Transfiguration

If you are not a parent or a donor, please feel free to skip to the next paragraph...Parents and donors, I simply want to say thank you. Thank you, parents, for trusting your beloved child enough to allow him or her to go on this trip. Thank you donors for making this experience possible. By your love, prayers, and support they had the opportunity opportunity to serve, but more importantly to have their hearts enlarged by the love they encountered.

In my three years on this trip, each has been significantly different both on a personal and on a group level. One of my favorite things to do on these trips is to take a step back and watch the students grow and flourish in ways they could not have even imagined. 

I am so proud of each of the 34 wonderful students for their willingness to be both a Martha, by serving, and a Mary, learning from the hospitality and love of the people we encountered. For me, some of the most precious moments on this year's trip are simple but profound moments, such as Tuesday's dinner when the camaraderie told us we no longer just a group from Benedictine on a mission trip but now a group of friends.

When I asked some of the students what they got out of the trip, a number of them expressed how clearly they saw Christ through the love and care of the people Unbound serves. Fittingly today's Sunday Gospel tells the story of the transfiguration. Peter, James and John saw Jesus more clearly. They heard how much the Father loves Jesus. Peter even said, "Lord, it is good to be here." And after those precious moments, they continued their journey, allowing that experience to strengthen them.

In the people served, in the Unbound staff, in one another, we had the special opportunity to see God more clearly and to hear God call each one of us his beloved. It truly was good to be there, to experience our own transfiguration moment. But, like the apostles, we must continue the journey. Please pray that we may not forget what we have learned. May the instruction we received about love, joy, and care of one another inspire us to a deeper love of God and to a deeper charity with those God places in our lives. 

God bless,

Prior Jeremy