Mission Trip 2012: Winnebago, Nebraska

Last week, my wife and I (and two additional chaperones) took 14 teens from our parish on our annual Summer Mission Trip.  This summer, we chose to go to a Native American Reservation in Winnebago, Nebraska.

It was in Winnebago where we lived in community with other teens from Nebraska, Missouri, California and Massachusetts at St. Augustine's Indian Mission. The Winnebago Reservation is home to the Ho-Chunk tribe, and was founded in 1909 by Saint Catherine Drexel.  She actually had walked on the grounds where we walked, and we all thought that was really cool.

Our work site was in neighboring Walthill, a small town located in the Omaha Reservation. Our task for the week was to help beautify the community by working on houses that had been overcome with weeds and shrubbery. As we pulled into town, we knew that we had quite the task to achieve. 

Walthill is a community that has been hit hard in a number of ways. For example, the unemployment rate on the Omaha Reservation is hovering at 70%. There is also a significant issue with alcohol and drug abuse within the community. This was evident as we picked up dozens of beer and liquor bottles at all of the houses where we worked. We also noticed this first hand as people were going into the town bar at 9:00 am.

In total, we cleaned up 7 houses throughout the week. We heard a number of comments and thank you's from the residents as we cleaned up their living space. We were also requested to do other houses as well, once people saw the work we were doing. We honestly could have spent the entire summer working there.  There was so much more to do!

We also had an opportunity to work in the town library. There our team worked on cleaning, painting, and creating a better learning environment for the children of Walthill, who apparently go there to escape what they have at home.

We often think that our way of life is the only way of life. This is certainly not the case. We are all called, through our baptism, to go out and serve others; to try and make a difference in the world by helping those in need. But we often question ourselves in saying, "What good is the small amount that this unimportant person can offer? What can I possibly do? If I had money, I'd give to the church or to a charity. If I weren't so busy, I would volunteer."

The truth is: we all have some money and some time. Sure, not enough to do all we wish we could do, but every little bit helps. Imagine what could be accomplished if every person gave just $1 to a charity or placed some money in our collection basket. Imagine if every child or teen in school offered to spend 5 minutes each day picking up litter outside.

As Jesus demonstrated in Sunday's gospel of the loaves and fish, a little bit can go a long way. We need to remember that everything we offer to Christ, no matter now small, can be transformed to meet the need of another.

Therefore, we thank God for all of the blessings in our lives and his abundant mercy. And we pray that we follow our baptismal calling and go out and serve others; to make a difference in the world, and to transform ourselves into the Body of Christ that we were meant to be.

The Burdens We Carry

Are you tired? Are the worries of life slowing you down? Is there a heavy weight upon your shoulders? Then today's Gospel reading from Matthew should be of interest to you:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you."

Often times, if not most of the time, I think that we bring this burden on ourselves. We tend to carry a lot of baggage with us. The problem is that we tend to make everything about us. All of the "things" that we have going on in our lives, it all revolve around us. For example, I have to do "this", or I need to solve "this", or I have to fix "this", or I need to become "this" for someone.  It is always me, me, me!

Our scripture readings today tell us that we need to pray in order to change our focus from "me" to "He", or from "me" to "God". Isaiah said, "for it is you who have accomplished all we have done." We need to always remember this, and bring this into our prayer.

Here is your challenge: every time something goes well for you, immediately thank God for allowing Him to make that happen. We are given graces and blessings to do many things, and we could not do what we do without God. The idea is to take the focus off of us and "our" accomplishments, and put the focus back on God for allowing the accomplishments to happen through us - not because of us.

Once we take the focus off of us and put it onto God, we will become free of that which makes us weary. For as Jesus said, "...your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light."

Today is a Special Day

It is so easy for us to take things for granted. It is so easy for us to become negative because of all of the bad things that are going on around us. It is so easy for us to get wrapped up in the drama of our lives, along with our ups and downs and troubles and trials.

Now more than ever, there is a need for us to try and live our lives more fully, and always in the present moment and not letting our heartaches about the past or our anxieties about tomorrow cheat us out of the riches of today.

Spiritual writer David Steidl-Rast emphasizes this challenge of staying in the positive. "You think this is just another day in your life. It's not just another day; it's the one day that is given to you today. It's given to you; it's a gift. It's the only gift that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness. If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this unique day is, if you learn to respond as it it were the first day of your life and very last day, then you will have spent this day very well."

Our challenge is to not lose sight of the larger presence of grace because of minor irritations. Our challenge is that we spend today, and all our days, in the positive. If we can do this, our possibilities are limitless!

Refreshed on a Hot Summer Day

It's the fifth of July, and it's going to be another hot summer day. After surviving a scorching July 4th of 102 degrees, it should be interesting how this day will shape up. Temperatures are climbing again, forecasted to be around 103 degrees or so, with high humidity. It is very important to stay hydrated, and to begin the day on the right foot.

So, I woke up this morning with a desire to do something that I haven't done in quite some time. I wanted to meditate, and I actually had the chance to do it this morning as my morning prayer. Now, this is something that I really enjoy doing, but often have a hard time carving out the time to do it. But today, I decided that I was going to do it, and I did. Yay for me!

During my meditation, I began to feel a true sense of blessedness in my life. Maybe it took a little silence for me to realize this, but regardless, I felt this during my meditation. I felt the presence of God as He filled my very being, and I truly felt at peace. God has blessed me in so many ways, and I was grateful for the opportunity of prayer to remind me of this. Praise and thanks be to God!!!

All of us need to carve out some time each day to simply be silent and listen. It is a magnificent feeling to simply be with the Lord. Yes, I understand that our minds like to take off and think about all of the things that we need to do. That often happens to me as well. The trick is to get ourselves back to that place of mind-silence, where we just exist with the Lord. If you feel yourself drifting out, catch yourself and reel yourself back into the silence of the moment. The more you do this, the easier it becomes.

It's the fifth of July, and I am charged and ready to serve the Lord. So bring on the heat - for I am refreshed by the God who loves me!