Take a long walk off a short pier!

Praise the Lord!  Headed back to Appleton right now about 18,000 ft above Georgia!  The document Redemptoris Missio specifically talks about the missionary nature of the Church in the times we live.  One particular means that we have at our disposal is swift transportation that can bring us to many parts of the world very quickly.  With modern technology and communication, along with travel there is no excuse to making ourselves available to go out AD GENTES.  This particular form of evangelization seems to run in my veins!  There is a "wanderlust" running in me that I can't necessarily shake.

Since last blogging, I met up with the missionary interns in Miami and traveled west along Alligator Alley to Ave Maria.  There we met up with Ben Houde, a missionary in his own ranks who worked with Paul Rush in Nicaragua.  From there, we headed up to Brandenton to meet with some familiar friends from the Fox Valley, Ken and Doris Wolff.

This morning, I was given the opportunity to share our story with the parishioners at Sts. Peter & Paul Parish in Bradenton.  One of the principles of Christianity I stress with young people is that there are no dead ends in life.  Often it is easy to begin to think that if we make a particular decision in life that we are locked into something with no way out.  Often this fear paralyzes young people to make a serious commitment to a vocation.  The picture above is a pier we walked down yesterday.  At the end is a restaurant with fantastic fresh fish (it was Ash Wednesday).  We were taken there and it could seem that once we got out to the end of the pier, there was no where else to go.  That may be true physically, but spiritually the end of the pier was the beginning of a spiritual solidarity with the older couples we spent time with.  I told them that our east coast tour of Florida was ministry to the youth.  Our west coast tour has been a ministry to the young of heart.  The evening culminated in a talk with these Catholics of deep faith.  Such a humbling and life-giving encounter that begins a renewed sense of mission for all of us in the year of faith.

Two people I was not expecting was Tony and Mary Jane.  Tony is co-owner of Bell Heights Center were we run CYE Base Camp!  I couldn't believe it!  I've bumped into Tony a few times when he would stop by Base Camp, but this time we really had a chance to get to know one another and I was really amazed by the faith, hope and love of this couple.

This missionary road trip tour is full of new beginnings!  There are no dead ends in the spiritual life.  If you are struggling to see hope in you life.  If you are yearning to know that God loves you so intimately and tenderly in the midst of human weakness and sin, I encourage you to turn to Him this Lent.  Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Do not resign to the world which continually thwarts the hope of the Christian message of love!  Jesus love you!  He is with you!  He will never leave you!  You may seem that the end is nothing but a termination of dreams and aspirations, but the end is really the beginning!  It is the door at the end of the dark hallway that once opened can reveal a blinding light of hope.  So go take a long walk off a short pier!  See what happens!  I promise you, God will not let you down!

Please keep us in prayer!  Please pray for our safety.  I travel back to Green Bay to have a dinner with friends, hear confessions, go to a priest day of reflection and meet with an engaged couple.  On Saturday night, I plan on driving down to Auburn, Alabama to meet back up with the missionary interns.  Does anyone read this?