Trip Reflections
2011 Sister Parish Trip Reflections
I can’t say really why I wanted to go to Lepaterique, I just knew I had wanted to since the start of the sister parish relationship, but the right combination of time off and having the money never seemed to happen before. Our youngest daughter graduated from Purdue in May, and I got my job to make an exception so I could get enough time off, so, this was my year. I started preparing many months in advance, borrowing all the medical Spanish books and tapes from the library, and connecting with the physical therapists that have gone in the past. But something that happened in early July gave the adventure a whole new twist. My mother died unexpectedly, and our trip left just 5 days after her funeral. She would have kicked my butt if I had bailed out, so that was never a question, but it made my emotions, my perceptions more raw, more heightened. To distill this miraculous adventure down to succinct reflection is to me a difficult task, but I will try. First, I have to express how many providential moments occurred…God just supplied the need that was there. There were only 3 Spanish speakers among us, and all were spoken for when it came to translating needs. So, out of thin air it seemed, appeared Brett Johnson, a Peace Corp volunteer from New York, stationed in Lepaterique. He had been alerted to our coming by Jerry Corcoran, and he came to meet us on the first day. He gladly helped interpret for me for all three of our clinics! Then there was my magic stash of donated supplies. A little boy with knees that hurt if he walked any longer than 10 minutes was brought in by his dad. One look at his lower half alignment showed me the culprit, it was his too flexible, very flat feet. I taped up his arches, and found the perfect size of prefab orthotics in the bag to fit in his shoes, and a pair of Crocs (which have an orthotic foot bed), in his size, in blue no less!! There was the young woman with the meniscal strain in the left knee…the exact right size knee sleeve brace was in there, and I could give her a cane. Same with the guy with wrist sprain, the gentleman who had severe plantar fasciitis. Not only did I have correctly sized off-the-shelf orthotics for him, I found a plantar fascia night splint for him too. It is though someone had anticipated who I was going to see, and gave me the exact right supplies for them! Luckily, most of the patients I saw matched my skill set as well!
Secondly, there were folks I saw there that had such an inner glow, that I felt like there were true halos around them. The sisters at the Carmelite monastery we visited, with their beautiful faces framed by their head coverings, showed inner light, and so much humor. A sweet Escarbadero woman came in to speak to Brett and myself at the end of our first clinic day, about how grateful she was that we were there. Her face showed as much kindness and warmth that I have ever seen in a face. Then after the feast day mass, a couple of nuns, one from France came up to meet us. I beckoned forth John, one of our group who was a professor who taught French in New York. He came to speak to them, and the picture the three of them made speaking in French, heads bent forth, John holding their hands, was of unabashed joy and light. John mentioned that seeing Dr. Joaquin’s face in the lantern light, talking to patients, reminded him of what Albert Schwietzer must have been like. There were many more such images, and these all crystallized for me after a conversation with Debbie Goode Monday morning. She was reading a reflection book in Spanish, down on the “veranda’ outside of our rooms, and after observing her considered smile at what she read, I asked her to share. She translated from a meditation written by Origen Adamantius, an early church theologian : “All who come to Christ are not enlightened the same way, but according to the measure of their ability to receive light. The higher the rise and uplifting of our spirit towards Christ, the more we discover the splendor of clarity, the more intense the illumination of the light. The Lord himself declares through the prophet, come to me, and I will come to you.” This was not a new concept to me, but the light I have seen in many people here make me realize that they must come to God often, and He comes to them, you can see it in their shining spirits. It gives me hope for myself. The third revelation for me, was the Mass on that Monday, the actual feast day of Santiago Apostal (St. James). The service was beautiful, with concelebration of 4 priests, the carrying in of the statues of St. Sebastian and St. James, the beautiful music, and I found myself thinking of my mom, trying not to, since it made my eyes overflow with tears, and I did not want to lose control. While I was concentrating on this, I heard a voice say out loud “Jane Hoffman”. I looked up, shocked…my mother’s name, down here??? I figured out what was happening. Padre Miguel has St. Monica’s intentions read in Lepaterique so that both congregations can pray for our intentions every week. My mom was being uplifted both places, and it let me know that she was right there, with God. The coincidence was just too
much, for me, to be otherwise. To say this trip and the people I encountered meant a lot to me, would be an understatement.
By: Barb Cursillo
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This was my 2nd trip to Honduras. The first was in 2008. Both trips were incredible experiences of community and faith building. The first time the relationship building for me seemed to be mostly with the other St. Monica parishioners that went on the trip. That part of this trip was again a great blessing as we truly came to know and love each other. However, our mission to build relationships in Christ with the people of La Paterique was so much more evident to me on this trip. First of all, I had a different attitude since I knew what to expect about their living conditions and could see past the problems and appreciate the beauty of their simple, faith-filled lives. The community there had also grown and changed significantly in those years as evidenced by their efforts to share more of themselves and their lives with us. We had so much more interpersonal interaction with the youth, seminarians, the Carmelite sisters and the members of the parish who demonstrated their love and commitment to our shared mission in so many ways. Members of the youth groups were with us daily and it was great getting to know their different personalities and enjoy just being with each other. Secondly, there was much more a feeling of “we are in this together as a family” than it seemed on the earlier trip. Their nurses, doctors and many others from the community participated side by side along with our group to organize and entertain the people, prepare meds, interpret and just be with the people who came to the medical clinics. It was truly a cooperative effort which demonstrated great progress in our mission to develop relationships. I am so glad I went again and witnessed the
great progress being made in this wonderful endeavor to become brothers and sisters in Christ.
By: Joan Weiss
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Being in Lepaterique was a joy, and an opportunity to live the reality of our worldwide family as church. We were welcomed as brothers and sisters, and shared the Eucharist as one body and one family in Christ. We worked together and laughed together and shared together. It was fun! It was an adventure, and a challenge. It was beautiful – beautiful country and beautiful people. Coming back home to the huge abundance of stuff that I take for granted that raised some challenging questions for me. Is it enough to say, “Gee thanks, God, for all the great stuff I have?” Can I put God on the hook and call extreme inequality that benefits me, a blessing from God? Or is that making God responsible for my selfishness and injustice? I’m left wondering how I can live the reality of belonging to our Father’s worldwide family, a family in which some brothers and sisters don’t have enough to eat or clean water to drink, while also living my daily routine in the richest nation in the world. I’m left with a sense that the efforts that fit easily into my life may not be enough to fulfill my obligations to my brothers and sisters, those in Lepaterique and those here at home.
By: Cassidy Overpeck
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Here are a few more thoughts about our mind-boggling and heart-wrenching trip to Honduras. I recall Padre Miguel saying in his homily, “El ciel no es un lugar.” (Heaven is not a place.) However, we could see Jesus’ face in the people we encountered and ministered to in Lepaterique and elsewhere. Did not Jesus once say that if you did it (corporal works of mercy) to the least of my bretheren, you did it to me? Heaven on earth? My grandson Deuce in answer to the question, “Why did God make you?” replies, “He made me to know Him, to love Him, to be His hands and feet in this world and to be happy with Him in the next.” We tried our best to be His limbs during our stay through our works of solidarity with the Honduran people. I believe we encountered Christ each day while plodding along our own “Road to Emmaus.”
By: John Ahern
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Lord, that I might see…(Mark 10:51)
Her glasses sat on her nose at a crazy angle because of a missing ear piece. One lens was cracked, giving her eye a kaleidoscopic appearance. “Do you possibly have any glasses? This pair is all I have, I can barely see with them. I got them years ago from another medical mission.” Almost as an afterthought I had thrown a couple of old pairs of glasses of mine into my back pack during my 11th hour packing. Now I went scrambling around behind the makeshift pharmacy to retrieve them. Miraculously, they fit her well and with them she was able to see well enough to read and to make out the posters across the one room school house. Her joy at having her sight “restored” was amazing. “The Lord must love her a lot to answer her prayer that way,” my wise Mother says when I relate the story.
Because this woman keeps bothering me, I will render a just decision for her. (Luke 18:5)
People wait patiently for hours to see one of the doctors. Usually, the request or problem is simple, quickly met, and the person moved on so the line can keep inching forward. This afternoon we rush more than usual because we have a long walk back to the trucks before dark and the rain clouds are threatening. But the young girl in front of me will not be hurried. She has come all by herself with a list of things she needs, requests from various family members who couldn’t make the long journey to see us as well as an assortment of her own problems. I explain that I need to see each person to learn what the problem is and recommend the best treatment, that we only have limited supplies that must be kept for the people who are here to be seen. But she is adamant, countering my explanations and repeating her requests. The people behind her are losing patience and urging her to finish up but she just continues to sit implacably. I can feel my own impatience rising. But then it hits me. What she is asking is not unreasonable or selfish. She is only asking for a just decision that takes into account the reality of life in Honduras. Because of her persistence, we negotiate a solution that finally produces a satisfied nod.
I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. Matthew 8:8
At the crossroads where we have finally rejoined the trucks after a grueling and wet climb down the mountain we are met by a man named Lucas. He points up a steep hill to a house where he says his son is lying, ill. Is there anything we could do? Two of us trudge up the hill to his tiny home. His adult son is resting on a bed with ropes for a boxspring and a thin roll of blankets for a mattress. He hurt his back a few days before and has been in too much pain to walk. He apologizes for the rudeness of his dirt- floored, 2 room house and thanks us over and over for being willing to come and attend to his son. And there it is again. No matter how much I detest it, the inequality is always there in the relationship. I am honored that he invited me in; he is
embarrassed for me to see his poverty. And that is a wall that is so hard to push past. But each visit I feel more accepted- less the honored guest who has to be protected from the sometimes unpleasant reality of life here- and more the returning friend. Lord! That we might really learn to see one another!
By: Kathy Cohenour
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St. Monica and St. James the Apostle
A Sister Parish Prayer
Heavenly Father, in solidarity with our Sister Parish we seek to build a relationship through prayer within the Eucharist: Praying and celebrating our common faith in Jesus Christ at Mass, at meal times, before our trips, before and after presentations. Together we pray, sometimes holding hands & stumbling over words but we pray together – sisters and brothers in Christ.
In solidarity, we pray for our children. May they always find peace to nourish their hearts and love to nourish their souls. Children – God’s ultimate gift to the world and we had two St. Monica children with us . Both eleven year old boys, full of energy, sharing themselves with the children of Lepaterique. No language barrier- just the language of love and understanding. Playing, praying, making friends and serving at the Lord’s table. They gave us the peace and nourishment our hearts and souls needed.
In solidarity, we pray for our mothers and fathers. May they always have the wisdom to guide us, the strength to love us, and the perseverance to create a home of unconditional acceptance. Mothers and fathers everywhere with their children in tow guiding us, loving us and inviting us into their lives and homes of unconditional acceptance.
In solidarity, we pray for our brothers and sisters. May we be doers of the Word and not hearers only and may we love our neighbor as ourselves and not make distinctions among us rather love all equally. Doers of the word? How can you not be a doer of God’s word? We hear the Word and act – responding with love, together. No distinctions – old, young, middle age, infants, all equally in love with our creator and each other. Hugs, kisses, small gifts, lives shared.
In solidarity, we pray for our poor. May we always respond to their call for justice with compassion and act in social conscience. Justice – how can we justify our lives of abundance with their lives of poverty? But look again – they are rich in faith, abundant in prayer, and we are poor grasping at words to pray. Stuttering and stammering, trying to say the right words to pray. They smile and continue to hold our hands and pray for us with voices that are familiar to God. He is their true companion and friend, not some distant figure off on a cloud.
In solidarity we pray for our sister communities of St. Monica and St. James the Apostle. Through prayer, may we be joined through a spirit of faith in Christ. Faith in Christ, yes we are joined in a common faith. We are sisters and brothers and we pray that the Spirit continues to guide this relationship, bringing us closer each visit and uniting us.
May the bond that we share extend to the lives of our families and communities. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
Eight years of visiting Lepaterique – a place I had never heard of in a country that I had only read short articles about. Eight journeys to meet with people who would become family to me. Sisters and brothers, a godson, and many stories of lives shared. I have been blessed beyond my wildest imagination watching people who board a plane to travel into the unknown, hesitant, worried, and unsure. Then our God gives them the grace they need to learn to love the stranger. Witnessing transformations and abundant grace being delivered by our God each moment of these eight trips is a living miracle that I have been given the privilege to see.
St. James the Apostle, pray for us.
St. Monica, pray for us.
By: Kevin Corydon
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Going into the Lepaterique trip I had no expectations, so it is not surprising that the experience was shocking for me. After seeing the simultaneous extreme poverty and equally extreme joy of the people of Lepaterique, I was led to contemplate on my own gratuitous good luck in life. I have a family that is accessible and safe. I have every THING I need and much, much more. I have options ahead of me that will lead to a financially safe, happy, comfortable life- which I can obtain with less work, in most ways, than the people of Honduras must do in order to just get by. All I have to do is get homework done on time and make sure my parents are paying the tuition, and my future is good to go.
After having witnessed this drastic difference in quality of life, I have reached some conclusions and had some realizations about what it means to be of God. For example, I have never completely understood asceticism. What is the point of depriving oneself from the finer things in life, when they are so accessible where I live? Now I realize that it’s an amazing and beautiful way to live one’s life without excess, and it makes SO much sense. And while I am fortunate to have so much, I must also be careful not to let what I have become what characterizes my life. God is the priority, and things can very easily cloud that fact.
So from my experience in Lepaterique, I have gained a better idea of how I should handle what I have. Avoiding excess is a beautiful thing to do. And the excess that I have- and always will have- access to, I must use responsibly. Everything put on earth before us has the potential to lead us to God or lead us away, and it’s my responsibility and call to go towards God.
By: Maggie Corcoran
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My trip to Honduras was an eye-opening experience. Before I was immature. Now I know what real poverty looks like. Now I know what happens when you don’t brush your teeth.
Upon our arrival and everywhere we went, we were warmly greeted with hugs, kisses and flowers. They wanted to share the beauties of their earth with us. The simplest gifts were so beautiful and real.
I realized how much our brothers and sisters in Lepatrique praise God. They love God so much. You can really see that their faith in Jesus dominated their lives. They are not afraid to share their faith with us. The true joy that was felt when we fellowshipped with them was unforgettable.
At the Seminary, Padre Miguel made us feel so welcome. The cooks made great efforts to prepare “American-style” food. The pancakes were my favorite! The Seminarians gave me hope for the Church of tomorrow; they will be great leaders of faith in lives.
I often felt so thankful that we have electricity and clean water. On my home in the plane, I read several articles in the paper on the way home and I was shocked how much bad news there was in the world. In Lepatrique I felt none of that world sadness; I felt love and joy among people who have so little in the ways of material goods, but are so rich in faith.
I have been blessed to have been born in America. I have been blessed go to our sister parish Lepatrique. I cannot wait to return!
By: Deuce Prince
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My trip to Honduras was life changing. It really gave me such a broader perspective of the world and more importantly of my own family.
Originally, my 11 year old son Deuce and my father John were signed up to go on the adventure. And as the planning process progressed; my father encouraged me to join them. There were a million good reasons not to go, but one important reason to go; there would never be a time when I could share this experience with my oldest son and my father who had recently turned 80.
The trip was filled with many surprises and wonderful memories. I was most touched by the innocent faces of the beautiful children that greeted us wherever we went. The mother and grandmothers who had bore many, many children and stood for hours to get some medical attention for them.
It was a gift to be able to witness the bond that was strengthened between my father and my son during the week. I was amazed by the efforts that they both made to connect with the people of Lepatrique. They were not there to medically treat or solve their problems, but rather there to share, love and learn. My son played endless days of soccer with boys just like those here at St. Monica School. My dad played hours, and hours of tick, tack toe with children as if they were his very own grandchildren. They gave and they played and they received, and received.
The trip allowed my father to shared things of his life that I had never known before and gave me the chance to see my son Deuce as growing independent young man, not just as a child. I missed my husband and my other children very much, but their photos nourished my mission to help others. I have a much better appreciation of love and faith and know better how to love and live by my faith.
It can be the smile of understanding or the countless bubbles blown in a child’s face; love knows no limits. And when you give, you get so much more in return.
The week also offered me the chance to develop wonderful friendships with other members of our group. Our St. Monica parish is so blessed to have such incredible men and women of faith. We have certainly forged a bond between ourselves and also with all those who have gone before us on this spiritual mission.
I look forward to the visit of our friends from Lepatrique in October. I am thankful for the internet and facebook; that will continue to bridge our relationships though time. I hope that my other children will have this unique opportunity with us in the future.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
By: Zoe Prince
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I had always wanted to go on this trip to Honduras because I had heard my Grandpa tell stories and show pictures about his time there. It just sounded like a great experIence to me and I was very excited when he asked me to go with him on this last trip!
When we first arrived there were lots of people waiting for us with excitement, the kids seemed to be even more excited that this year there were two 11-year old boys that had come along to have fun with! Their excitement made me feel very welcome and even more excited about getting to know them. After we arrived, we went to a big celebratIon at the church. We had lots of fun with singing and dancing , it felt great to fInally be there. I couldn’t wait to have the opportunity to go out the next morning to start meeting and helping our brothers and sisters.
There were some days where we were on mission trips going into the villages. It was my job to be with the children and do activities with them. It was during this time that I realized that children can be happy without all of the things I had become used to having in my life (my iPod, my computer, my DS, etc) and that simply playing with each other can be fun. I did feel lucky to have what I have at home, but realized that I would be ok without it. I made some great friendships and am very thankful to my Grandfather for taking me on this trip!
by: Caleb Parker
