Renewed
Door sign from when Theresa and I got back!
These months consisted of readjusting to life on mission after being home on my month-long vacation. We were also blessed to be able to go on a week-long retreat in the mountains with the Lord.
Retreat
"Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her". -Hosea 2:14
In the last week of August, we were blessed to spend a week on retreat in the mountains of Marcala, La Paz. We stayed in a secluded cabin, three hours up in the mountains, lent to us by the Missioners of Christ, a Catholic Christian community based in Comayagua, Honduras, that evangelizes, disciples, and serves the poor. While their primary retreat house is in Comayagua, this cabin offered us a quiet escape, where the air was fresh and cool at night, yet warmed by the sun during the day. The mountains are dotted with coffee farms on nearly every block, and many families have their own personal coffee gardens. Riding up the mountain in the bed of a pick-up truck, breathing in the crisp air mingled with the scent of roasting coffee beans, is an experience unlike any other.
The retreat had no strict agenda beyond being with Christ wherever and however He called us. We did have a few scheduled activities, including daily Holy Hours, a day of silence, and a hike to the waterfall, but most of the time was spent simply enjoying the mountains like children. One of the Missioners of Christ, Alejandro, who lives nearby in the mountains, guided us on our waterfall hike. The views along the way were stunning, and we encountered fresh fruit trees as well. I am continuously amazed by the Lord’s abundance, especially in the form of sweet, juicy produce!
The water at the waterfall was icy cold, but the sun that day quickly warmed us back up. During the hike, Alejandro shared that he owns his own coffee farm and is quite the expert at making coffee. He asked if he could come over later to treat us to a cup—it took no convincing, and it was incredible. It was a week of refreshment, both for the body and the spirit, and a gentle reminder of how abundant and generous the Lord is in even the smallest ways.
The most beautiful part of this retreat for me was returning to this retreat house because this is where I stayed on my first-ever mission trip in 2022. My first blog post shares my experience on that trip with the Missioners of Christ, but in short, it was here that I felt the Lord call me back to Honduras. It was through the face of a woman, Paula María García, that I saw the face of the Virgin Mother. Since she lived not far from our house, a friend was able to take me to visit her on his motorcycle. Being back in her home was surreal in the way that it felt like home. With a little prompting and a few pictures, she remembered me. Sheltered in her home from the rain, we shared a cup of sweet, strong, delicious coffee, some bread, and reminisced about when we first met. It was easy to remember why I had felt so near to Christ in her home. It is hard for me to explain the way I felt in her home - a peace, a comfort, a hope, but a hope that is grounded and that knows the Cross. The way she spoke of suffering was not that of searching for pity. No, the way she spoke was like she had encountered a secret garden. She spoke as if she could see roses along the road to Calvary. She knows pain, but she also knows the sweetness that comes from satisfying the Thirst of Jesus by suffering with Him.
