Stabilizing

Last week Joao, Leo, Favio and I were at Mary Magdalene House to stabilize it before demolishing a non-structural concrete part of the second floor.  Here are some photos!

My First Impressions

It has been a little over a week that I have been in Salvador Brazil and it seems like my Portuguese is getting better. Living in the convent/monastery has been good to me. Its giving me a peaceful outlook on life I have a chance to place myself before God every day, three times a day. I've gotten used to waking up early.

I’m working alongside another volunteer, Marion, she’s French. It seems wherever I go there will always be at least one French. One day I’ll learn the language just not today :P

It seems there is a machismo(macho-man) factor here in Brazil. A lot of the “mans” work is left to the men. Marion even though she does not mind getting a little dirty, is not allowed to work with the heavy lifting and the very dirty stuff.

My mission here in Brazil is getting a little clearer. There is a community center in one of the Favelas, and we need clean it, fix it up, and get it ready for use. I’m thinking the favela will be a central point for the community to get together for prayer, community discussion, and stuff like that. A Place community kids can do homework peacefully, or maybe just hang out with future volunteers. Whatever it is first thing is first, it has to get done.

In closing life is good here in Brazil, there are certain street rules that you have to follow, like you do in any urban city. Don’t go into something with naivety but courage. I don’t think I will be a nurse in Brazil, but I don’t mind, I suppose God calls us for different things we just have to be able to say, “Ok God, Lead the way.” 

Mary Magdalene House Renovations - Day One - Cleanup

 Here is a shot of Leo - we found out to our great surprise that his name was written on the wall - I hadn't realized that earlier!  This was right before we started the cleaning up.

Here is a shot of Ricardo moving out an old dust covered oven.  We'll be getting new appliances, so no need to keep this thing around!

 We continued in front of the house after removing everything.  Some of the old iron will be sold, all the plants and trash and accumulated dirt were removed so we can be ready to start moving in the building materials.

 Here's Favio breaking down some old pieces of roofing.

And the finished product in front!  All trash out, and the ground scraped clean!

Side view, rid of all the trash and (unauthorized) improvised chicken coup!

We were expecting to take several days to get this work done, but got it done in just one morning!  Many hands makes light work - what a blessings!

Missionary Arrives! Work Begins!

It has been a long time coming, but we are glad to welcome Leonardo de La Garza from Laredo, Texas to Salvador Brazil!  He arrived last Thursday morning on a flight from Miami and has been settling in - we hope to have him spend a month in a parish to immerse himself in the language.  The brothers are so grateful for all the hoops he has jumped through in order to get his visa, and the various sacrifices he has made to come here and serve.

Here are a few photos from last night's adoration in Alto:

After Adoration, we had a meeting with community leaders about starting the work on Mary Magdalene House.  We will be starting with a blessing of the house on Sunday (02/24/13), and then we will begin preparing the house for renovations on Monday (taking out trash and remnants of old furniture).  The first phase of renovations will begin in about a week - after things have been picked up and cleaned out - and will involve more technical and structural repairs.  The first phase should last about a month, and will be followed by a second phase that will include refinishing the walls, painting, and moving in furniture.  The second phase is projected to last about two months, which means we plan to be finished by the beginning of June.

We entrust this first moment of work to your prayers through the intercession of the Virgin Mary and St. Mary Magdalene!  God Bless!

The Universal Church

It is hard to believe that just a week ago, I was sitting in the Catedral Basilica de Salvador in Brazil. Never in my wildest dreams, did I imagine that I would be there especially as a witness to the diaconal ordination of my son, Br. Francis Therese! It has been a journey for not only him, but for all his family and friends.

Although, as Catholics, we grow up with the notion of the Universal Church, nothing brings it home quite like attending Mass in a foreign country in a foreign language! In that space we are all brothers and sisters worshiping the same God. The outpouring of support and celebration from the local people and his fellow brothers as well as Bishop Gilson Andrade da Silva, lifted my heart and confirmed that my boy is in the place where God wants him to be. It is hard to have one of your children so far away no matter how old or independent they are. This grand occasion of his ordination and the obvious love of the people in Salvador for him make my own desire for his presence a little easier to bear.

There were many adventures for us to enjoy but when asked, "What was your favorite part?" I have to say that it was all the people that we got to meet. To be able to put faces with the names of the people in the convent, in Salvador and the favela, Alto da Esperança, changes everything! Of course, I have supported my son's fundraising efforts to reconstruct the Mary Magdalene House in Alto. Now I know the people whose lives will be directly affected when the work is completed. These people are filled with hope that this building will once again be a center of community where they can gather and support one another. Our tour guide in the favela remembers what the building used to be and what a difference it made in their lives. She was so proud to show us the chapel where they attend Mass. The people there helped to construct it and take good care of the building. I am sure that the same will be true for the Mary Magdalene House!

There are so many blessings I received during my visit to Salvador. I am thankful for safe travels, for all the Community of St. John, for the gift of my son and his vocation, and for my Catholic faith. I am still thinking about how thankful I am for the extra five pounds I gained eating the most delicious food!

Please join me in prayer for the continued success of the mission in Salvador. I promised I would return for the dedication of the new Mary Magdalene House and I need to travel when I am still young enough to get there!

Martyrs in New York! Reblog from www.bishopjohnmccarthy.com

Originally blogged here.

Martyrs in New York!

By Bishop John, October 19, 2012 5:46 am

http://thejoyfulcatholic.wordpress.com/

There is an ancient pious expression that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. Usually when we hear that, we think of those first three hundred years when the Church was oppressed so cruelly or we may think about places such as Egypt, the Sudan, Indonesia and other modern countries that have laws that make living a Christian life difficult and frequently dangerous. Several such countries made becoming a Christian a crime subject to the death penalty. Well, here is something in-between.

Next Sunday is Mission Sunday and the Church across the world has to examine itself in terms of whether or not it is doing all that it can to fulfill the mission that Jesus has given to it to go out into the whole world and preach the Gospel to everyone. My friends, that is really a directive from our Lord and places responsibility on each one of us. Regretfully, most of us do not take it too seriously. We think that putting $10 in the collection plate, when it is passed on World Mission Sunday when a visiting missioner speaks at our parish, more or less covers our obligation for a missionary response. Many do considerably more by getting involved in special programs to help specific poor and distant missions, but most of us are somewhat indifferent to our mission responsibility. On Mission Sunday we must remember that having received the faith ourselves we share a responsibility to bring it to the whole world.

Today is the Feast of Saints John Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, two wonderful French Jesuit missionaries who came to the New World, not to work among the European settlers but for and with the Indians of today’s New York State. They made great progress but the Hurons were overrun by the Iroquois Mohawks. Isaac Jogues was captured, tortured and nearly killed, but he survived and returned to France. However, within a few months of rest he was heading back to his mission. On October 18th, he was tomahawked in the neck. His companions were killed with him. St. John Brébeuf and other Jesuits were killed at about the same time in Canada.

Want to help the Church to grow? Imagine leaving your family, your home and going to the other side of the world to tell the world about God’s love for the human family and the risks that are involved. Maybe we should be putting a larger check into that collection plate.

Cleanup for Johannes Festival 2013

The youth group from Alto spent the morning cleaning up the convent to get ready for next week's second annual Johannes Festival.  After the cleanup we played a few matches of soccer.