I'm back!!!

I'm back!! In 2 senses - back in Honduras after going home for Christmas; and back here on my blog after more than 2 months without an update! Yikes!

Before returning to the US for Christmas, we went on a mission to the mountains for a week. I was in a village called Palo Blanco, very small and primitive. I stayed with a beautiful old couple who had been together since they were 16. They had 10 kids, 9 grown up and married, and 1 still in the house. Angela, the mother of the house, would heat up a pot of boiling water for me each morning to go out and shower, because it was freeeezing there!

During a program with the whole community, some of the men were playing music – guitar, violin, drums – it was really beautiful. And one of the older men fell over and fainted. All of a sudden, everything stopped, and everyone around him immediately began to pray intensely: O Jesus, be with him! We trust in you Jesus!! Etc. Their faith struck me so much. If this would have happened in the US, everyone would have been like: What should we do?! Somebody call 911! Etc. Prayer usually isn’t something that even comes to mind. But here, they prayed. What else can they do? They have no resources. Nothing but relying on God; probably a resource we need a little bit more of.

The man did end up recovering, but was very weak and in bed the rest of the mission. We visited him the next day to talk and pray with him, and as we began to pray for him, he got out of his bed, got down on his knees, and began to pray for us and give thanks to God!! We couldn’t convince him to get back in his bed. He just kept saying how grateful he was for our presence. Such humility and faith.

We visited another couple where the man had no arms; both had been amputated. And yet somehow, he could still cut wood, harvest corn, pick berries...I haven't the slightest idea how!! His wife was so proud when she was telling us that he can do it better than her! They weren’t afraid to hide that they struggled, but they were happy. At the end of our visit, I gave the woman a little prayer card that we had made – it was literally a little cartoon of the birth of Jesus that I had colored myself…any 7 year old could have done it – and she cried when she received it. She accepted it with such gratitude and love.

Everybody told us we had to visit Emelia, an old woman who was suffering a great deal. But she lived 30 minutes outside the village, and not just any 30 minutes, but a 30 minute trek up a super steep mountain. Our very last day, we were finishing up visiting houses. There were still about 3 or 4 left in the village, but I just felt that we had to visit Emelia. So we made the hike up to her house. Definitely great exercise! When we got there, she told us that the other group of missionaries (we always break in to 2 groups to visit houses) had just left!! God, You are hilarious! But she really needed the the company and the prayers. It was a really incredible visit.

That same night was our closing party of the mission. It began at 6pm, and ended at 1:30am!!! Even Emelia, who lives so far up the mountain, came for the whole time. We said goodbye to everyone, and as we left I just picture Emelia trekking back up the mountain in the cold and the pitch dark.

After this party, a family invited us to their house for coffee and food! So at 2am we started the “after party.” One of the girls who lived in this very poor and simple house had recently gone to a market in another village and bought some small clay pots. She showed them to us, and without even thinking, she gave one to each of us. She didn’t even need to consider it. Her good and generous heart told her that the obvious thing to do was to share her treasure with others. It was better than receiving an iPad. Like the widow in the Gospel who put her 2 cents in the offering, it was worth more than all the rest.

We got to bed at 3am and got up at 5 to leave. When I walked outside, the stars were spread out all over the sky. The Big Dipper was right above, and I just stood there gazing at it. After a minute, I wanted to go back inside because it was freezing, but something inside me told me to wait a minute. So I stayed, and right in that moment, a shooting star shot across the sky. What a gift from God! I felt Him so close.

I was blessed by the opportunity to go home for 3 weeks over Christmas! It was a really beautiful and relaxing time with family and friends – something I really needed! On the 1^st of January, I just kept thinking, I don’t want to get all caught up in the hype of resolutions and stuff. It’s all kind of silly. But then I considered it and thought, this actually could be a new beginning. I don’t want to be the same. I want to love. I want to focus more on people and not on things. I want to give of myself, to be other-focused and not self-focused; to not constantly seek my own well-being and comfort, to live radically, to live joyfully. I want to be different now. I want to live each day, with God. I want to talk to Him, rely on Him, be constantly aware of His presence. I want to smile.

The typical New Years’ resolutions are normally so superficial and self-centered: lose weight, look better, do better in my job, etc etc. What if we focused on others, and on the deep things that really matter, in simple ways: Doing one random act of kindness every day; forgiving someone for past hurts; taking 5 minutes of complete silence each day; being super nice to people working in the store; taking time to pray each day; saying hi to strangers on the street; praying for that person who most annoys you; smiling more. These are the things that will change not our appearance, but our hearts. They will bring us joy.

Gotta go! Hasta luego...hopefully in less than 2 months this time!

Peace,

Eric

Little Steps

Hola!

          

        This past week, some of the guys and I traveled 4 hours to an area of Honduras called Florida. There, we visited two villages, meeting with the leaders of the communities in order to plan two different missions we will be doing in December. In one of these villages, the people were excited to take us to a “touristic” spot close by. So we went with them on a tiny path through the woods, up and up. Eventually we came to the peak of the mountain, and understood why the people wanted to bring us there…the view was incredible! You could see all the way to the border of El Salvador, marked by a massive volcano and a huge lake surrounded by mountains. Closer in, the mountainous terrain was scattered with bunches of little white adobe houses. Beautiful!

            But I’m not recounting this just to talk about the view. Two things really struck me about this experience. First – the people who brought us up to this spot kept telling us beforehand: “Hay una vista del mar!” (There’s a view of the sea!). I was confused about what they meant, because I knew that we weren’t close to the coast. But when we got there and saw the huge lake in the distance, I realized: these people think that lake is the sea! There was something so beautiful about this mistaken supposition. This lake is very far away, all the way in El Salvador; and these people and their ancestors have probably lived in this same village without electricity for centuries – they probably just always assumed it was the ocean, because they would have no reason to think otherwise! How cool is that?!

            Second – from this vantage point, I could also see another village named Guanacaste that I did a mission in last December, wayyyyy out in the distance. Just one year ago, I was there in Guanacaste, waking up in the early morning and watching the sun rise over the surrounding mountains. Now, one year later, I was standing on one of the very mountains I marveled at last year. It was truly like looking back in time – remembering where I was one year ago, who I was one year ago, as compared to now. It was like I could see everything that has happened in this past year, and all that has brought me to where I am at right now in my life – all in an instant. I was, both literally and figuratively, seeing things “from above.” God loves to bring things full circle!

            Another recent highlight: One of our ministries in the mission is to visit the homes of different families who have handicapped children, doing physical therapy exercises with them in order to strengthen them and help them to learn motor skills. I have the privilege of getting to serve 2 of these kids. One is name Cristian, and he is 18 years old. He was born with problems in both legs and one arm. As a child, he was able to walk a little bit with the help of braces, but as he grew older and the braces no longer fit, he sadly lost the ability to walk. Different missionaries have been doing physical therapy with him off and on over the past several years to help him to be as mobile as possible, but he still is confined to a wheelchair.

Helping Cristian to stand up

            This past week during our physical therapy session, Wendy, one of the Honduran missionaries, was trying to help Cristian stand with the help of a walker. He has been able to do that for some time now. All of a sudden she looked at him at asked: “Cristian, do you think you could take a few steps with the walker?” He seemed really unsure and a bit scared, but he said he would try. He began to slowly move one foot, and then drag the other one behind it, bit by bit……his first step! He then made two more steps, before we helped him back to his chair. He seemed honestly shocked and definitely pleased!! What a cool moment! It was even more amazing than getting to see a babies first steps, because a baby is supposed to take its first steps. You know that eventually, no matter how long it takes, the baby will get the hang of it. But with someone who is handicapped, you don’t always have that certainty. Many of the kids/teens we work with have lost any hope of ever walking again, even if it’s possible – mostly because they don’t have anyone to challenge them and to encourage them that it is possible. So getting to see these miraculous first steps brought hope both to Cristian and to us.

            Cristian was so tired after these 3 steps, he was sweating and had to take a break. Later in the day, after a lot of work and walking around, I almost began to complain about how tired I was --- and then I remembered Cristian, and I realized: how lucky that I even have the ability  to be tired after a long day of work! What a blessing that I have the gift to be able to work and serve and walk around! Sometimes we forget how absolutely incredible and truly miraculous those little gifts are. Just as Cristian’s first 3 steps are a miracle, so are my first 3 steps every morning… 

Pray for Honduras this weekend! Elections are tomorrow, and it's a very important election!

Peace in Christ,

Eric

God in the Little Things

Hello friends! I hope all is well with you! Things are great here in Honduras! Fall is in full swing, but the weather continues to remain quite hot! And as I recently posted on Facebook: “They were playing American Christmas music in the grocery store in Honduras yesterday, and they already had lights and decorations up all over the store. On Halloween. In Honduras. What is happening...”

A few thoughts/experiences from the past few weeks:

We work so hard to accomplish so many things. How often do we truly work hard to love other people? It’s the most important work of all, but we so often neglect it! Let me start today.

Two beautiful events have happened recently in my life.

The first: About 2 weeks ago, some of the missionaries and I picked up Cristian - a 17 year old boy who was born with a disability and is unable to walk – and took him to San Benito (a free clinic/hospital run by the Franciscan Friars). About every 6-8 weeks there is a medical brigade in San Benito, where doctors/nurses from the US come down for a week to do consults, surgeries, etc. Cristian has received at least 5 surgeries in the past, so we were taking him for a check up, and to see if there is anything else that could possibly be done for him.

When we walked in the front doors, it was literally like a neighborhood party in the waiting room! There were probably about 15 people inside, and I knew every single person. There was Noe (who I’ve written about before), a boy who was shot 4 years ago and is paralyzed. There was Reina, a girl who was also shot in a drive-by, and is paralyzed. There was Jenny, a friend of the mission, who needed a knee surgery. Some other people from the neighborhood and some of the friars were there too. It was beautiful! Beautiful to be all together; beautiful to have the hope that the brigades bring; beautiful to have Cristian and Reina and Noe all together – 3 young people in wheelchairs, who understand each other; beautiful to see how I’ve gotten to know people throughout my year down here; beautiful to see how our work, although small, touches lives. There was so much JOY in the hospital – not a place usually associated much with joy. I felt God so much.

The second: Also about 2 weeks ago, Honduras won their spot in next years World Cup. It is only the third time that they’ve qualified, and it is a huge deal here!! The next day, a bunch of schools and businesses were closed, and all the fast-food places were giving away free food! It was a national holiday!!

Every Wednesday I go to the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s sisters) to hang out with the old men (they’ve been abandoned by their families) or to help the kids that live there. When we arrived, one of the sisters informed me that we would be taking all the kids to Burger King to get free burgers! They were beyond excited – all 20 of them dressed up in their Honduras jerseys and jumping for joy to get to go to Burger King. What a joyous walk there; all of these kids – orphans, and infected with HIV – chanting “Honduras! Honduras!”, while the cars going by honked at this crazy crowd.

We got there, and all the kids got crowns and ran to play in the play-place. It was for me like a glimpse of heaven. In that moment, it didn’t matter that those kids lacked parents, or that they have HIV – they were just kids, playing together and full of joy. Kids are all the same, no matter their social status or where they’re from. Us adults are too --- we just forget it sometimes. Isn’t that what Jesus came to remind us of? Our Father….

These two experiences: one, a hospital filled with joy, the other, children playing and filled with joy. God revealing His face to us in the little things. Sometimes we don’t look hard enough for God. He’s here! Other times, we look too hard…He’s not just in huge events or obvious miracles. Where there is peace and true joy, there is God.

One quick prayer intention: 

One of my homeless friends in La Ceiba, Julia, just found out that she is pregnant. Her boyfriend is also homeless, and this is their first child. We are going to try to make sure she gets the care she needs, but still.....life on the streets here is very difficult and dangerous. So if you could pray for Julia and her baby, that would be amazing! Gracias amigos! :)

Finally, continuing the reflections from Pope Francis’ Encyclical Lumen Fidei:

-“Those who have opened their hearts to God’s love, heard his voice and received his light, cannot keep this gift to themselves…The light of Christ shines, as in a mirror, upon the face of Christians. We too can share in that vision and reflect that light to others.” – Let the light of hope shine on your face! What a gift and a responsibility in a world so often robbed of hope!

-“Through love we learn how to see reality through the eyes of others.”

-“Faith teaches us to see that every man and woman represents a blessing for me, that the light of God’s face shines on me through the faces of my brothers and sisters.” – Let’s come to see others not as an obstacle or a problem, but as a gift. Let us try to see God in each one.

-“Let us refuse to be robbed of hope.” – Amen! :D

Peace to you all!

Eric

Freedom?

A new year has begun! We have 7 new missionaries with us, 3 from the US and 4 from Honduras. We just finished up orientation, and now are embarking on a new journey together! I’m so excited to see what year 2 has in store!!!

Since my last blog, Honduras (and all of Central America) celebrated their Independence Day, on September 15. Amidst all of the parades and music, I got to thinking…what is freedom? We hear so much talk about freedom, and especially as people from the United States we value freedom so highly. But what is this ideal that we fight so hard to achieve and defend?

The proposed answer by today’s culture is: freedom means you can do whatever you want, without limitations. There is some truth to this – it is great to be able to choose where we want to live, what career we want to pursue, what kind of Cheerio’s we want to buy. But I also think this is a very flawed view. Young people today (myself included) are so used to viewing the world in this way, that we find it very hard to make decisions. Any decision “inhibits” me, because it closes so many potential doors. “I don’t know which major to choose in college because once I choose, I can’t do any of the others.” Or “Ya we’ve been dating for 4 years, but I’m just not sure if he/she’s the one. What if I find someone better in the future?” Etc etc.

I don’t find this idea freeing at all. In fact, when I came home from Honduras at Christmas last year, I went in to the grocery store, and was completely overwhelmed by the options! I don’t want 25 different types of Cheerio’s to choose from!! In one sense I’m freer because I have more options, but on the other hand, it makes it that much harder to choose anything at all! We’re so used to having a million options to choose from, that in the end we can’t choose anything!

For me, freedom does not mean having a million options to choose from; it doesn’t mean being able to do whatever I want, without limitations. In fact, just the opposite. For example, I speak English very freely. I don’t have to think about it or try to do it – I just do it! I am completely free to speak English. But why? Because I can put whatever words I want in any order I want? No – because I understand all of the rules and the structure of the language. I need there to be rules and structure. If I just spat out random words, I wouldn’t be free to speak English – I would be free to speak gibberish. The rules and limitations allow me to be free.

Or another example – let’s say I’m part of a symphony, playing the violin. Am I free in this symphony to play whatever I want, regardless of all the other instruments? Well, sure I am, but it’s going to be a disaster! I’m truly free when I’ve practiced the music and know it so well, that I can play in complete harmony with all the other instruments. It’s the same with our lives. We can use our freedom to “play whatever we want” on our violin, but it will be a disaster. Only when we recognize who we are, what we were made for, where we are going, can we use our freedom to play a beautiful harmony with our lives.

Any created thing works best when it is used for the purpose for which it was created. I can use a saw to chop down a tree, or I can use it to try to brush my teeth. I can use an oven to bake a cake, or I can stick my head in it. God has given us freedom in our lives. We can choose to use our freedom to bring peace, or to bring disunity. We can choose to follow God in the way that He made us, or we can choose to “stick our head in the oven.”

Ultimately, we’ve been giving freedom to choose love. That is the highest goal of our freedom: to choose to love. Because, like I said in my last post (and in the link I included), love is a choice. Our freedom has been given to us by God so that we may learn, day by day, to move from choosing our own selfish desires and motives, to choosing to love others – to put their needs and wants first, whether they deserve it or not.

            Jesus told us that if we gain the whole world, and lose our soul, it is a loss. This reveals to us something so incredible – that you, I, each individual person, are worth more than the whole world!! And yet, we often choose to sell our souls for much less than the whole world; in fact, for things that are worth nothing. We use our own freedom to enslave ourselves in things that leave us empty.

            But God has given us our freedom as a gift, and not even He could take it away. Jesus once said to St. Catherine of Siena: “I created you without you, but I will not save you without you.” It’s our choice. Will we say yes? Will we choose love?

As I said a few months back, I’m going to add a few reflections from Pope Francis’ Encyclical Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith), with a few of my own, much less wise, thoughts added in:

-“It is precisely in contemplating Jesus’ death that faith grows stronger and receives a dazzling light. In that hour the depth and breadth of God’s love shone forth…gazing on the Pierced One. Jesus’ death is the supreme manifestation of God’s love for us.” –-- On the Cross, the deepest yearnings of our hearts are fulfilled…God loves me intensely, and is willing to suffer for me, to give me everything.

-“Faith transforms the whole person precisely to the extent that he or she becomes open to love.” –-- Faith is truly able to transform us and open us out from our selfish ways. It can free us from being trapped in ourselves, and open us outwards towards others. This is the goal of our freedom!

-“[Faith is] a light which, even as it enlightens us, calls us and seeks to be reflected on our faces and to shine from within us.” –-- Faith is not meant for us. One is not a Christian for one’s own sake! We are meant to be transformed in to God’s loving presence for others. Let’s let His light shine in our faces! Like Blessed Mother Teresa always said – Love begins with a smile!

Happy Fall to all you people who live in places where seasons actually exist! ;)

God’s Peace,

Eric

Praying and Working for Peace

Hello again from hot and sunny Ceiba! I’ve been dreaming of snow lately!! Ah, what I wouldn’t give to put on a big winter coat and run outside to roll around in that white, fluffy stuff! I guess the grass is always greener… ;)

Anyway, we’ve been serving in tons

Roger and I during one of the radio shows with Father Herald

of different ways here in this beach town for the past 10 days. From leading retreats, to doing programs in schools; from doing radio shows, to spending time with the homeless….all over the place!

Before commenting a bit on some of the ways we’ve served here, I want to touch on Syria. How incredible. Not what’s happening there – although I guess that is incredible in another, much sadder sense. But how incredible, the way things have turned out. This time last week, no one knew what was going to happen, everything was up in the air and crazy. And then Pope Francis asked the whole world, all men and women of good will, to pray and fast for peace. There was a 4 hour prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Square in Rome for peace. I don’t know what went on in other parts of the world, but I know that here in La Ceiba there was a large prayer vigil in the Cathedral, where many people came together to pray for peace in Syria, the Middle East, and the world, and all were encouraged to fast for the day. It was such an amazing feeling of being united to people around the whole world, all wishing for a peaceful solution to this insane problem. And now, only a few short days later, it looks like we might just receive that! The power of God! The power of prayer! Obviously things aren’t perfect, and there is a longggg way to go to achieve peace – but still, it’s an amazing start, one that looked impossible but a few days ago. God wants peace SO MUCH MORE than we do!!! We just have to be open to listening to Him, asking Him, and letting it come about in the way that HE wants, not the way that WE think is best. Let’s keep praying and working for peace!

Ok, now back to life here in La Ceiba. We are staying at the Cathedral here in the center of town. There are 5 or 6 homeless people that stay right outside, day and night. They’re all about 35 years old or so, and addicted to drugs.

So often, we are scared to even LOOK at a homeless person – we walk right be and try to pretend we don’t see them. We are afraid to acknowledge them, because……because…….because? Because we’re afraid of them? Because we don’t think we can help them? Because we don’t know what to say?

Trust me, I felt the same way!! In Rome, we would visit the homeless on the streets each Wednesday morning for about 3 years – just talking to them, offering them nothing more than a bit of coffee and our love. At first, I was SO SCARED! I remember getting to the train station the very first time, with my friend Natalia, and asking myself: “Uhhh…ok, so what do we do? What should we say? How do we start???” But, we just did it. And it was slightly awkward at first, but really not that bad. After doing this every week, I came to be friends with many of these people, and realized something pretty basic and profound – they’re just people! They’re not scary! Ya, they suffer a lot, but I think more from being treated as a non-person than from the conditions of being out on the street. Maybe if other people in their lives had treated them as people with dignity and value, they wouldn’t have ended up on the streets in the first place…

Anyway, now, when I see a homeless person, I just can’t help it – I have such a desire to go and talk to them, to try to bring them some joy!

So, each day, I’ve been visiting the homeless that live outside of the Cathedral. As always, the first time I went out, I was a little anxious. I only had 1 apple and a smile with me. But I felt such an urge to go – so I went. I went up to a man named Alex and introduced myself. I asked him if he was hungry, and he said yes, so I gave him the apple – and something amazing happened. He immediately turned and gave it to the woman who was lying down beside him on her little mat. Without even thinking – he just gave it away. Even though he was hungry; even though I’m sure he wanted to scarf it down, he gave it away. What is that?! We don’t see things like that too often in our culture. This unquestioning generosity. Putting someone else’s needs literally above and before my own.

He just looked at me and said: “She’s sick.” In other words – “Yes I’m hungry, but her needs are greater than mine. I’m going to care for her before myself.”

That is love. True love. Not love the emotion – butterflies and rainbows. But love, lived. Sacrifice. Putting someone else’s needs before my own. Love is giving. It is not a noun, it’s a verb.

I came across an awesome article about this exact topic this week, called “I Didn’t Love My Wife When We Got Married.” Here’s the link, check it out! It's super interesting and gaining a lot of popularity on Facebook:

http://popchassid.com/didnt-love-wife/

Yesterday, I went out for my daily visit with my new friends on the street. I started talking to a woman named Julia. For some reason she had a little stuffed Santa Claus, so I commented on it. She began to tell me all about how they celebrate Christmas here in La Ceiba and how beautiful it is. “Except, now it’s sad,” she said. “Because I don’t have a mom or a dad to celebrate with.” I asked her if she had any other family. She said she does, but that nobody wants her. They don’t want anything to do with her. She paused, and then she said: “But there’s Someone who wants me,” as she pointed up to the sky with a grin on her face. “Coincidentally,” right where she pointed, there was a small patch of blue in the otherwise grey and cloudy sky. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt. 5:3).

“It doesn’t matter what we do, but how much love we put in to doing.” – Blessed Mother Teresa

 “We can’t do great things. So let’s do small things, with great love.” - Blessed Mother Teresa

Let's keep working for peace, by loving those around us. Let’s be instruments of love, which is to be instruments of peace in the world! Only when people have peace in their hearts will there be peace in our world. Ok, just one more Mother Teresa quote...I can't resist!

“Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” – Blessed Mother Teresa

Peace,

Eric

1 year!

1 year in Honduras! I can't believe it....

I'm currently on the northern coast of Honduras helping out with a mission here, so I don't have my notebook and such that I normally use to help me with my blog posts. Soooo, I thought of something easier! I've been reading a lot of books by or about Blessed Mother Teresa lately, so I wanted to share some of her words. They apply so much to the mission here, but they apply just as easily to ANY person's life in any part of the world...because they're true! 

She can say it way better than I can, so let's let her do it! ;) 

Without further ado...Mother Teresa:

"I will never forget the first time I came to Bourke and visited the sisters. We went to the outskirts of Bourke. There was a big reserve where all the Aborigines were living in those little small shacks made of tin and old card-board and so on. Then I entered one of those little rooms. I call it a house but it’s only one room, and inside the room everything. So I told the man living there, “Please allow me to make your bed, to wash your clothes, to clean your room.” And he kept on saying, “I’m alright, I’m alright.” And I said to him, “But you will be more alright if you allow me to do it.” Then at the end he allowed me. He allowed me in such a way that, at the end, he pulled out from his pocket an old envelope, and one more envelope, and one more envelope. He started opening one after the other, and right inside there was a little photograph of his father and he gave me that to look at. I looked at the photo and I looked at him and I said, “You, you are so like your father.” He was so overjoyed that I could see the resemblance of his father on his face. I blessed the picture and I gave it back to him, and again one envelope, second envelope, third envelope, and the photo went back again in the pocket near his heart. After I cleaned the room I found in the corner of the room a big lamp full of dirt and I said, “Don’t you light this lamp, such a beautiful lamp. Don’t you light it?” He replied “For whom? Months and months and months nobody has ever come to me. For whom will I light it?” So I said “Won’t you light it if the Sisters come to you?” And he said “Yes.” So the sisters started going to him for only about 5 to 10 minutes a day, but they started lighting that lamp. After some time he got into the habit of lighting. Slowly, slowly, slowly, the Sisters stopped 
going to him. But they used to go in the morning and see him. Then I forgot completely about that, and then after two years he sent word—“Tell Mother, my friend, the light she lit in my life is still burning.” (CBML, p. 339) 

"And sometime back the sisters found a very, very miserable person, a man, one of those shut ins close by in Rome where the sisters are working, and they have never seen, I believe, anything like that, so anyway they washed his clothes, they cleaned his room, they made some hot water for him and so on, closed up everything, and they made a little bit of food for him also, and he never said one word. After two days—sisters kept on going to him twice a day— after two days he said to the sisters: “Sisters, you have brought God in my life, bring Father also.” And the sisters went and brought the priest and the priest heard his confession after 60 years. Next morning, he died. This is something so beautiful – that compassion of those young sisters brought God in the life of this man who had been for so many years forgotten, what is God’s love, what is to love one another, what is to be loved, he had forgotten for his heart was closed to everything."



"I pray that each one of you be holy, and so spread His love everywhere you go. Light His Light of truth in every person’s life, so that God can continue loving the world through you and me."

Amen! God bless you all,

Eric

Missions, Weddings, Retreats...And Yellow Fever?

Hola amigos! I hope this update finds you well! Our crazy summer here has come to an end. After 4 missions to the mountains, tons of visiting missionaries, 2 weddings, and a community retreat, things are beginning to slow down.

Mentioning visiting missionaries, we had 2 very special ones come to visit at the end of July…my parents! It was such a joy to have them here and to show them my life in Honduras. Instead of going the touristy route, they were able to come to the mountains and help us on a mission!! They were totally awesome with the kids, playing with them and teaching them English. And twice they gave a testimony about their marriage and our family, and how God has blessed it so much since they have always tried to keep Him in the center. I got to translate their talk, and it was so cool to be part of that and to work together as a family to be a witness of love to others.

After their 5 days here in Honduras, we packed up and traveled together to Bogota, Colombia for the wedding of Natalia, a good friend with whom I studied in Rome. Another crazy adventure (there’s always something!): As I was in the airport in Honduras, about to leave, a woman approaches me and says, “Excuse me, are you Mr. Crowley?” “Yes.” “Have you had your yellow fever vaccine?” “Uhhh…no, I don’t think so.” “I’m very sorry, but we won’t be able to allow you on this fight.” Whattttttt?!?! She went on to explain that, in order to enter back in to Honduras from Colombia, one needs to have had a vaccine for yellow fever. So I asked her if she would let me on the plane if I promised to get the vaccine right when I got there. She said it was still impossible, because the incubation period of the vaccine is 10 days, and I was only going to be spending 5 days in Colombia. “Ok, well if I get the vaccine when I get there, and then change my flight to come back after 10 days, will you let me on the plane!?” She agreed, and called through to security to let me on. Ah!

Long story short, I was able to get the vaccine once I got to Colombia (after much hassle!), and enjoyed an amazing time with great friends. We visited a Cathedral made completely out of salt in a mine 1mile below the earth; spent hours dancing on a party bus that drove throughout the city; had lunch at Natalia’s uncle’s house on a lake; visited a shrine to the Virgin Mary in the mountains overlooking the city; and of course there was the wedding! The wedding was in a tiny and very beautiful chapel. I got to help do the music, so we were in the balcony in the back; perfect view! It was an honor to get to help (try to) bring beauty to the Mass through the music. The priest was hilarious, and was cracking jokes throughout the whole ceremony! And finally, they were married! We went to an incredibly beautiful place (I think it was an old monastery) outside the city to celebrate the occasion!! Let’s just say that Latinos really know how to throw a party! So much dancing and craziness for hours on end :)

As it all came to an end, I figured that I should try to get on my flight back to Honduras, even though it had only been 3 days since I had received my vaccine. So I went with my parents to the airport, and it almost looked like they were going to let me on without a hassle. But at the last moment, the lady noticed that I needed a shot. I gave her my paper that proved I had received it, and was praying so hard that she wouldn’t see the date on it. But, she did. “I’m sorry, but it’s impossible for us to let you on this flight, etc etc.” My parents and I were all praying, and then suddenly the woman randomly asked me if I was a resident of Honduras. Do I look like a resident of Honduras?? It was so random that she asked that! But in fact, by God’s Providence, after more than 5 months of application, 8 trips to the capital city, and a ton of headache, I received my residency 1 DAY before my parents arrived in Honduras!! So I gave the woman my residency card, not thinking it would make any difference. Well, she took my residency card, asked all her little colleagues if it was actually a legit card, then typed some stuff in the computer and handed me my board pass. What?! I didn’t want to ask too many questions, but I was like, “Soooo, everything is fine now? I can go?” I couldn’t believe it was true! It shouldn’t make ANY difference that I’m a resident…as if that magically makes me immune to bringing yellow fever back in to Honduras!! But when my parents and I were praying, I could feel God’s presence so much, and I think He just worked everything out and kind of “broke the rules” for me. Woo hoo!

So now I’m back in Honduras, hopefully yellow fever free! I feel pretty good, so I think that’s a good sign. We just finished up our annual community retreat that the mission does each year after summer craziness. A generous family donated us their house near the beach, so we went there for our retreat. The focus of the retreat was on Pope Francis’ new Encyclical (aka like a “letter” he writes to the whole Church), called Lumen Fidei, The Light of Faith. Here are a few short reflections from Pope Francis (in quotes), with some of my own personal thoughts after:

-“Those who believe, see.” --- God doesn’t think like we do. We want to see in order to believe. He wants us to believe in order to see. That takes a lot of humility and trust…the very virtures that God wants us to have!

-“Faith is born of an encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love. Transformed by this love, we gain fresh vision, new eyes to see.” --- Faith is not just something passed down to us by our parents. It is a real MEETING with God. When we experience this meeting, we see all things differently. If you’ve never truly experienced God before in your life, ASK HIM! He wants us to ask Him, and He wants to reveal Himself to us!

-“Faith ‘sees’ to the extent that it journeys.” --- If we never leave our comfort zone, our faith will never grow. We really need to stretch it and trust God in the big things in order to see Him more clearly.

-“Life is not the product of non-being or chance, but the fruit of a personal call and a personal love.” --- You, the person reading this right now, exist in this moment because God Loves you! If He stopped loving your or thinking about you for one instant, you would disappear! Our life is not an accident; we are who we are, in this exact moment in history, in our exact family…because God knows exactly what we need, and He put us here in love.

-“Believing means entrusting oneself to a merciful love which always accepts and pardons, which sustains and directs our lives, and which shows its power by its ability to make straight the crooked lines of our history.” --- No explanation needed.

I’m going to continue to include a few reflections from Lumen Fidei in my next few blog posts…so stay tuned! Or you can read the whole Encyclical for yourself at: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html

I’ll try to write again soon, hopefully sooner than later! God bless!

Eric