BEING PRESENT
- to serve those most in need

Tuesday evening, September 18, I met with ten Hondurans to talk about initiating a lunch program for street kids and other poor kids on the grounds of the bishop’s office. This “comedor infantil” has been a dream of the bishop’s for some time and there is a couple that is taking the lead. But my willingness to assist seems to have helped jumpstart the project.

Several of those who attended are retired professionals – teachers or nurses – who are very enthused about t he project and are willing to help. We’ll be meeting every Tuesday night for a few weeks to begin to work out details.

As we prayed at the beginning of the meeting one woman prayed for “those most in need.” It reminded me that when I have been asked why I wanted to minister in Honduras, my response was “to be of service to those most in need.”

One major detail of the project is renovating the building we’ll be using. Bishop Santos arrived as the meeting was about to end. He had spoken to a local contractor who examined the place and noted the needs, including a new roof and some structural repairs. It might be a little costly. I told the bishop that there was $2000 available from the Community Outreach Tithe of St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Ames, to use for this. This should help.

I am looking forward to helping with this very concrete project to help kids here. Malnutrition is quite a major problem here.

As I reflected on the project and also on my work in campus ministry at the Catholic University here, I noticed that in one sense I am not really doing a lot, but my presence here has helped local people move forward. This is very different from what I expected, but perhaps this is, at this time, the best way to be an instrument of God’s love and justice.