El Salvador: 2010

Saturday, August 21, 2010

ST. RITA TO TAKE PILGRIMAGE TO EL SALVADOR!!

This opportunity is available to all St. Rita Parishioners. St. Rita and Fr. Steve Flynn, along with the St. Rita CLAMteam, are planning a pilgrimage to El Salvador this coming Feb. 15-22. We will be visiting 3 of the Diocesan mission sites, martyr sites, and working on a few projects. This is an incredible opportunity to be part of something bigger than oneself.

I have taken groups on this trip several times over the past 7 years, and the only thing that is consistent is that no trip is ever the same! Every trip is a unique experience. Let us know your experiences in El Salvador. If you have been on a mission trip or visited the tiny country, we would like to know your thoughts.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve God while serving others. There is no greater feeling in the world than that of doing for one's brothers and sisters.

If you have any questions, please email me and I will be happy to help answer them.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Why do I do this?

Many of you already know that I have been an avid supporter of the missions, particularly in El Salvador. What you might not know is how this came to be or why. About 8 years ago I was surfing the internet and I found this website that was basically a diary of living with the poor in Bolivia written by Fr. Mark Myers. He was a priest who had the great foresight to post his day-to-day activities on his website (this was before Blogger and Twitter and such). I was so intrigued by his work that I couldn't wait to come home from work and read what exciting adventure he had written next! After a few months we started communicating by email. He was a very kind and inspiring person. Eventually I learned about a project he was working on to build a transitional home for the young adults from the orphanage he helped run. I began sending him money to help him build his new home.

Once the project was underway, he wrote a letter saying that his time was was ending in Bolivia and that he would soon be moving back to his home parish in Cincinnati. Can you believe this priest was from the same state I lived in! What a small world I thought. Little did I know that the world soon became even smaller. While at my home parish in Cleveland where my children attending Catholic school, I also learned that one of our associate priests, Fr. Riley, was discerning his future to work with the poor in El Salvador. Both countries seemed like a lifetime away for me but yet I was fascinated with the culture of these people. I did not know our associate priest all that well at the time but fate did bring us together to share our stories of faith. After that, I promised to help him in his ministry to serve the poor in El Salvador if he did choose to work there.

The things that have happened to me over the past 7 years are way too much to write in this space, but I can sum it up in a few sentences. It was truly a remarkable and grace filled time in my life. God has worked through me in too many ways to even count. He took a simple woman with no knowledge of poverty or suffering and transformed my heart to be a voice for the poor. In those 7 years, and through my invitations to others to visit and learn about the people of El Salvador, so many people have been helped. Today, there are many people and parishes who visit the tiny country and do so much good work for the poor.

I continue to support the people of El Salvador by continuing my annual charity golf outing. Proceeds from the event go to support their very basic needs.