Sunday, June 10, 2012

FOCUS is Legit




New and Veteran FOCUS Staff for 2012-2013

Since May 21st I have been in Champaign, IL at FOCUS New Staff Training. I have been amazed and encouraged at the growth of FOCUS and the energy from all of the new and veteran staff in the past three weeks. It has been so interesting to learn about new missionaries and to hear about the path they have taken to becoming a missionary.
 I am very excited to be returning for my 3rd as a FOCUS missionary and excited for the opportunity to serve Seton Hall University as the Team Director. During my first two New Staff Trainings the new staff here was, I guess you could say, “traditional”. Meaning that most of the new staff being hired were less than a month removed from their college graduation and were single at the time they joined staff.  But this year there are more new missionaries than just the “traditional” missionaries, although there are plenty of those as well.
Seton Hall FOCUS team for 2012-2013, new team members are in their brand new SHU shirts! Welcome Caitlyn, Tim, Megan, and Terry!!
I’m sure there are more stories than 3 I will mention but these are 3 that I think are pretty interesting. 1 man has decided to become a FOCUS missionary along with his wife and 2 children after spending a few years working in Colorado. He and his wife were involved with FOCUS as students at Colorado State. I asked him why he didn’t join staff out of college and he just said “we were scared” to fundraise their salary. Obviously that fear has faded as he will now be serving as a missionary this fall.
The 2nd story I want to share is another married man who has 2 children and 1 on the way. This guy previously served on FOCUS staff 4 years ago. After spending a few years at “real” job, he decided that he wanted to return to ministry and that he wanted to return to FOCUS. He, his wife, and children will be on a college campus this fall where he will be a missionary.

Finally, a neat story about a man who went to college with someone who has served as a missionary for the past several years and has financially supported his friend’s missionary work. I asked him about why he joined FOCUS staff and he said “the newsletters got me”. At least 4 times a year FOCUS missionaries send out a newsletter highlighting some stories with pictures from their work on campus to share with our mission partners (those financially or prayerfully supporting us). This guy went on to say that he went to a FOCUS Conference as a donor and the Lord was continually asking him to give more, so he did. He said finally that the Lord made it clear to him that He was asking for even more. This man too, who is leaving a teaching job, will be serving next fall on campus as a FOCUS missionary.
A powerful and neat moment I experienced this last Thursday night, it was just such an odd scene as far as the secular world is concerned. The St. John’s Newman Center at the University of Illinois hosts all summer. We live in a dorm and use different rooms and spaces around campus for our training. Last Thursday was the first day that the new missionaries made phone calls asking to meet with people in a few weeks. They’re calling to ask to meet with them to share the mission and vision of FOCUS and to invite them to become a mission partner, a financial supporter of our work on campus. Last Thursday everywhere I went I saw several missionaries all making phone calls, some sitting, some pacing, some praying, some laughing, but it was beautiful to see. I thought, how bad do these people want to serve our Lord and be missionaries! Again and again I have been encouraged in the work FOCUS is doing for the Church in the name of our Lord and I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve in this way. God bless you.
Check out #focusislegit on Twitter for daily updates on the FOCUS world at New Staff Training.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Gift of Self is Worth the Wait

This semester I had the privilege of taking a Theology of the Body course at Seton Hall University. I had a great instructor that was very passionate about the material and made the content easy to understand. We read from Blessed John Paull II's work Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body. Since late January the book and the course have absolutely rocked my world. I wrote a paper at the end of the semester, I chose to write about pre-marital sex. Here it is....enjoy!

In a country that continues to grow further and further from the roots in which it was established, one of the most common questions amongst teenagers and young adults is, “Why should I wait until I get married to have sex?” Our culture strives to make things bigger, better, and faster and our culture loves giving gifts that we will be remembered for. What are the gifts that we fail to recognize, give, and receive? Our sexuality is a gift meant to be given and received after marriage.
Why were we created? Weren’t we created to be in relationship? We arrive in this world after we have developed a relationship with our mother while in the womb. Then we are raised by our parents, and we have siblings or go to school and make friends. Our entire life consists of relationships. We continue in life and begin our own family. The first step in that process is to meet someone of the opposite sex, get married, and begin a whole new set of relationships. Am I forgetting a relationship? What about the first relationship known to man? When man was first created he was created in the image and likeness of God Himself. What did the first relationship on earth look like? Man, Adam, was created to be in a relationship. There was a problem; Adam had no one with whom he could be in relationship. God gave Adam the duty of naming all the animals. Can you imagine the torture Adam must have gone through in naming the animals and looking for someone with whom he could be in relationship? Yet there was no one. Finally God realized Adam’s need to be in relationship, so God gave Adam Eve. God created both of them in His image and to be in relationship with Him! Today, being human, like Adam and Eve, we too are created for relationship with Someone beyond this earth. We were created for relationships beyond those that we have physically; we were created for relationship with our Father, the Creator and His Son – our Savior. Without a relationship with Them, who embody Love itself, how could we possibly love anyone on earth? Unless we truly experience the Love we were created for we cannot love another being on this earth. This is one gift we too often choose not to receive.
When we love someone, whether it’s a parent, sibling, relative or friend, we try to express that love by doing nice things for them and we serve them; we give of our very selves. We give and become a gift. Is there a greater meaning to giving of ourselves within marriage? Yes. God does nothing without purpose, he meant for sex to be used for much more than pleasure. Just like no person was created by God without purpose - anything or any action given to us by God is meant to be used for a specific purpose. Before Adam had Eve he realized that he was more than just a body, he knew that he also had a soul, he knew that he could not simply exist to serve himself physically, he longed to give himself to another in every way that he could and unite himself with her bodily and spiritually.
If a man is to give himself completely to a woman what does it mean, how does a couple give themselves to each other completely? There are several things that a couple can do to serve one another by giving of themselves. One could do chores for the other, buy something, compliment them, give up something so the other can have it, cook a meal, etc. Those are all wonderful things and most good spouses would jump at the opportunity to do one of them to please the other. But what if there was an experience spouses could share that would unite them body and soul, allowing them to experience a deep communion in which they freely give of themselves. That’s what marriage is about right? Uniting with another in a way that bonds and unites the couple in a deep and meaningful way?
The act of sex is that way that spouses can give of themselves completely!  Instead of viewing sex as merely a way of experiencing pleasure we need to think about the meaning of the act beyond the way that our culture portrays it. The act of sex is meant to be enjoyable, but it is also to be used as a means of giving ourselves completely to our spouse and to unite us to that person in a way that we are not united with anyone else! As explained in Theology of the Body by the late Great Blessed John Paul II; “The conjugal act, the marital act, “means” not only to love, but also potential fruitfulness, and thus it cannot be deprived of its full and adequate meaning by means of artificial interventions. In the conjugal act, it is not licit to separate artificially the unitive meaning from the procreative meaning, because the one as well as the other belong to the innermost truth of the conjugal act. The artificial separation of these two meanings of the conjugal act, a real bodily union is brought about, but it does not correspond to the inner truth and dignity of personal communion.”[1] The only way to become the person we were created to be – fully and truly, is through a sincere and complete gift of self. Many people think that using a form of contraception is heroic because they’re avoiding pregnancy. There is actually nothing less heroic than contracepting. It’s cowardly, immature, and irresponsible. The contracepted act, before or during marriage, is only about what one person can get from the other, “love” is basically eliminated, the contracepted act is one of mutual use. The consummating act on the night of marriage is a memoralizing or remembering of the covenant of marriage. In every marital act a couple is renewing this covenant. This reflects how we memorialize the consummating act of Jesus in the Church. By Christ giving Himself for the Church in the Eucharist at every Mass, we are remembering how Jesus freely and fully gave of Himself to us; we remember that consummation in every Eucharist.
Sex is worth the wait. As humans it takes a lot for us to exercise self-control. At times, we are good at it. Someone on a diet will exercise and change their diet. Someone shopping sees something they like but does not buy it. But sexually we choose not to exercise self-control, we lower the bar, we choose to use contraceptives, we choose to be a victim of our intuition, instead of using our intellect. Jesus Christ raised the bar for over 30 years while He was man on earth, He expects more of us. The only way we can avoid falling into sexual sin is by relying on His grace. If you want your wedding night to be memorable get on your knees and ask for the grace to be pure and chaste!
Earlier I talked about people today wanting to give the best gift imaginable to another. The greatest gift you can give someone is yourself. The greatest gift you can give on your wedding night and entire marriage is yourself. What gift do you want to bring to your wedding night? An un-opened, never been gifted, incredible gift? Or a re-gifted, used, and tired gift?


[1] Man and Woman He Created Them, p. 632




Blessed John Paul the Great, PRAY FOR US!!!!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Sunday Snippets

Happy Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday!!

Here is a post from my own blog and then two blogs I wrote for Varsity Catholic's national website, enjoy!!

From my blog:
Holy Week Bible Study Story

From the Varsity Catholic blog:

Big East Swimmer now CFR

Embrace the Easter Season

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Holy Week Bible Study Story

12 men from the Seton Hall baseball team and soccer team were at our weekly Bible study and to celebrate Holy Week we watched The Passion. An incredible movie that captures the emotion and suffering of Jesus so well. After the movie there were 2-3 minutes of complete silence. The silence was broken with a few questions and thoughts from the guys. One of the guys who recently started attending Bible study shared a great thought with us. He spoke about when the guards are nailing Jesus to the Cross. He said, "I felt it, I just thought, He did that for me, He did that for us."

I ended the Bible study encouraging the men, I told them that if Jesus really did all of what we just saw then we can't live the same way. I challenged them to pray and ask God to make that change they need in their lives. I invited them to the Chapel to pray. 7-8 of the guys walked over to the Chapel, it was a little after 10 and the Chapel was locked. I invited them to another Chapel across campus and I said, or...we could pray here on the steps. I started talking to one of the guys, when another guy said, "All right, I'm gonna pray here, you guys gonna join me?" So there we were, 7-8 Seton Hall athletes kneeling on the cement steps praying in front of the Chapel- it was a very powerful 5 minutes united in prayer begging the Lord to change our lives.

Please don't go through the motions this week, enter the Passion, experience it as if you are at the foot of the Cross. Blessed Triduum. God bless you.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

My Team

On Sunday February 19th my Varsity Catholic teammate Melissa and I along with 2 female student athletes had the opportunity to speak to the youth group at St. Cecilia's in Rockaway, New Jersey.

I was very inspired by what the athlete's had to say about their experience of faith in their sports and about the impact that FOCUS and Varsity Catholic has had during their short college careers.

Melissa and I got to share about our own testimonies and our path to being a missionary. We talked about the mission and vision of FOCUS, quoted Tony Dungy and Vince Lombardi. We also talked about the impact of Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin. We read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and talked about what it means to compete as a Christian.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

We talked about how different our Christian lives would be if we exercised the discipline we do towards sports towards our faith. Meaning that we are so willing to commit to daily practice and many sacrifices to improve ourselves as athletes and to improve the team that we're on. We're willing to do almost anything to win a championship or trophy! How re-prioritize our schedules to compete in a sport but when it comes to making a sacrifice for Jesus and our faith, we're often hesitant.

Earlier on Sunday I was thinking about our lack of commitment to our faith and I wrote this and then I read it to the kids tonight......

Our team, the Catholic Church, spans the globe and is the greatest team you'll ever be a part of. The goal or "trophy" of this team is Heaven, the goal is eternal life with Jesus Christ. What if we worked as hard for heaven as we did to win a championship on earth? What if we showed up once a week for our team or sport? Would the NY Giants have won the Super Bowl if they only showed up on Sundays? For too long I thought 1 hour a week (going to mass) was enough. An hour week is not enough for you or your team here. The Catholic Church and Heaven are not places for spectators, they are places for Saints and for champions of the faith in Jesus Christ!"

Then we showed the this video, which I absolutely love!!
More than a Game

We hung out for awhile after the event to talk and have pizza with the kids. It was pleasure to meet them and really appreciated a few of them coming up to shake hands and thank us for coming. So great to see kids excited about being a part of the New Evangelization!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Banica 2

In addition to all of the physical help we provided and were given in Banica, there was also an incredible spiritual experience. Before the trip it was very interesting to hear about the variety of people going on the trip; 8 missionaries and 20 students all at different places in their desire and understanding of their faith and trust in God. At the end of the week one thing was certain, not a single one of us was lacking in faith or trust. Several things attributed to this and I hope to capture some of those moments here.

One factor was simply that we were visiting amidst the season of Christmas. What better way to meditate on the birth of Jesus than being consumed in poverty ourselves? I remember several times throughout the week that I would stop and just think about the humble birth of Jesus. Especially compared to what we consider the “ideal birth” today; doctors, nurses, medical equipment, medicines, procedures. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph didn’t have any of that; it’s crazy for me to think about that. I realized that at the small hospital in Banica, they probably don’t have the same resources we have in the States either, this was one of the many things I witnessed during the week that was an example of poverty. I think that poverty usually has a negative perception, I’m not using the word here to insult or to pity the people that live with it each day, I think that poverty actually is rather beautiful and the Dominican people were a witness to that.

The Dominican people live with appreciation for all that they have; they live with great joy, simplicity, humility, and tranquility- which we referred to throughout the week as “tranquillo”. I saw on a shirt in the airport: “Dominican Republic, Laid back since way back” this statement is so true!! It was wonderful to see people living so freely not being slaves to their schedules and extra-curriculars. Granted, we did visit between Christmas and New Year’s so it may not have been a completely typical experience of their life, but I think what we saw is what you get in the Dominican culture. The idea or “Dominican virtue” (as Fr. O’Hare half jokingly referred to it as) of tranquillo was one thing us Americans really took a liking too, it really helped us to put things in perspective, to slow down, appreciate and to experience more fully just what we were a part of.

Throughout the week our group was blown away by the generosity and hospitality of the Dominican people. Being removed from the DR and having reflected on the two traits I listed, I think that we were so captivated by their generosity because in our eyes (as people that have so many often unnecessary material goods)they have so little, so how could these people possibly give so much or even want to give so much when they have so little? I don’t think a Dominican person would ever tell you that they were poor or that they don’t have a lot. I think that hospitality and appreciation for what we have are two major things that our group have brought back to the States and really hope to emulate, I know that I have (and will try to!).

Fr. O’Hare the priest for the parish in Banica, Pedro Santana, and Sabana Cruz is from Virginia. The Diocese of Arlington, Virginia has sent priests to this area for close to 20 years if my memory serves me correct. Fr. O’Hare is an incredible and inspiring servant to the Dominican people. It seems that the focus of his ministry is with the youth, but he does a great job of serving all people- and they really appreciate him. As one of my fellow missionaries pointed out to our group Fr. O’Hare is such a great example of Christ in how he serves the people. Not only is he living among the poor but he visits them, he feeds them, he clothes them.

Fr. was only recently assigned to the parish in Pedro Santana where he met an incredibly talented young man named Juan. Fr. soon learned that Juan could sing and play the guitar. So each Sunday as Fr. celebrates mass at two different places in the morning he drives out of the way to pick up Juan so that he can play the mass parts to allow the people to worship and praise God through song. The Sunday that we got to listen to Juan even the Dominican people were touched by his talent. He played songs that he had only just learned, Fr. encouraged him to do this so the people would be more apt to listen rather than just sing along subconsciously. At the end of one of the masses Fr. told us that Juan said that when he plays during mass that Juan feels as if he “is of the mass.”

A few of our students got to ride with Fr. when he gave Juan a ride home. Juan told them that he learned to play the guitar in his dreams, he simply had a desire to play, he dreamed about it, and then he picked up a guitar and taught himself. He really was talented. One thing I didn’t mention about Juan, he’s blind and crippled. I’m not sure what it’s diagnosed with, but his gait is not normal. I listened to a few people speak with Juan after mass and he had nothing but joy, he just seemed so happy, pure, and loving.

There a few of Fr. O’Hare’s homilies that I remember pretty well – even though they were in Spanish. Our first mass with him was in Pedro Santana on 12/29. I don’t remember the readings, like I said my Spanish is not that great. But his homily was about Belen y la casa de pan, which translated is Bethlehem and the house of bread. This really struck me on that night, I know I’ve heard it before, that Bethlehem means “house of bread” but it just hit me. Especially when Fr. went on to say something close to this, “from the manger Jesus announces He is the Living Bread and here in this Church the manger is below the altar where the bread will become His body, this truly is a Christmas sacrament.” I thought about this homily each time we went to mass there and each time that I received Holy Communion.

At another homily Fr. O’Hare reminded us of how unworthy we all are of God’s love, but nonetheless and for no reason at all He loves us. After hearing this I spent some time praying and giving thanks for how great God is. I also prayed that I would be able to love others the same way. I was thinking about some of the kids that we had worked with that week, how frustrated they had made us, and how we showed our frustration towards them by getting angry and impatient. Then I thought about how these kids all week long, for no reason admired us and just loved us. They’d high five us, jump on us, throw the ball when we weren’t looking at them, and they’d hug us, they were Jesus, we were serving and playing baseball with Jesus. This picture really captures that. A fellow missionaries snapped this photo and the text that follows the picture is what he wrote about it.

"On New Year’s Day we were at church in an impoverished community along the border of Haiti. Before Mass the church was hot, crowed, and a bit chaotic. In the midst of this noisy scene a little boy snuck through the mess of disorganized chairs and sat on the lap of the missionary student next to me. As he sat there I tried to engage him in a little conversation but his timid answers were almost muted by his intense gaze. I just happened to have my camera so I snapped a quick picture of this little guy and our student. As soon as I saw how it turned out I had an immediate recognition of His face… that is… Jesus’ face. The look this child exuded was that of complete innocence.  Simultaneously his look expressed joy, longing and an overall profoundness.  I was captivated by this image. Another stark feature of the scene… in the picture on the wall behind this little boy, Jesus’ face is covered up… perhaps a coincidence… or perhaps a deeper message from the Lord. All I know is that for me this was an encounter with Christ himself… and I was in Nazareth. When we got back to Miami last week to do our mission debriefing there was a notable change in each and every one of the 22 students that went on this trip.  A spirit of peace, docility, joy and overall zeal for the Faith that I assure you did not exist before they left for this trip.  These students were notably different from who they were one week earlier. This merely reiterated for me the fact that an encounter with Christ changes lives!"

There were so many incredible things that we experienced during our time in the DR. I will be forever grateful for having been able to experience it and to experience it with all the people that I did. It was very refreshing and a blessing to be traveling with almost 30 young adults with similar interests and passions (sports and faith). There were some wonderful friendships that began and some people that I am thankful to have reconnected with after a long time apart.

The people of Banica, Pedro Santana, Sabana Cruz, and Iguarrito, my fellow missionaries, and student missionaries will always be in my prayers.

Our Lady of Altagracia, Pray for us.

Please see this video for a better look at the mission happening in Banica. Along the Border Documentary

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Bánica 1

As I wrote about in my last blog post from December 28th through January 4th I had the privilege of serving on a mission trip in Banica, Dominican Republic. The trip was an incredible experience that I will never forget. I hope to share in this post how the trip meant to me and the others that I was able to serve with.

The trip began in Miami, where our group met after traveling in from across the country. There were students and FOCUS staff from all over. The schools and places represented were: Benedictine College, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska-Omaha, Creighton University, Minnesota State University, University of Wisconsin, Seton Hall University, FOCUS National Headquarters, and a few guys that play for major league organizations.

We left for the Dominican on Wednesday December 28th and arrived in Santo Domingo around 3pm Atlantic time. I was expecting a 2 hour drive to our destination, but it was actually close to a 6 hour drive. Our destination, Banica, is along the Haitian border.

Welcome to Banica!
We arrived in Banica very late, I think it was close to 11. We settled into our home for the week, the San Francisco of Asis Parish Center. All 28 of us stayed under one roof and shared a room with 1-3 others. It was close quarters, but the only time we spent there was to sleep and to shower, the accommodations were perfect.

Our mission began the next morning. The first town that we got to work with the kids was about 15 minutes from Banica called Pedro Santana. Friday we were in Banica, Saturday we were in a small town that I don't know how to spell (sorry!!), and we ended camp on Monday in Sabana Cruz. Each day was split into two camp sessions, a morning session usually from 9-12 and an afternoon session from 2-4:30.

We were blessed to spend the time in between camps each day with a family that prepared lunch for us. Lunch time each day was very enjoyable for all of us although most of us spoke basically no Spanish. It was beautiful to see the generosity of the families and how hard they worked to prepare and serve us a meal with how little they appeared to have. Most of the women spent their entire mornings preparing lunch for us. We split into 5-6 groups and despite most of the groups having a few male student athletes there was always plenty of food left over after each meal. In addition to their generosity they were also very appreciative and so thankful that we were there to serve their children and grandchildren.

Going to camp each day we really didn't know what to expect. Last year the camp was at Banica for all four days and this year as I explained above we were in a different town each day. So although there were 5 guys on the trip that also attended last year, each day was somewhat of a surprise. The first 2 days we held camps at fields that were very nice. The last 3 days of camp were much different. The "baseball fields" were just fields, wide open mostly dirt fields that appeared to also be serving as pastures for various donkeys, horses, and cows. But the playing field did not keep us or the kids from having a great time.

The boys chalking the field
At those 2 other fields, I think what stood out most to me was the 1st on that we saw. We were all very surprised to arrive and learn that this open field with little grass and lots of "gifts" from the animals roaming around was the town's baseball field. After we took it in for awhile we again were surprised to see some of the older kids walk up with what appeared to be a bag of chalk. Sure enough the kids started to chalk foul lines and on deck circles. They took a string from home plate and pulled it tight to a tree in right field and another in left and poured the chalk on the string all the way out. It was really neat to see the pride they took in their field. The on deck circles were complete with half semi circles to create what looked like a baseball.

At our camp in Banica we were split into 3 groups, high school, middle school, and elementary. I was with the middle school kids and somehow ended up being the only coach in that group that could speak Spanish...and saying that I can speak Spanish is a stretch! But I was able to communicate with them well enough to organize a home run derby, it took me a few times to get across what I wanted to and the boys all laughed at me, but we eventually had a home run derby!

After the derby, our group got the baseball gloves. There were only a limited amount of gloves for camp and very few of the kids had their own. I could not believe how excited the kids were to play catch. They were so excited and so content to just play catch, it made their days to be using those gloves. Originally we planned to have the kids play catch for maybe 10 minutes, but since they enjoyed it so much we just let them keep playing.


There was one boy that day I don't think I will ever forge and I don't even know his name. He was about 15 or 16 and I believe he has downs syndrome. In the morning a lot of the kids were laughing at him and making fun of him when he couldn't do some of the stretches. When we played a game with our group it was his turn to bat. His teammates were complaining, but the boy grabbed the bat, made the sign of the cross, kissed his hand, and pointed to the sky, just like Sammy Sosa used to do after a home run. Sammy is Dominican by the way! The boy whiffed 4-5 times before I asked him if I could help him. We whiffed the first one, but the second was right up the middle into center field. The guy pitching told me that he wished he would have had a camera to take a picture of the boys face when he hit it. He was shocked he hit too because he froze, his teammates were yelling to run so he did. To first and then to second...even though his teammate was on the base. After second base he ran back to home plate where he again made the sign of the cross, kissed his hand, pointed to the sky and gave me a high five. The coolest part though was that all the kids were cheering and clapping for him, it was a really neat moment.


There are so many moments from the week that I will never forget. I was so impressed with the reverence that the children had during mass, especially the boys that were altar servers. Those boys did everything but celebrate mass!! They arrived early to set up, did everything at the right time during mass and often in unison, they stayed late to clean up and the priest almost never had to remind them to do something. I was even more impressed with their knowledge of the faith. During camp we would read scripture with the boys and give a brief version of our testimony to them with the help of a translator. One morning, our translator asked the kids a question. He asked them how to pray, how to express gratitude towards God and how to respect god. I wasn't expecting much from their answers, but their answers blew me away. The group that was asked was made up of 5-19 year old boys. Boys of all ages raised their hands to answer and shouted things out like: la Santa Misa, Eucharista, oracion, adoracion, and respetar otros. I was surprised to hear the younger kids say things like Eucharist and adoration mostly because I was mostly unfamiliar with those things into my 20's! And as confirmed at mass with their reverence, the kids were not merely just saying these things, but they understood what they said.


Christ was truly present in those that we served and those that served us and all of us from the States fell more deeply in love with our faith and our Savior.


There is still a lot more that I want to share about this trip, so I'll be writing another post soon!


Dios le bendiga!