receive the Eucharist once every year!!! All of us are SO BLESSED to be able to receive it every day, or at least every Sunday!!! I will also work with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR's) in Honduras. They live very near to our house and provide many services to the people there.

I am going (potentially) for 2 years. The first 4 months is discernment, to see if I feel called for the whole mission. I will come home at Christmastime, and if I decide to stay for the rest of the mission, I will return for about 18 more months.

I am SO EXCITED - every part of this mission makes my soul want to EXPLODE...it's all that I'm desiring! But I am also a little bit scared! I NEED your prayers so much!! Please just pray that God can make me really weak, because only when I'm weak can I get out of the way and let God's power work through me. I want to give NOTHING of myself and only GOD!!!

I am so happy that I get to bring all of you on mission with me! If you are reading this, then you have had an impact on my life, and God has used you as an instrument to help shape me with His loving hands to become who I am. So when I give of myself in Honduras, YOU will also be giving WITH me, and God will still be working through you in a very beautiful way because of what you have given me! 

In a special way I invoke the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima. I have had a great devotion to her since I was 8 years old, and I received my "yes" to serve with the Missioners of Christ on her feast day (May 13). So please pray to her for my mission! :)

I'm hoping this blog serves as a way for me to keep you updated on my mission, and also gives you good material for prayer (for me and the people we were working with). Please feel free to post any prayer intentions you have that you'd like me to pray for!!!

Dios los bendiga a todos! (God bless you all! --- well, at least I think that's what this means......I need to practice my Spanish!!!) ;)

Eric