Crossed The Tiber

An Evangelical Converts to Catholicism

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Location: Pennsylvania, United States

I was born into the Catholic faith. At 14, I was "born again" and found Jesus personally but lost His Church. After thirty years as an evangelical protestant, I have come full circle to find that He has been there all the time, in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I wish others to find the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith as I have found.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Back From Port-Au-Prince


The rectory of St. Jude and St Simon

Thank you all for your prayers for our trip. I returned last night after a three day visit to Sts. Simon and Jude parish in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. We met the pastor, Father Andrew, a missionary priest from the Philippines who has been in Haiti for three years under the archdiocese of PAP. He was an extremely gracious host who put us up in his rectory for three days. We went to Mass daily and saw his church and the surrounding neighborhoods. We also had the opportunity to spend time with other young priests who are pastors over parishes in the more remote mountainous areas outside of the city. Many of these parishioners are illiterate so the daily Mass is a perfect way for them to hear three readings of God's Word. (Kinda like the early days of the Church!)

Father Andrew explained his desire to see a medical clinic established in his parish and we nailed down the logistics for making this happen in the next 6 months. We also went to the Matthew 25 House, a guest house for missionaries that is run by Sister Mary, a retired nurse educator with a PhD in Nursing Education. She taught at Temple University School of Nursing when my late wife was studying to be a nurse there. Very small world! Sister Mary had much insight into the medical issues and needs in the Delmas community of PAP and it was delightful to chat with her for almost 2 hours. She gave us a tour of her guest house as we anticipated taking our group to stay there for our upcoming trip.


By the end of our visit, Father Andrew decided that we
should stay with him on our next trip and he has room for a team of 8 members. He has electricity 24/7 because of the use of a battery/inverter system, something which we have not had on previous trips.

I never cease to be amazed by the universality of the Catholic Church (forgive the redundancy). Despite not being able to speak or understand the Creole language, I could actively participate in the Mass with my Haitian brothers and sisters from start to finish! When we went to Mass at 4 PM on our first day, there were over 60 people for daily Mass and at the 6 AM Mass the following morning there were almost 30.

I will have more pics and video to come. Thanks for all your prayers and please keep Father Andrew and the folks in his parish in your prayers. He is in the middle of a building project and the cost of materials has skyrocketed in Haiti.



.
The closing song at Mass. (Note how the altar server
holds the scriptures high, showing the tremendous
respect the Universal Church has for the Bible
)

4 Comments:

Blogger George Weis said...

I always love hearing worship from people of other tongues. It gives us a glimpse of heaven in an instant. God loves diversity in unity. Wonderful that you were able to worship beside these dear souls whom the Lord loves.


Many blessings my friend!

-g-

August 23, 2008 9:48 PM  
Blogger George Weis said...

P.S. I finally added you to my blog list... I had meant to for quite some time.

-g-

August 23, 2008 9:49 PM  
Blogger Russ Rentler, M.D. said...

Thanks George.
There really was a sense of heaven there in the midst of a place that is most closest to hell here on earth!

August 23, 2008 10:53 PM  
Blogger Brother James said...

Glad you're back from your trip. I have no doubt that there will be good fruit from the trip for all to share.

August 25, 2008 1:08 PM  

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