Thursday, March 21, 2013

2 Weeks...


So much can happen in 2 weeks!

First --- These past two weeks, we had 2 different university groups down from the US for spring break missions. It was so strange to be surrounded by so many “gringos”! The first week consisted of groups from Virginia and Florida. We went to a village about an hour from Comayauga, and it was a beautiful week. We visited all the houses in the village, listening to people’s stories and prayed with them; we prayed with an 87 year old man who had been bed ridden for years but insisted that he wanted to come with us on our next mission; we led programs for kids, youth, and families; I learned that I love translating, but that it brings my brain to the verge of exploding; we got to make tortillas from scratch (mix the corn and water, grind it up, make them in to little circles, and cook them! I got laughed at because my “circle” looked more like the shape of the US…). The people were so generous and beautiful. The kids followed us around the whole week, and even got to leave school in order to see us off when we left. On the last day, two teenage girls asked one of the missionaries if he could accompany them to a woman’s house because they wanted to ask her forgiveness for things they had said to her. So, beautiful things happened; small maybe, but beautiful.

The first group from the US left, and about 4 hours later, the second group arrived! It was emotionally draining! We made some great friendships in a short week, and then they were gone, and a whole new group of 30 young people was there! But it was another awesome group, this time from Texas A&M as well as FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) from all over the country. We headed out on another mission, this time about 4 hours away. My village had no electricity and was very primitive. We had another incredible week, building relationships with the people and helping each other walk together towards our common Home.  We ended this mission with a “party” where 3 villages all came together. Fr. Gabriel of the CFR’s was with us, and he celebrated Mass and a time of adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The villages we were in only receive the Mass twice a year, and some of the people had never experienced adoration before. There were 80 year old women who had walked half an hour through the mountains to get to the church, and came hobbling forward to pray before Jesus in the Eucharist. I think someone was cutting onions in the back of the church……or were those tears? ;)

I realized something during my time in this village without electricity: the life in the mountains no longer scares me or freaks me out. On my first few missions to the mountains, the life of the people really shocked me, because it is SO different from anything we’re used to. But now, I can see it more clearly for what it is: a simple life, centered on family, friends, and God, without any distractions. Actually, I think my normal life back in the States now “scares” me more than this life in the mountains. After being away from it for so long, all of the distractions that I fill my life with seem so foreign and strange. The fact that my “normal” life now seems abnormal freaks me out! But I think the life here can teach us something profound…

The second big thing in the past 2 weeks: Habemus Papam! We have a Pope! Woo hooooooo! And incredibly, the fact that I was in a remote village without electricity didn’t stop us from finding out the news! So, here’s how it went down: I was in the process of giving a talk to a completely full church in our village – a talk on how it’s important to live our faith and not just have it as a tradition or habit. So I was saying: “Ya, these are really exciting times, because all the cardinals in the world are united in Rome now to choose a new Pope…” and a woman in the back of the church stood up and yelled, “they already did!!” I almost fell over! She went on to tell us that he was from Argentina, and chose the name of Francis. I can’t explain the feeling in that moment…discovering the election of our new Holy Father in the middle of a dark church, lit by one candle, surrounded by the faithful people in this village. It was incredible; a moment a will never forget! Thank God for our new Papa! Let’s keep him in our prayers.

And finally, the third thing that happened during these 2 weeks, not so exciting as the first two, is that my grandma had a stroke. It happened while I was in the mountains, so I didn’t find out until coming back. After praying and reflecting about it, I realized something: when tragic things like this happen, we always have two choices- we can become sad and depressed and bitter, angry at God; or we can accept it as a time when we can grow in love, service, sacrifice, patience, and remember what is really important in life- to show love to those around us while they are here. Today, not tomorrow.

After speaking recently with my parents, they said my grandma was trying to talk again, but her words were all jumbled, when, in a moment of clarity, she said the words, “Hallowed be Thy name.” How beautiful. She’s trying to show us that she’s still fighting, still has hope, still praying, and that she wants us to pray for and with her. Couldn’t really ask for anything more than that. God is good.

One final thought. When we were in one of the villages, a girl on the mission team gave a talk about Lent to young people. They were attentive enough, but maybe not suuuper interested. But at one point, she took down from the wall one of the Stations of the Cross, a picture of Jesus being tortured. And she said: “This is Jesus. But imagine if this were your mother. Or your brother, or best friend, or child; being unjustly hated and beat up and killed. How would you feel?” This got their attention for sure! But it’s true. We would do anything possible to stop this injustice if it were one of our loved ones. But with Jesus, we’re often indifferent. We hear about His death so much, that we become desensitized. Is He one of our “loved ones”? I challenge all of us this Holy Week, to reflect on this. Put the person you love most in the world in the shoes of Jesus, and reflect on what He suffered for us, out of love.

Peace and grace be with you this Holy Week and Easter!
Eric

Friday, March 1, 2013

Lent Continues...


Buenos dias/tardes/noches (depending on when you’re reading this)!

As I write this, the other missionaries and I are preparing (slightly feverishly) for the arrival of 2 mission groups from the US who will be arriving this weekend. Both are groups of university students on spring break who are coming down for a week-long mission trip. Much to do before they arrive!

As we enter more deeply in to Lent, I want to reflect a little bit on something really important, and something almost none of us have enough of: silence. I had the blessing to go on a 2 day silent retreat this past week, and although it was short, it was truly amazing. We are all surrounded by “noise” almost constantly: TVs, cell phones, computers, people, music, announcements……and other things that don’t necessarily make noise, but fill our souls with noise: stress, millions of things to do. The world speaks to us with constant noise. God speaks to us in silence. It is only when we try to separate ourselves from these things and calm our hearts that we can truly hear His voice. Mother Teresa used to say: “The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.” So it all stems from silence!
Entering in to just 2 days of complete silence really is like entering in to a different world. It makes you think differently, realize small things that you normally pass over, and helps you to see how God is working in little ways. It’s so hard to “tune out” all the noise in our daily lives and take time to just be. But how important it is! God is not going to try to compete for our attention. He calls us quietly.

The other day during holy hour, I was just reflecting on two things: what do I want to do; and who do I want to be? Do the things I do help me to be the person I want to be? And the answer to that, many times, is “no.” I want to be a person who loves, who tries to help others, who tries to reflect God’s light in the world. But do I really work super hard to love? Many times, no. I think all of us can agree that, deep down at least, we all know that love is the reason we are here. Do we work harder on loving than on all the other things in our lives? Often times I put more effort in to my facebook than I do in loving! How sad! Let’s try to put the things we do in line with the people we want to be.

One last thing. The other night, it was suuuper hot here, and I couldn’t sleep at all. We had a prayer vigil throughout the night, where each person signed up for 1 hour to pray in front of Jesus in the Eucharist. My hour was 2am to 3am, and I barely slept at all up until this time. And afterwards, I had to get up at 5am, like every day. I was really grumpy on the way to Mass in the morning, and just wallowing in self-pity (woe is me, I didn’t get any sleep, etc etc). Up until the time Mass started I was just in a horrible mood! And then, God spoke to me: “Eric, there are people who can’t sleep a minute because they have chronic pain shooting like lightning through their body. There are children in Africa who have to huddle together and sleep outside because they live in fear of being taken from their families and forced to be child-soldiers. And you are going to complain because you had one bad night of sleep? And on top of that, you got to spend one hour of your night with Me.” Well! Needless to say, after that loving reprimand from God, I was completely humbled and ashamed, but at the same time really grateful. My bad mood became one of peace in about 2 seconds. God is so good at doing that!

Ok, I should get going…lots to prepare before tomorrow! Please pray for us this week and next week as we serve the people in the mountain villages! God bless!
Eric