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