A Day Of Retreat

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

To start our week of mission, we had a day of silence and prayer. It was a time to leave our worries and the busyness of our lives behind and focus on Christ. We are staying in the Friary since there are so few of us this year and we are following the rhythm of their day. 

                                        

                                          The bell tower and cross in the Friary

So, the day started early at 6:00 am with praying the Liturgy of the Hours which is the common prayer of the church that consists of songs, psalms and scripture five times a day. After the Liturgy of the Hours, we had an hour of personal prayer.   

                                        

                                                      One of the garden in the Friary

                                          

                                                 Fr Francis Mary with a Honduran friend

We had breakfast and then Br. Mark Mary gave us a talk on prayer. The four points were that prayer is primary, the foundation to everything in life; necessary, that apart from God we can do nothing; effective, that our prayers matter; and sufficient, knowing that we are loved by God is enough…we don’t need anything else.

          

In the late morning, we had Mass, lunch and then a talk by Fr. Francis Mary on prayer. Br. Gabriel lead the group in using Divino Lectia as a way to pray with the scriptures. We also had lots of time to just be quiet and pray.

                                   

                                    Paul spending time with Christ in prayer in the chapel

Again, following the life of the Friars, we had a Eucharistic Holy Hour and then dinner to celebrate Father’s Day. Br Dismas prepared quite the feast for us.

We all cherished a quiet day of retreat to encounter God. At dinner we enjoyed the fellowship of the Friars. 

Another garden in the Friary that also has turtles in it

We are ready to begin a week of missions as our hearts have been prepared….we can’t give what we don’t have.

Please continue to pray for us, the Friars and the people of Honduras.

God bless, The Honduras Mission Team

We arrived

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

We arrived safely in Honduras. After a three hour flight, we had lunch and waited to two Friars, Brs. Dismas and Justin to arrive from New York. We then drove our packed van (people and luggage) to Comayagua, a three hour drive.

The Friars welcomed us, prayed and then we had a dinner of tostados and salad. We attended Mass at the parish next door to the Friary, came back and collapsed into bed.

Please keep us in your prayers.

The Honduras Mission Team

2013 Mission Trip June 15-22

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

We just wanted to update the blog to let you know that we are preparing to go to Honduras in a little over two weeks. Please keep us in your prayers. There are only six people going this summer so our trip will look a bit different in what we will be doing. Stay tuned.

The 2013 Honduras Mission Team

Home

Words can't describe our mission trip but from the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank everyone who supported us materially and spiritually. 

We arrived to Hartsfield-Jackson International last night about 6:30 very tired but joy-filled.

God bless,

The Mary Our Queen 2012 Mission Team

The Team along with the Friars and some volunteers who help out regularly 

The Block Party in Honor of St. Anthony

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

On our final day of our mission trip we had the Block Party. The weather was perfect! It had rained yesterday evening and brought in a bit of cooler weather so we had sunny skies. We started the day as usual with prayers and Mass. We ate breakfast and at about 9:15 we all went into action to set up for the party.

Fr Herald was the masters of ceremony and we had entertainment all day long. There was a mix of prayer, food, games, and fun. The kids enjoyed the day just being kids playing outside with no electronics or worry of their safety while the adults gathered and ate their meals with neighbors and friends. It was a very moving site full of plain, simple joy.

We served 850 hamburgers, 700 hot dogs, 400 kabobs, 35 gallons of potato salad, macaroni and coleslaw along with a bunch of five gallon tubs of ice cream. It was a great day!

At 4:30 we had a Eucharistic Procession through the street. Fr. Louis blessed each of the buildings on the block with Christ as the people processed with the Christ in the Eucharist. It was amazing.

This evening, Br David cooked chicken on the grill for the men of St. Anthony shelter as well as for us and other volunteers. While he was cooking, we all hung out in the gardens sharing, laughing and living.

We were all blessed. We can't believe that our week is almost over. The twelve of us have grown very close and feel a special bond with each other, the Friars and the men in the shelters. Our lives have been changed. We thank you all so much for supporting us so that we could live the Gospel message of loving each other and loving our neighbor.

Br Crispin giving our marching orders this morning

Patti,  Meghan, Lucy, and Walter went to Our Lady of the Holy Angels convent this morning to help with their weekly lunch program for the poor. The sisters have this program down to a science of feeding over 100 meals in one hour

The block party with good friends and food

A party is never a party without water

Brother talking to some children about prayer

Br. David, Paul and John cooking

Fr Herald assisting a woman 

Praying the Rosary

Enjoying hamburgers

Fr Louis in the Eucharistic Procession 

Benediction on the church steps

Fr Louis

Br Crispin thanking everyone for coming

Br David, Fr Rich and Meghan serving ice cream at the end

Fr Louis and Francis, a neighbor who comes over every day to visit the Friars

Block Party Preparing

Hello,

Today Paul, John and Marcia went to the Missionary of Charity's (Mother Teresa's sisters) convent for Mass and to help with their lunch program while the rest of the team did preparations for the block party that is held near the Feast of St Anthony (the name sake of the men's shelter) for all of the people in the neighborhood. It's another hot day in New York so later today, we will be filling up water balloons for the party tomorrow.

When it is hot, the city opens of fire hydrants for people to play in and cool off.

To the left is St Aldebert Church where we have been having Mass and prayers each day, the center is the St.Crispin Friary, and to the right is the old school where we have been sleeping. The Friars renovated the school so on the third floor are two dorms, one for the men and one for the women.

Meghan and Olivia chopping 50 pounds of onions for the block party food tomorrow.

Deacon Jim and Lucy chopping tomatoes

Putting up tents for the block party

Just a few hot peppers for some hot sauce tomorrow!

The Jesus Run

A reflection from Olivia

The Jesus Run was an experience unlike anything our group had done before. Staying in the compound and serving dinner to the residents in the shelter is one thing, but literally talking the talk and walking the walk is another. As my aunt Marcia passed me half of her jelly sandwich while I folded it onto its perfect complement, peanut butter, I had no notion of what I was doing and what was happening. It started with an assembly line of the group, each one doing separate tasks to complete the quota of about 100 pb and j sandwiches we would need for our run tonight. 

Olivia, Marcia and Jim preparing peanut butter  and jelly sandwiches

Sarah, Walker and John

The team had a great system going to get the 100+ sandwiches ready

We all hopped into the vans and drove to Manhattan to a couple of places that the Friars know where homeless people congregate. 

Lucy and Colin in the van with the sandwiches

New York scene

The first stop was Grand Central Station. We broke into groups of threes and fours and dispersed into the Station. We all had a common goal in mind; find people in need of God’s love, and spread it. No pun intended.

First stop was Grand Central Station. We all agreed that the homeless was invisible to us until we did the Jesus Run. Our awareness is so different now.

Paul, Fr Rich (background), Lucy, Reese and Br. Crispin getting ready to bring sandwiches and Jesus to the poor

 Next we headed for Penn Station which is right next to Madison Square Garden.  Each place offered an opportunity to meet new people, and hear each of the homeless person’s stories. I owe the best part of my night to a homeless man who performed an act of kindness I wasn’t anticipating on receiving. Instead of the members of our group offering our prayers up to God for him, he reversed the roles and prayed for us.  The whole experience was incredible because what this man wanted most at the time - a man living on the streets, hungry for the sandwiches we provided him with- was to pray for us. The whole encounter was incredible and I cherished it for the rest of the night. The Jesus Run was so moving because it put actual names to the faces of the many homeless men and women living on the streets of New York. It gave us a chance to help other people through an act so simple as giving them a sandwich, which is why it was an experience unlike any other. 

Jim, Sarah and Olivia

Meghan, Colin and Patti with our friend who was so appreciative of us not only bringing him a sandwich but spending time and praying with and for him