From Hudson to Colón: A Missionary Experience

Greeting people after Daily Mass on the morning of July 4^th one of our parishioners asked me if I would be writing a bulletin article to recap my 10-day mission trip to Mexico. Wow. What a difficult task. Here goes.

First question. Why did I go to Mexico? Well, by far the most surprising element of my priestly ministry thus far has been how great a need and opportunity there is here in St. Croix County for service to our Spanish-speaking community. Christmas Eve and Day of 2023 was really the turning point for us here when over 200 native Spanish-speakers attended Mass here in Hudson and Hammond to celebrate that Solemnity. In the weeks to follow, Fr. John and I discussed next steps including the possibility of traveling to Latin America to continue to improve my grasp of the Spanish language.

In early January I received an e-mail from the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) inviting me to serve as a chaplain for a summer mission trip. One of the options was a trip to Colón, Mexico. The dates worked for my schedule and after some prayer and discussion I said yes once again to serve with FOCUS, the organization that I worked for from 2015-2017 and which was so instrumental in preparing me to discern a vocation to the priesthood.

On Sunday, June 23^rd I flew to Querétaro, Mexico where I met up with the other 12 participants on the mission trip including three missionaries and nine college students, hailing from Nebraska, California, Louisiana, and Kentucky. I was extraordinarily fortunate to meet these young people all striving to live a life of faithfulness to Christ and His Church.

Upon arriving in Mexico, we traveled to the outskirts of the city of Colón, a town of about 10,000 people. There, the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity (SOLT) has served an incredible mission known as Santa Maria del Mexicano for 40-plus years. The mission includes five houses and three schools serving young boys and young girls, teenage boys and teenage girls, and the elderly. All together, the mission there serves more than 200 residents. Our group of 13 worked alongside the two priests, three religious sisters, one religious brother, and seven lay volunteers to lead retreats, play games, travel on field trips, and learn about the joys and struggles of life among the Mexican people. If you’d like more information on the mission at Santa Maria, you can visit: https://www.santamariadelmexicano.org/.

Both personally and pastorally, the trip was an incredibly profound experience of God’s love and mercy. I am both grateful for what took place there and also reinvigorated to continue my service as a missionary priest here in the mission fields of Hudson, St. Croix County, and beyond.

Continuing the theme of Hispanic ministry, I will share in next week’s bulletin article an overview of what’s happened with Hispanic ministry through my first year in the parish and look ahead at some of what is planned here in the future.

Gracias a Dios (Thanks be to God).