The First of Many (hopefully)
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Verso l'alto!Glory to Jesus Christ!
Hello everyone!
I intend to use this blog to reflect on my journey as a Missioner in Honduras, with the Missioners of Christ. I will be on mission from June 5th until August 2nd. I am very grateful to all of you who are praying for both myself and all who embark to live out their missionary vocations here in Honduras.
I just finished up my second year at the Nazareth House Seminary in Phoenix, Arizona (for more information on the seminary system in Phoenix, check out these links : College grad gives up home and dream job after God asks him one simple question - The Catholic Sun, Diocese expands seminary with new formation house - The Catholic Sun, Nazareth House to form seminarians locally - The Catholic Sun.). I entered out of high school in 2021. I graduated from St. Mary's Catholic high school in Phoenix and discerned that I was being called to enter seminary formation right out of high school.
I write this almost exactly 24 hours before a plane will take me to Miami with two other fellow seminarians, and then to Comayagua, Honduras. I did not expect to be here back in October of last year. I had hopes to potentially be a counselor at a summer camp or maybe attend World Youth Day. But the Lord had other plans. I honestly asked Him what He had in mind, because He didn't seem to want me to pursue either of these two options. So, I waited to see what exactly He had in mind.
I didn't have to wait long.
We had several of the Missioners visit the Naz for lunch one day: Carol, Erik, and Morgan. After they left, I sat down at my normal spot in the kitchen to catch up on some neglected homework, when a thought came to mind: "why not be a missioner this summer?" An immense feeling of peace flooded over me, which I immediately recognized as the peace that comes from the Lord. I thought to myself, "really? You want this Lord?" The peace remained. I did something uncommon for my sanguine personality: I don't think that I told anyone for a few days. In adoration a few days later I asked the Lord again, "is this what you want, Lord?" The same feeling of peace returned.
It was then that I knew: I had to act.
After discussing it with my formator, I told my Vocation Director about my discernment and then got his permission to start applying for a position as a Mid-Term Missioner for the summer. The process was a bit slow, but I persevered. Eventually, I was accepted and began preparing to go. The whole time I was waiting, I kept reminding myself of an image that my formator, the previous Vocations Director of our Diocese, told me.
If you want to travel from the Naz to Los Angeles and you plug in the address of your hotel into the Google machine, it'll tell you to take a right out of the parking lot, and drive to a side street, take a left, and then another right onto 19th Avenue. After that it'll tell you to take Indian School to the I-17, and then take that to the I-10. So far, the Google machine is giving you a lot of directions. But once you get on the I-10, it'll tell you to keep going for a long time, and it won't say anything for a long time. Does that mean that you panic and get off at Avondale? No, that's not even halfway. Should you panic and turn around? Of course not. You keep going straight, until that little British voice gives you another set of directions (or maybe you're one of those people that likes a southern drawl: I don't know, my mom's is British).
Applying this to my journey, I received some very clear directions from the Lord at the start of the journey. Since then, I haven't actually received anything like that first peace I received when I first felt the Lord calling me: I've just kept going straight, even in those times where I didn't think I'd be able to. There were times that different fears came up to try and pull me away from my path: questions like "will I be accepted," "will I get sick before I go," "what if my flight gets cancelled" (you can tell which one's are more recent). In his 14 rules for Discernment of Spirits, rule number 5 specifically (the one we seminarians remember better than any of the others), St. Ignatius of Loyola says this:
Let's go back to the GPS analogy. Even if I panic and want to turn around, I have to remember the last "directions" I received from the Lord (Ignatus would call them "consolations"): the peace around being a missioner in Honduras. If I meet an obstacle, and I don't hear anything explicit from the Lord, it doesn't mean he's abandoned me: he can't, for he cannot abandon himself.
The Father has a plan for me. Whatever that is, I pray I am able to meet it with open arms.
Thank you for your prayers for this mission. I look forward to uploading more in the coming months. I can't promise anything in the way of constancy, as I have absolutely no idea what my schedule will look like, but I'll do my best.
Since I have no other forms of social media other than this, the only way that this blog gets shared is by word-of-mouth. If you enjoy this read, please feel free to share it with your friends and family! All prayers are appreciated! If subscribing to Blogs is a thing, please do that so that you can receive updates when there is a new post!
If you wish to support the mission in any way, there is a link here to the Missioners' home page, as well as links to missionaries who fundraising for their time in Honduras, and a list of needed supplies and where to send packages if you choose to donate them.
One final note: Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati,
Pray for us.
as a seal upon your arm..."
2023 Short Term Missions - Missioners of Christ (flipcause.com)
Support a Missionary - Missioners of Christ (flipcause.com)
Material Needs LIst - MISSIONERS OF CHRIST
*this is a picture from my last trip to Honduras.
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