Regnum Christi

The village gave us flowers and a Buddhist blessing (hence the red on our faces) as a thank you before we left.

The rainy season in Nepal usually starts in June, but this year heavy showers and winds began to make intermittent appearances starting the beginning of May. At home, I look forward to listening to the gentle sound of rain falling on the roof as I fall asleep. In Nepal, rainstorms are a much less subtle and gentle affair. Just the other day, a storm hit Dhading and Kathmandu. I watched from an upper porch as the sky quickly turned black, the rain began to pour mercilessly and the wind violently picked up speed- dangerously hurling earthquake debris through the streets. As the first earthquake had done to stone homes, the winds and the rains swiftly destroyed newly created tent homes. While no one was injured in Dhading, a few individuals died after being struck by flying debris in Kathmandu. This is just a taste of what the monsoon season may bring. Continue reading →

One of the big “hits” of the afternoon for the kids was the piñata. A couple of our missionaries came up with some unique engineering and decorating skills and it was rather impressive. Nearly ¾ of the kids had a swing before the piñata succumbed and spread its goodies for the kids to gather. This was followed up with a raucous water balloon fight. We tried to calm the kids down with a few chalk games and coloring and face painting…which turned into them painting the missionaries’ faces! Needless to say, many a missionary needed a shower before we headed off to Mass! We had another good turnout for Mass; you can see that more townspeople come the more we interact with them. Continue reading →

If we go by the highs and lows that people have been sharing, this must have been one of the best days on mission so far. It seems to be getting better and better each day!

As you know from the other updates, getting acclimated here has been a bit of a challenge, everything just takes a little more energy because of the heat and humidity. But today, it didn’t seem to affect us as much (although we were happy when two of the guys took it easy in the afternoon when they needed to!) Continue reading →

A common denominator for nearly all of us today was the tiredness and the heat!

Some of us began the day early with a trip to the place where a woman here feeds the school children breakfast everyday! She is a young woman who came here on mission once and was so captivated by the town of Nuevo Durango (and so welcomed) that she decided to move from Cancun to here and started the foundation to feed these kids a well-rounded meal at least once a day. We appreciated seeing her initiative and were moved by her example (and began wondering how we might be able to help her). Those who didn’t go are looking forward to Saturday when she will come join us for lunch and share with us her story! Continue reading →

Let’s start off by saying that one thing we are sure of today is that everyone is going to rest well tonight!

We began our day with morning prayer and a small breakfast before getting started in the relative cool of the morning on our projects. Since we had to wait for the arrival of some material, many of us began our day helping to pull weeds around the “garden” of the Church, while a smaller group dedicated themselves to building new doors for the mission center. Continue reading →

Everyone feels heartache. We all need something. It may be a relationship, a spiritual illness, a physical ailment, or a material desire. We yearn for it, but we don’t really ask for it. Don’t we forget that we can always go before the One who has all the answers? This thought struck me one morning as I was at Mass. I had been mulling something over in my mind, a grace I desperately needed. Then I looked up and saw the consecrated Host on the altar. I realized I was standing in the courts of the King, before the one who could give me that grace I desperately needed. All I had to do was ask. Continue reading →

We began our day in the City of Joy and after an authentic breakfast of chilaquiles had a phenomenal tour of the facilities and the beginnings of the foundation that helps so many people. On the campus, besides the retreat house that we were staying at, they have a hospice care center, nursing home and a women’s shelter that are supported by three different religious congregations; a Mano Amiga school for underprivileged kids and the Don Bosco school for non-traditional students, a bread and blanket shelter, and Mission Maya—a volunteer organization where young people can stay for up to a semester volunteering down here. We were encouraged seeing how good people doing good things can make a real difference in many people’s lives. Continue reading →

The June Cancun Mission Team

Greetings from beautiful Cancun! We are all getting ready to settle in for the night after a fairly uneventful day at the airport. We only had one little problem when Greg decided to take someone else’s suitcase, but his better half, Angela, caught him before security got to him.

It has been a bit hard to communicate with you all back home since there is no wi-fi in the airport and all the payphones are in Spanish. So we decided to send you a picture of all of us here at the City of Joy, happy to have arrived safe and sound. Continue reading →

God is our loving Father who protects and guides us. He is the model for all fathers. When we go through the storms of life it is hard for a father to see his children suffer. But on the other hand we know that when our father is with us we are safe no matter how bad the storm is. We trust that we are in his hands and he will protect us. How much greater our trust should be for God. The way that He protects us is a little different though. He doesn’t limit himself to giving us lots of human securities, but rather He gives us what is most important to Him. He protects in us His grace. So when we face storms which cause us to question Him or threaten his grace within us, we should call on Him as the disciples did in the gospel today and then He will stop the waves and reveal himself to us. He tells the waves, “You shall come no farther, and here shall your proud waves stop” (1st reading, Job 38:11).

God also allows the storms to come. We are never alone in the storm, He wants to face it with us and show us who He really is. He wants us to know Him as being all-powerful, our Creator, God, and above all a loving father. He wants to win our trust. May we not be afraid of the storms that threaten us, but rather face them with Him, hand in hand knowing that He will protect us, because his Mercy conquers everything. May all fathers today find in God an example for their fatherhood!

“The will is the seat of all the pain people suffer, for if the will is fully in accord with my will there is no pain in suffering.” — St. Catherine of Siena

Most of the time, we know the Will of God; we know what God wants us to do and how he wants us to do it. We need to confront our human nature’s resistance in prayer and peel back the opposition with our sincere love for Christ. Never forget, that he only asks what is best for us!