The 1st Sunday of Advent the wonderful community of Buenos Aires learned about the Advent and these amazing ladies made Advent wreaths for the 1st time!
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Finding Joy and thankfulness amidst immense grief this Thanksgiving!
Finding Joy and thankfulness amidst immense grief this Thanksgiving!
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| Leading prayer for the family |
It was just last Thursday that we as a community were celebrating the anticipation of his birth and honoring his brave mother for choosing life as a single mother. And now this Thursday the day that Gabriel and I had planned a thanksgiving feast for the community has now turned into a day of grieving for not only for Amelia and her 2 older children, her extended family and the community but in a large way it has effected Gabriel and I as we grief the realness of the reality in where we live and how the poor are left to grief and try to make sense of death on their own, with no church and no pastoral care to be found.
I ask you for your prayers for God to heal this small community that is grieving today, ask God to stretch hearts and to turn their grieving into thankfulness and allow them to see His goodness in all things. Please pray for Amelia as she finds a way to grief the loss of her baby while remaining strong for her two older children.
To be honest, I must say perhaps I am writing this in hopes of finding healing for myself, as I look for a way to process the sadness of the last two days. Many of you know that being a foreign missionary and braving this front is not for the weak in faith, we are grateful that we are here to walk alongside the community so they can find ways to be grateful. Please pray for Gabriel and I that we may be bold and strong in our witness as we walk with an entire community whose hearts were just broken.
Let us be thankful that despite our denied request from our local priest to come and baptize little Alvaro Emmanuel before his death, we know God is merciful and our beautiful Church teaches that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism.
Let us be thankful that though Gabriel and I are so very inadequate for the mission here, it is because of YOU, our missions’ partners, that we are here living and suffering in solidarity with the poor bringing truth and hope through pastoral care to those in our community that would otherwise have none.
Let us be thankful for all the Good that God will bring from this suffering.
Today let us be Thankful for Alvaro Emmanuel,
Saint Alvaro Emmanuel – pray for us!
Mission Post:
Casa de Santa María Magdalena:
Caserio Santa Clara Peru
Follow the link below to learn more about Santa Maria Magdelana´s home, its mission, and how to partner with us.
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| Just a week prior we were celebrating Amilias baby shower |
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| Leaving the hospital yesterday, Amilia is being led by her sister, and her brother is carrying baby Alvaro Emmanuel |
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| There are no words that can be expressed when you are asked to return both mother and baby after such an experience. Needless to say it was a drive up the mountain through muddy roads in silent prayer! |
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| Sweet Baby Alvaro Emmanuel Pray for us! |
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| Gabriel, at 15 he is so mature and such a wonderful missionary. He is like his mother and does not want people to just sit in hopelessness, so he invites them to sing. |
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| Walking to the down the mountain to the local cemetery |
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Someone told me the other night I was celebrating SIN.
Someone told me the other night I was celebrating SIN.
You may be wondering why they said something like this to me, so let me provide some context for you. Gabriel and I were eager to host a baby shower for a young pregnant mother named Amelia who recently arrived in our community. We made simple baby shower invitations and before Gabriel and I delivered them we said a quick prayer over them that Jesus would allow Amelia and her body to wait to give birth until the baby shower since her due date was so close. In the process of handing the invitations out throughout our community an older lady asked me, “in your country do you people always celebrate sin”? I was caught off guard, so I asked her, “what do you mean celebrate sin?” She said “well, you always host baby showers for women who are not married, who have children from different fathers, so to me you enjoy celebrating sin.”
My heart stopped upon hearing her statement to me. I was trying to figure out if she was attacking me, or Amelia, or perhaps both of us with her words. I asked her “would you rather me throw stones at her or tell her that she is not worthy to be a mother or that her child is not worthy of being born”? I did not even wait for a reply, I just said “that is not what Jesus would do!”
Jesus would not throw stones at a single pregnant mother who was brave enough to not have an abortion. Jesus would shower her with mercy, forgiveness, support, comfort and he would accept her and help her avoid sin in the future. And the Catholic Church teaches that we are called to mirror the same kind of love to single mothers or “Other people in “irregular situations,” or non-traditional families, like single mothers, need to be offered “understanding, comfort and acceptance” When it comes to these people, indeed everyone, the church need to stop applying moral laws, as if they were, in the pope’s vivid phrase, “stones to throw at a person’s life”. (Apostolic Exhortation, The Joy of Love - Amoris Laetita, Pope Francis)
We as humans are so eager to judge others and to calculate if someone is worthy or not. So many pregnant mothers hide in the shadows and hear the comments from the unapproving and replay in their heads, all that THEY DID WRONG to be in this situation alone. The truth is many are scared to lend a hand, and to celebrate the beautiful miracle that pregnancy is. Instead, they see it as a celebration of sin.
The fact is that single mothers are not to be considered not worthy of our love and help. They should be embraced and helped by all of us, because that is what Jesus would do. After all, how many times can we recall from the bible when Jesus drew near to sinners, and the encounter changed their lives! My thought is what if showering a single mother with love and support and acknowledge the hardship she is in, could be the very encounter that makes her see Jesus for the 1st time in her entire life?
Together let us learn to love like Jesus!
Karen and Gabriel (Celebrating a single mother and new life!)
Mission Post:
Casa de Santa María Magdalena:
Caserio Santa Clara Peru
Follow the link below to learn more about Santa Maria Magdelana´s home, its mission, and how to partner with us.
Thursday, September 18, 2025
His love heals all wounds
His love heals all wounds
This is
just one of the glorious stories of how His love heals all wounds!
Before I
begin, we must recall that Jesus heals not only the body; but he also heals
those who are sick in spirit. Jesus desires to heal tired and restless
hearts, or to use St. Augustine’s image, hearts of stone, or at least of
uncleanliness. Jesus searches for those hearts distant from God, and
desires to bring them rest and healing. And praise His Holy name because
by approaching the Divine Physician those hearts of stones can be healed and
given new life. Plainly put, Jesus came to heal all, those who are
physically sick and those who are spiritually sick. And this is a clear case of
both, I must say.
You see,
not too many years ago I met Geiber, a very angry man who came to find Irma his
wife one night here at Santa Maria Magdalena’s Home. Geiber was clearly mad,
and his wife and children looked scared as he approached. Geiber wanted to know
why his wife and his children were spending so much time at the Home. He wanted
to know if I was trying to separate them, or if Irma was speaking about their
relationship troubles with me, and what lies she has been telling me.
On this
particular night he approached me as the rest of the community was leaving
after adoration, it was around 9:30 at night. I invited Geiber into the house
with his family so that we could talk. I explained to him that his wife
and children have been coming to the home to visit and to spend time with
Jesus. I explained and assured him she was on her way home and that we had just
finished up with adoration along with the rest of the community in the chapel.
I took
this as an opportunity to invite him to come next Thursday. He remarked with a
sinister laugh; He told me that it was best that he did not come because the
community does not accept him due to his past. I told him that it did not
matter what the community accepts because Jesus accepts everyone and that this
house and its chapel is for everyone, and that Jesus' love was for everyone.
Not
shortly after Geiber and his family left, a few members of the community came
back to the home to check on me to make sure I was ok, as they were concerned
for me and Gabriel. They wanted to tell me it was not safe to be alone with
Geiber and warned me that I should not allow him inside and that he has done
many bad things to people in the community. The concerned members of our
small town told me he was a very angry drunk and a thief. They did not
hesitate to tell me of a past incident when he pulled a knife on our local
Catechist. I assured them that we were ok and told them that I wasn’t going to
let my fears get in the way, that I came here to serve Jesus, and his beloved
people even if that meant giving my life to do so.
So, you
can only imagine the look of surprise on my face and the communities when
Geiber showed up to adoration the next weekend. Maybe he was just there to keep
control over his family, maybe he was there to make plans to harm me and
Gabriel. But one thing is for sure is that Jesus had other plans for Geiber and
his family.
It
did not take long for Geiber and his family to become regulars at every prayer
night, adoration and activities here at the Home. In fact, their attendance
became predictable, and they even attended our Valentine’s Day couples retreat
for the past two years and held a rosary at their home. It was clear that
we were building a friendship based on the now and not on the past. Just like
Jesus does!
When
things were looking up for this couple, tragedy hit. Don Geiber, as some of you
may remember, was diagnosed with cancer, and he needed help to travel to Lima
for treatment. And after a long battle and many trips back and forth for
treatment he has been told that there are no more signs of cancer. But
that’s not all the Lord has healed.
Over the
last few years, the relationship between Geiber and Irma has healed, there has
been reconciliation, forgiveness and a newfound love for each other and for
Jesus. It has been such a remarkable honor to witness. Jesus has healed their
past wounds not only between them as a couple, but also the wounds that were
inflicted by their blindness and hardened hearts upon their children as well as
the community.
Today as they received their sacrament of marriage an outward sign of just how much Jesus has healed their hearts and made them one in His image. And in a real way the little community of Santa Clara has witnessed a healing miracle as well. One can only pray that this miracle of healing will become a true inspiration for all those who have witnessed it. One can only pray that from such a transformation of healing that this beautiful family has experienced that many more will have courage themselves seek Jesus’s healing power. After all, he came to heal and transform our hearts! For "those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:17, RSV
May together we learn to love like Jesus!
Mission Post:
Casa de Santa María Magdalena:
Caserio Santa Clara Peru
Follow the link below to learn more about Santa Maria Magdelana´s home, its mission, and how to partner with us.
Friday, August 15, 2025
Priests are human not superhuman
Serving the Poor does that also include our Priests here in Peru?
Perhaps this is a
question or something similar that has entered your mind when you hear about
the annual Priest retreat that we hold during the 1st week of
August each year.
To be honest I even
question myself and Jesus each year wondering if we are indeed in line with His
will. I question Jesus about the fact I have nothing to offer; I am not in any
way intellectually superior to the Priests, I cannot even begin to hold an
in-depth theological conversation with them at an academic level. And each year
despite my doubts the Lord confirms with me that he does indeed desire us to
serve and love on our Priests because they are suffering incredible poverty.
You might be wondering
what kind of poverty priests experience, as we are accustomed to the Priests in
the USA, they do not suffer too harshly from material poverty but indeed can
suffer a great deal from spiritual poverty which oftentimes goes unnoticed.
Here in Peru our Priests suffer greatly both materially and spiritually.
They are ridiculed by
their parents, because they cannot help support them in their old age, they are
faced with an inconceivable large parish to shepherd, leaving them often over tasked and overburdened which affects their spiritual journey with the
Lord. Perhaps an even more grim reality is that they struggle when they
see their brother Priests renounce their vocation of Priesthood.
The fact is that when we
started hosting the Priest retreat, we had 33 Priests, we are now down to 26
Priests. We lost one to an accident as he fell from a tall ladder when he was
cleaning the Church windows. Another has been removed from his duties as not
fit to serve, 2 have retired, and lastly 3 have discerned out of the Priesthood
after serving for 2-4 years in our Dioceses and now have been allowed to return
to be laymen, with one of them even marrying.
So, you can see why I would question if it is worth hosting a Priest retreat, as the goal that my heart desired is not really working. But praise be to God I stumbled across this quote from Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, S.P., as he said, “In strengthening the priest you strengthen the whole Church… Strengthen the priest and you strengthen the whole foundation, you strengthen everything in the Church.” I didn’t know who Father Gerald Fitzgerald was, so I had to learn more. I found that Father Fitgerald desired to help his brother Priests who were struggling spiritually, who were under attack, and he even opened a home for struggling Priests. Here is a wonderful website with more information about Father Fitzgerald if you’re inspired to learn more. http://www.theservants.org/WhoWeAre/FoundingoftheCongregation.aspx
I share this with each of you for several reasons, first I pray it will help encourage you not to be discouraged when you do not see the outcomes of your desires. Secondly, I pray it will inspire you to find ways to encourage and support Priests. You may recognize that yes, they are to be our spiritual Fathers, but we need to remember that “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it” (1 Cor 12:26). So, we need to lift up our Priests in Prayer. We need to remember that they are human and not superhuman. We should be eager to take on the attitude of prayer and penance, and to grow in the gift of compassion and mercy for our Priests. And lastly, I share this with you to say thank you. Thank you or all those who partner with us in the Lord mission here. We could have folded our cards and bowed out of hosting the retreat this year because we did not receive any direct donations this year, but instead we were able to redirect money (after asking for permission) that was sent to be used for personal needs for our family by a benefactor to the Priest retreat, and we were able to host the 4th annual Priest retreat once again. So, let’s give a shout out to our Lord for always making a way!
The poor priests from our dioceses along with our bishop and a guest priest from Trujillo that we invited to lead talks and formation for the retreat. The theme for this year's retreat was from the Gospel of Matthew where in Jesus says " I desire mercy not sacrifices" Mt 9:13. And praise God that all of them were all able to share meals together and share their struggles and glory stories with one another. They celebrated mass together, played games and just relaxed for the week. This was one of the man desires of the retreat and God allowed this to happen.
All glory and honor is His!
Thank you again for your missionary hearts and your prayers for us!
May together we learn to love like Jesus!
Mission Post: Casa de Santa María Magdalena: Caserio Santa Clara Peru
Follow the link below to learn more about Santa Maria Magdelana´s home, its mission, and how to partner with us.
Friday, August 8, 2025
Then and now : 2019 vs 2025
It was not my plan, but indeed, it was Jesus’s plan for us to
live in solidarity with the poor for so long! As a missionary with FMC, we have the option to
change mission posts after are 1st initial commitment which when we entered
missions in 2017 it was at that time, after 1 year that we could discern to
move to other post. Which we discerned after our 1st year was
completed at the end of 2018 that in fact Jesus was calling us to move to a
different region of Peru, further North, to start a new mission post. So, in
2019 we made the move, and we could have never guessed that this is where we
would find such peace and a place to call home.
Gennie Summers, FMC’s founder, had told us during our
training that we must make a home that we should not live out of our suitcases;
she was firm about the fact we must unpack our suitcases and put down roots. Well,
I cannot lie it took us awhile, in fact we lived out of our suitcases up until
2022 or 2023, it took us that long to have something other than a suitcase as a
dresser. It took us just as long to have a real mattress. (by real mattress I
mean something thicker than a yoga mat.) So I honestly would say we failed this requirement,
but it was not because we were desiring to stay on a constant state of alert and
ready to bug out or return back to the states at the 1st sign of
danger or defeat, it was because we never wanted to take money we raised for
missions, for the poor and spend it on us! In hindsight I wish we would have been brave
enough to do so, it would have made daily life a bit more bearable and perhaps a
bit less back pain. LOL
The fact is long term foreign missionaries require a bit of detachment,
when a say a bit, I mean a lot! We give up comforts of life in the USA, we give
up visits with families, customs and even our own native language, even our
freedom in some cases as foreign long-term missionaries. We have been asked to enter
into the life of those around us. It is different from a short-term trip or a 2-year
assignment where there is an end in sight and life returns to how one’s life was
before.
I have been reflecting a lot and the other day when we were serving
in one of my favorite ministries in a small mountain town of Buenos Aires that
we have been going to since 2019 kind of choked me up a bit, it made me grateful
that Jesus intentionally called me to such a beautiful place, and to live among
such beautiful people who have given and taught me more than I could have ever
given or taught them. I can honestly say that this is my home, I am
with those who Jesus desires me to be with, to live in solidarity with. Though
I miss friends, family and the birth of my 4 grandchildren, Jesus has in a very
intentional way filled my heart with the souls of the poor who I desire to
serve well.
I share with you a picture of Calais and I that we tried to
recreate from when he was younger during our 1st years of living
here. Perhaps we have both changed in more ways than one, a bit taller, a bit
more grey hair on my part, but one thing is for sure we have become true friends!
Please prayerfully consider becoming a mission partner with us! The Mission here would not exist without the generous hearts of so many who support us and ministries and outreach programs we are involved in. As full time Lay Catholic missionaries we live and serve the poor from the donations that we receive. No amount is too small. Please follow the link below to become a mission partner.
https://www.familymissionscompany.com/project/karen-del-castillo/
May we learn to love like Jesus!
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