As Did the Magi - I'll Make a Journey Soon - Jan 8, 2023

Dear Friends,

After staying in Austin for Christmas and New Year’s, I’ll be leaving for a 12-day trip to Central America on Monday morning, January 9. The Maryknoll Fathers sponsor an annual pilgrimage and retreat for priests and deacons to El Salvador and Guatemala to learn about the history of religious sisters and priests who worked in pursuit of justice in the 1980s. Many were killed by the military, including four American women working in El Salvador and a priest from Oklahoma working in Guatemala. Fr. Chuck, Fr, Mike McGarry, and many other Paulists highly recommended this trip after having made it themselves. With Fr. Bruce and Fr. Mike available to help Fr. Chuck with daily Masses, the timing was perfect for me to travel for 12 days.

This will be my third trip to El Salvador. In 2008, I went with other students from the UCC during Spring Break to help build houses and learn about the history of Msgr. Oscar Romero, the bishop of San Salvador who was killed while celebrating Mass at a convent in 1980. In 2010, I spent two months volunteering at a school in El Salvador for students threatened by gangs. Gangs will often retaliate against children who refuse to join them, so this school was a secure refuge that allowed boys 13 to 18 the opportunity to safely resist. Unfortunately, I have read in the news that the situation has worsened over the past decade.

Many migrants at the southern-US border are Central Americans escaping gang violence in El Salvador or Central America, and their story is increasingly part of our own. Though I’m already familiar with the life of
Archbishop Romero, I’m curious to learn firsthand about the present situation in Central America and discern how we as a church are called to witness to human dignity and promote justice.

Please pray for me and for the other priests and deacons attending this pilgrimage, and I look forward to sharing my experiences when I return.

God bless,