SOLT Mission: Benque Viejo, Belize by Cameron
We borrowed Fr. Scott's car because we needed to pick him up from the airport, as he had been attending a funeral out in the States. I think my Mom was having too much fun driving around because it was the exact model of her old 1998 car, and it was a manual transmission, and it wasn't Nugget.
It was about a three-hour drive, but eventually, we arrived at the Catholic church there. At the exact moment that we pulled up, some people there from the church were beginning a rosary walk. So we joined their group and walked around that neighborhood praying the rosary with them.
Then, we had Mass there, which was very nice. I really liked how the windows and doors were wide open. There were also very nice Lenten decorations around the church, like Jesus pictures and thorns.The homily was very nice, and about Mary saying yes to God. FIAT FIAT FIAT FIAT. The Mass was was in a mix of Spanish and English (Spanglish), and I liked to be able to follow along, and not have the whole Mass in Spanish.
Afterward, we had dinner with some of the SOLT missionaries who live in Benque. They had signed on to teach at a SOLT high school there for a year, and some of them had previously gone to Benedictine College near where we live here. There is also a Catholic junior college that SOLT missionary volunteers teach at called John Paul II that was up on a hill and had a beautiful view.
Here is a link:
Afterward, one of the missonaries led us on a small motorcycle to a retreat center where we were staying. (I do believe that Belize has the sketchiest, steepest hills, with no traction, that I have ever seen in my life). We got to the very large house at the retreat center and stayed the night. It was on this great big hill, and surrounded by nature, and you could even see some Mayan ruins from the top of it. Note: Carson got his nature fix by sleeping outside in a hammock, but I opted out that night to see how it went with him, as there are bugs that poop in your eyes.
The next morning, we went back to the church to have Mass and to be there for the Marian Consecration. Afterward, there was a small breakfast to celebrate the newly consecrated. Then, we spent time getting know a SOLT missionary family at their house. Following that, we went as a big group to a river that we swam in that afternoon. The river was a nice temperature, and it had really cool rapids.
Black Rock on the Macal River
The next day we headed out early, stopped at a gas station for meat pies, picked up Father Scott along the way (he was at a silent retreat), and then got to church in Belize City just in time for Mass. Then, we got a ride back to the blue house and went back to using ol' Nugget (my Mom's joyrides were quite over).
I was, and am still, very grateful that we went on that trip. I am also grateful for being able to meet a lot of SOLT missionaries, because I definitely feel inspired by them, and also all the priests.
Thank you so much for reading this blog post! I hope you enjoyed hearing about that particular trip. You are all included in our nightly prayer so please pray for us too!
God bless you all,
Cameron
