Mexico 2019 (SPS Theology II)

After a wonderful two-and-a-half weeks serving the poor, learning, and exploring in Mexico City, on Friday it was finally time to return to the US and get ready for the Spring Semester. Many of the men got up early for 6am Mass at the shrine, then climbed Tepeyac hill to watch the sun rise and […]

What a wonderful week it was spending “quiet” time at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Of course nothing and nowhere is ever actually quiet in Mexico City, but the Carmelite sisters gave us good advice last week when they reminded us that the quiet we really need is interior, and that that kind […]

On Sunday the Theology II seminarians got split into two groups. One went to a women’s shelter and the other group, my group, went back to Saint Matthew’s Parish. Brother Joseph P.E.S, Michael Rienhardt, Adam Johnson, and I arrived early via Uber. The trek from the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe to San Matteo […]

Since we have been on this journey something which I have found difficult is the language barrier.  I took two years of Spanish in high school which has helped me read signs and menus.  However, I cannot converse with anyone.  This has been very difficult because I love talking with people.  I enjoy sharing the […]

This weekend we worked with an organization called “Hope for the Poor”. We visited a park near the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Saturday. It was an interesting place: full of pilgrim groups having picnics and forming up to walk the last few blocks to the Basilica, and also full of homeless people. […]

On Wednesday some of the men returned to the lunch program in San Matteo to spend time with the kids and their mothers. They had quite a trip across the city to get there, but had the joy of serving both the children and their mothers just by being a joyful presence and an example […]

On Monday some of the seminarians took a city bus out to the San Matteo neighborhood, where the Missionary Brothers of Charity live, to visit a public lunch program. Unlike in US schools, kids in Mexico don’t receive a free or subsidized lunch at school, so this program provides a lunch as well as some […]

A few days ago, a number of us were blessed to make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe with the Missionaries of Charity for the first time. It ended up being a longer adventure than we expected. A bus was supposed to come and pick us up at 7:30 but the […]

On Saturday afternoon several of us visited the local parish church-Nuestra Señora de la Asunción-to pray. It was clear as soon as we came into the square in front of the Church that there was an event going on, but when we approached the church somebody in back assured us we had at least a […]

Many of us joined the Missionaries of Charity in marching to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a huge crowd of pilgrims for the Archdiocese of Mexico City’s annual pilgrimage. It was a wonderful experience getting to join so many people in paying tribute to Our Lady. See some more pictures below. Viva […]