Southern Nebraska Register
Members of Cristo Rey Parish in Lincoln recently returned from its third mission trip to a mission in Mexico, presenting retreats.
Parishioner Blanca Fowler said the idea and the desire for the “beloved” mission began six years ago.
“Our Cristo Rey group ‘La Guadalupana’ was having its weekly meeting of prayer and study when Ricardo Vazquez from Crete shared his idea,” she recalled. “He said, ‘In my hometown in Mexico, almost no one goes to Mass anymore. We should go to Mexico and give a retreat.’”
After more discussion, much prayer and discernment, Fowler said, “we felt God calling us to go on mission.”
They formed a team and began studies and preparations. Fundraising was crucial to cover all the expenses they would face.
“We would need to rent a large tent, tables and chairs,” she explained. “We would need sound equipment, copies, food, et cetera.”
But the group persevered and just a year later, Fowler said, the group, “nervous and excited, arrived at the very poor town of La Haciendita, which means ‘small farm.’”
The first mission trip was a fruitful experience for the participants. Many people came to the retreat and returned to attending Mass. Many received the sacrament of confession and received Communion.
“Many of God’s children came back to the house of the Father,” Fowler said. “Praise God!”
Three priests from the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln attended the most recent trip: Father Rafael Rodriguez, Father Christopher Barak and Father Bernard Lorenz. They accompanied 14 lay people – one bringing her baby along.
“With love and hope,” Fowler said, “each of us paid for our own plane ticket, showing that life is truly worth living, serving, and sharing our amazing Catholic faith!”
During the trip, the group presented two retreats of liberation and healing. The retreats were offered in poor areas in the mountains, and 600 people attended each retreat.
“During the retreat days,” Father Barak said, “people lined up in front of me for many hours to receive prayers of deliverance from demons and blessings from Jesus.
“They came, pouring out their marriage and family troubles, jobs and financial difficulties, emotional sufferings, physical ailments, chronic diseases and their turmoil due to witchcraft and healers,” he continued. “They begged for God to deliver them from evil spirits that were causing or intensifying their troubles. After my short five minutes with each of them, they all expressed great gratitude for the prayers and blessings from Jesus through the priest. They felt more free, and their serious or sad facial expressions turned into joyful, confident smiles in the Lord’s love and care for them.”
The grace of God was powerful and effective in the two retreats, according to Father Lorenz.
He said the witness of the missionaries was powerful “and touched my heart.”
“The many confessions of the faithful souls were a powerful expression of the power of God’s Love for me,” he added. “Announcing the love of God and remembering, with the people, that God loves us today and wants to love us forever in Heaven was a joy.”
He said one message he tried to share in the retreats was that the devil wants sadness, despair and anger.
“God wants joy, hope and love,” he said. “We live in the Gospel of God and not in the ‘gospel’ of the devil. Each time that we are joyful in our sonship and daughtership of God, God wins. Let us win with God our Father, Good Shepherd, friend, Bread of Heaven and Savior!”
Father Rodriguez is pastor of Cristo Rey Parish. He said the local host team and the two communities were extremely welcoming.
“They truly opened their homes and hearts to us,” he said. “We all truly felt at home with them and were so grateful for their great hospitality. It was very moving to see the great faith and hope in God’s love of the participants to the retreat.”
He said some people arrived at the retreats looking worried and or angry, but as the retreats took place, the same people became more joyful and hopeful.
“Several of the retreat participants waited for a long time to go to confession,” he added. “It was a great blessing to be able to hear several hours of confessions during each of the two retreats. It was an amazing opportunity to be an instrument of God’s grace as the penitents received God’s love, healing and mercy.”
Fowler was moved by the intensity of the experience, as well.
“What an amazing time that was for all of us!” she said. “We loved the people of God, and they loved us back. We danced, sang and cried together. We shared our testimonies, we had the amazing opportunity to pray, go to Mass together as brother and sisters in Christ.”
A couple of different towns invited the group back for next year, she said.
“We told them, ‘With God’s help we are coming back!’”
After two weeks of mission, the group went to Mexico City to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“We gave thanks to our Mother and Queen for such a fruitful and incredible mission,” Fowler said. They also visited the bishop of Texcoco, His Excellency Juan Manuel Mansilla Sanchez, who she described as “a dear friend of our group.”
Donations for future missions in Mexico, are gratefully accepted at Cristo Rey Parish.
Courtesy photos
