Mountains and more mountains...

The past month has been a whirlwind tour of the beautiful mountain villages of Honduras. Near the end of November we began training local youth to lead mission trips to the mountains. The training week was packed with talks, team building, prayer and practical training. At the end of the week they all packed their stuff and prepared to go to our first aldea (mountain village).

The first parish was the parish of El Rosario, three different groups served the villages of Loma Larga, Huertas, and el Horno. Over the week the youth visited homes in the mornings and led programs for kids, youth and families in the afternoons and evenings. It was beautiful to see the simplicity of the families and their lives in the mountains. Their generosity was overwhelming. Every home we stepped into it seemed no matter the level of poverty welcomed us and showered us with gifts of bananas, vegetables, sugar cane and coffee (some of the best because its mountain grown and ground fresh right there).

Their love and appreciation was apparent, but even more so, their faith. For most of the communities Mass is a rare gift as their Priest is assigned to dozens of aldeas. To have the gift of Mass three times in one week, along with confessions and adoration it was a very blessed week for them and for us. At the end of the week the different aldeas met in the central aldea for the closing night. It was an amazing experience walking together with our community singing songs and praying together along the way (almost and hour walk).

The second week we traveled even farther into the mountains of Minas del Oro. After taking buses to La Libertad we climbed into the back of four different pickup trucks and drove 3 hours to the aldeas of Ojo de Agua, Pimientia, and Socorro. Again we encountered very simple lifestyles. None of the aldeas had electricity and many groups had to bring water up from the streams to bath and wash our clothes, but the people were as generous and loving as ever. Accepting us into their homes, feeding us, and praying with us. Because the aldeas were even more remote, the sacraments were even less frequent. Mass is said once a year in their village. You could sense the hunger in the people, longing to be supported and fed in their faiths. One woman upon hearing that a priest was coming to her home (she lived about an hours walk away from our aldea far from almost everything) she began to cry. It was so convicting as to how much we take for granted: materially, physically, spiritually, all the opportunities and privileges we have that we consider rights. Overall it was a very challenging but very blessed experience.

Over the last weekend we traveled to yet another part of Honduras to lead a retreat for the youth of the parish Florida. Almost 200 youth spent the weekend with us there listening to talks, sharing in small groups, singing, praying, playing and most of all spending time with Jesus in the Mass and Adoration. It was great for the youth, many of whom had been with us in the previous weeks of missions to the mountains. God was really moving in them throughout the whole weekend and their openess was so apparent. While there is an abundance of youth ministry and retreats in the US, it was a rare opportunity for them. We hope to be able to offer one there every year in the future.

It is incredibly hard to desribe what the past few weeks have been like, how beautiful the mountains are, the intensity and grace in our experiences, and it is impossible to speak for everyone because each person has had their own experience, but what is for certain is that Gods love has no limits.
God Bless.....

Greg’s Reflection

Hello again all! It has been several weeks since our last post, we have been very busy as it is vacation time for the youth here and we are busy with training and Mountain Mission Trips, retreats, and other service projects, etc. We hope to have updates and photos up soon. But for this update we have something a little different.

On November 19 our community said goodbye to one of its members. Greg was here with us serving the people of Honduras for 6 months and returned to the States to finish school, discern his vocation, and Im sure, do a lot of his favorite activity: chilling. The following is his personal reflection on his time here. Greg you are already very missed and always in our prayers....


When I got off my plane in Tegucigalpa, I was shocked that I was actually in Honduras. The idea of coming here just seemed like nothing more than another half thought-out dream of mine that would never really be realized. But then I found my slacker self here. The only explanation I have for how I got down here is God wanted me here. I had wanted to come too, but when I saw I had to complete an application, do interviews, raise money, etc., I almost just gave up and forgot about it. But God somehow got me to do it and got me down to Honduras. And I think that is the most important thing of the many things I learned here; God’s Will is a mystery. I don’t understand it, but its going to happen anyways.

I had hoped to discover my vocation while I was here; but while I didn’t have an epiphany, I did feel and see God working in me more than more than ever before, far more. And I´ve learned to trust Him more and more. I know that I have a long way to go, but I also know that He is guiding me and will put me where He wants me when He wants to.

As for my time here in Honduras, I enjoyed it immensely. Some highlights: Growing my beard out. Playing late night soccer and basketball with the friars. Mass, everyday. Repeatedly getting humbled on the soccer field by 12 year olds. Visiting Fr. Max in the mountains. Riding in the back of trucks though the mountains, early in the morning. Spending time with the people in the mountain villages, especially in San Antonio. Witnessing the simple and very beautiful faith of the Honduran people in spite of great suffering. Visiting and talking to Marta. Getting Dengue fever, which I am probably going to brag about for the rest of my life. Living and working so close to the friars and seeing their faith everyday. Licuados. Just working and hanging out with my mission brothers and sisters. Learning how to pray. Never losing a game of volleyball, especially not to Carol. Pan de Vidas and Eucharistic Adoration......I could go on, but the most important thing that happened to me here is that I think I grew closer to God. Not very close, but closer. And ultimately that is all I wanted or want.