March 23, 2025
We are standing on Holy Ground.
Silly things: like Gari (a member of the Dominican Republic team of young adults), pushing a heavy wheelbarrow of newly mixed cement up the hill to the new house we are constructing in Cabarete. The wheelbarrow is heavy, so Lisa (a member of the American team) is pushing Gari from behind to help him up the hill. It is a moment of levity that is captured on video and played over and over at dinner after a hard day of work. The laughter and smiles help to “cement” the relationships between the Americans and the Dominicans.
Simple things: like seeing the eyes of a second teacher light up when she learns a new strategy in teaching reading that has been introduced by Janet and her team of educators.
Sacred things: like getting up early every morning and spending an hour in Centering prayer with Fr. Joachim. Every day, Fr Joachim teaches by example his gentle message of non-blaming, non-judgmental communication, and the unconditional love of God. He reminds us, “this mission is not about us doing good things. This is about allowing God to love others through us.”
Successful things: Estella, a young Dominican missionary, who received a college scholarship from the American team10 years ago, is a teacher in her native village of La Cienega. She now supervises the 53 scholarship recipients of the Dominican team. Enel, a Haitian man who joined the mission in 1991, received a scholarship, graduated from college and is now the leader of the Dominican team.
Scriptural things: In today’s first reading we hear that Moses was shepherding sheep for Laban, his mother’s brother. He came upon a burning bush, from which God said, “take off your shoes, the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then God says, “tell the Israelites I have heard their cry and witnessed their affliction.” And then God tells Moses that he has chosen him to confront Pharaoh and free the Hebrews from their harsh slavery in Egypt.
God has chosen us, too, for mission. The bush that is burning but not consumed can represent all forms of surprise, amazement, and even confusion in our lives. First we are invited to take off our shoes, become vulnerable, leave aside our armor, and enter a place that is strange for us.
But it all starts with taking a risk to get outside our comfort zones.
When we choose to let ourselves be drawn into new situations beyond our settled, secure place, it leads us to the holy ground of transformation.
A Surprising thing: It may start by taking time apart from busy schedules to go on Spring Vacation. Look for possibilities. Who do you run across that nobody else notices? How can you establish human contact? Like Moses, when we allow God to lead us into the unknown, the mysterious, the holy, we can be awakened to a new calling. He was a shepherd of sheep that became a leader among his people. What might we allow God to draw forth from us?
P.S. If my report piqued your interest, and you’d like to learn more about the Adelante Youth Mission, visit adelanteyouthmission.org.
I’ll leave you with a story Fr. Joachim shared to end week one of the mission:
There were three men pushing heavy wheelbarrows. When asked, the first one said “I am pushing this wheelbarrow because I have always done it.” The second one said “I have to push this wheelbarrow in order to feed my family.” The third said with a big smile and great energy, “I am helping to build a Cathedral!” The first man was acting out of habit. The second was acting out of “Have to.” The Third was acting out of love. He was building a Cathedral of love.
Paulist Fr. Bill Edens is a senior priest based the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Grand Rapids, Mich.