St. Jerome & St. James

St. Jerome's Sister Parish, San Antonio Maria Claret

Father Jorge Tejada, pastor of St. Jerome's sister parish, San Antonio Maria Claret, Rio Dulce, Izabal, Guatemala, holds the top of the processional cross created for the parish by Gene Touchette of St. James Parish. It will be used in the parish's new church when it is dedicated.

Children in Ghana receiving their eggs.

The man with the chickens is Gervase Kuuri. Missions International pays him a small salary to take care of the chickens. From a letter of thanks from him: "If there was 10% of people like you in the world our world would be like Heaven. I cannot thank you enough. To God be the Glory and may God continue to bless you in your ministry."

Feeding centers in Haiti

The Sisters of Divine Mercy of Jesus in Ghana are so thankful for the water well, food, clothes, shoes, medicine, and books for the children they care for. Additionally, the St. Therese Youth Development Education Center (Theresian Fathers, theresianfathers.org) received new windows, fans, and building repairs. STYDEC works with children in Ghana. The children at STYDEC are still receiving an egg a day for protein. This photo is of the new windows for STYDEC.

Alton Marquette High School students putting together rice meals for Venezuela. Padre Pedro was able to start a soup kitchen in a very poor area. Bishop Jaime of the Diocese of Carupano sent a plea for rice meals, and we were able to send him over 1000 pounds. Marquette High School seniors were able to make 33,480 servings of rice meals. All these meals and the shipping cost were covered by Missions International donations.

The work in Haiti has been the most challenging, and the most rewarding. Haiti is struggling greatly and needs our prayers. With the help of four different priests, we were able to start feeding centers in four different villages. Remarkably, a school was built with a restroom. The school still has work to be done, but the restroom is complete. This restroom allows the teachers to educate on proper hygiene so the children do not get sick. Having running water and toilets was not a luxury that was present in this village until now. In a different village, a kitchen is being built for a feeding center and school. The kitchen is not complete yet, but hopefully will be soon. This photo is of 500 children at one of the feeding centers.

Las Brisas

The structure on the left is the current church of San Antonio Maria Claret. That on the right is the new church, to be dedicated in a matter of months.

The interior of the current San Antonio Maria Claret Church. In 2024, I celebrated a Friday evening Mass here (with a translator for my preaching) and concelebrated two Sunday Masses, at which Masses I proclaimed the Gospel in Spanish.

"Las Brisas" (The Breezes) community which is a part of the parish. In 2022, we traveled there by boat. Many people here speak Quiche instead of Spanish.

This is the altar in the new San Antonio Maria Claret. St. Jerome Parish will be giving the sister parish a crucifix to be placed on the altar for the priest to view during the consecration.

Father Kevin's report on the most recent visit:

Thursday, July 11, I and two St. Jerome parishioners traveled in a group of 28 people organized by Missions International of Highland. We spent the night at the Incarnate Word retreat house near Guatemala City.

Friday, July 12, the 28 of us scattered to our various sister parishes. The sisters of St. Jerome and St. James are San Antonio Maria Claret, Rio Dulce, and Cure d'Ars, Rio Negro. Both are in the Apostolic Vicariate (almost a diocese) of Izabal. We were briefly with Fr. Jorge, pastor of St. Claret, who was on his way to Paraguay for an event pertaining to youth ministry, with which he is involved at a national level. We made the seven-hour drive to Rio Dulce in the company of a seminarian, Carlos, who is very skilled with languages and served as our translator. We stayed three nights at a hotel owned by a St. Claret parishioner. In the absence of the pastor, I celebrated an evening Mass that Friday, and Carlos translated my homily.

We did not make it to Cure d'Ars, although we saw the pastor, Fr. Pedro, in Puerto Barrios, on the morning of Saturday, July 13. Puerto Barrios is the see city of Izabal – that is, it is the headquarters of the Apostolic Vicariate. I was surprised to learn that the entire country was in the midst of a national Eucharistic congress which marked the 500th anniversary of the first Mass in Guatemalan territory. (On July 8 and 9, I had participated in events connected with the U.S. Tenth National Eucharistic Congress, as a Eucharistic "pilgrimage" from San Francisco stopped in Collinsville and Quincy in my diocese on the way to the Congress in Indianapolis.) Arriving at Puerto Barrios, we joined a Eucharistic procession to the cathedral. Following the procession was a Mass and a meal for clergy and guests. We also stopped to learn of apostolates to young people at the Stella Maris church. Returning to Rio Dulce, we were caught in perhaps a three-hour traffic jam; at a crucial intersection, there had been a fatal motorcycle accident.

Sunday, July 14, I concelebrated two Masses with a visiting priest at St. Claret. The parish provided the three of us with a wonderful fish dinner. Our host took us on a boat ride. We spent some time with the children of the parish.

Monday, July 15, we returned to the retreat house. I found that I had a mild fever. It passed on the following day, but I opted not to go on Tuesday's trip to Lake Atitlan and the place where Blessed Stanley Rother of Oklahoma City was martyred in 1981. This lake with its two volcanoes is one of the most picturesque sites in the country.

Wednesday, July 17, we returned home.