Missionaries of the Eucharist

The New Evangelization: From one beggar to another

2011-07-28T17:40:00.000-04:00

Pope John Paul II called for a new evangelization, to go out and proclaim the Gospel, especially in areas where Christ was once known but now seems to be forgotten, except for perhaps a remnant of faithful embers still on fire with God's love. We are one of the many groups who seek to give ourselves in response to this call, to be vessels of the Holy Spirit, who breathes the Divine breath of life into dry bones and fans the embers into flames of burning love for God and neighbor. On the walk this summer, as on the walk 2 years ago, we have encountered a broad range of responses to our presence. We have met people and communities of strong faith who have shown us such kindness in their gracious hosting and have told us how encouraged they are to see us, examples of the springtime of new life growing within the Church. We have met people who struggle and who live in environments which are hostile to faith. Their perseverance encourages us and we encourage them to continue to hold onto that treasure of faith "that a man finds, and sells all that he owns to purchase". We have also met people who seem to be rather offended by us, some of whom employ various creative means of communication to let us know how they feel. Christ himself encountered a similar array of responses during His own personal ministry.

While our society seems to promote learning, exploring, education, and interaction with new ideas and people different than ourselves,so many people seem offended by the very concept of Evangelization. It seems that learning is fine as long as I decide what I will learn, and I seek it out, and I ask for it. But if you offer to share some life-changing Truth with me, the very best that you have found, this is offensive? As Pope Benedict reminds us in his latest encyclical Caritas en Veritate, to proclaim and share the Truth is an act of Charity. If we truly care about each other we should all be sharing us much truth as we can!
The other day myself and another missionary were invited into a bar by a woman who was standing outside as we were walking along the road... somewhere in Massachussets. She said she wanted us to meet her friend. Her friend was about to undergo a surgery and she asked us for prayers. We were happy to pray for her. She also said that it had been a while since she had been to church. We told her that we found it worth going to be with Christ ... and she saw it was worth it to us to be walking in the 100-plus degree heat that day to put ourselves out there to share this truth. In return, she shared with us the best truths she knew in life. One of these truths was that friends, such as her friend who invited us inside, are true gifts from God. I could see by their love, a beautiful love between friends, that they knew and lived this truth. Friends are a gift from God. I needed to hear that. Later that day I took some time to reflect on how much God has loved me by providing me with good friends throughout my life. I am glad she really shared that from her heart.
Humility is to acknowledge the truth. The truth is that every Christian has a Truth worth sharing and that Truth is Christ. It is also true that all of us are still learning and growing, we are all undergoing a constant process of conversion toward Christ daily in our lives, and we all need to be evangelized by Christ and others each day. We must constantly evangelize and be evangelized by each other! Everyone has something to offer us as we travel the pilgrim trail of life. We love Christ by loving each person we encounter and Christ has something for us in every person as well. I have been blessed by those who have evangelized me by their words and actions this summer and it offends me none to admit that! Someone once said that to be a missionary is simply to be one beggar sharing with another where to get bread. We are all beggars before God. As I sit a block away from the Basilica of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Boston writing this blog, I am reminded of the homeless man Richie who taught me this lesson at this spot 2 years ago on the walk that summer. Yes, yes. I was familiar with the theological concept, I had read the life of St. Francis, who lived the lesson, several times, but God knew that I needed Richie to teach me this lesson: Man can only receive heaven as a beggar. That day, after he led us into the church and he prayed, he only asked me one question. I shared the bread I had. Then, seeing him ask for God's forgiveness, desiring to amend his life, and then rejoicing in God's goodness, he was my teacher, he was my example, and that day he fed me with the bread of life, the Truth, which he had just realized himself. He was homeless, but he found the Treasure, and he shared it with me. God uses us to feed one another with food and truth. He multiplies the loaves. We all need God's help. We all need His grace. Admit it, share the bread of Truth you have, and don't be afraid to accept and even ask for bread from others. To share the Truth you have is not pride, it is humility, and it is love. God help us not to be afraid to share but to have the courage to love one another!

- Ludwig

On to Boston!

2011-07-25T22:32:00.000-04:00

Happy feast of St. James!
Due to a series of events the walk will be ending in Boston this summer - God has different plans for every group of walkers. This week, therefore, will be our last. Stay tuned for more posts to come throughout our last week of traveling!
peace and blessings!
Martha

Seeking the Image of God in the Human Person

2011-07-24T17:49:00.034-04:00

A special aspect of the time that I've spent with the Missionaries of the Eucharist is being able to share in the lives of many different people, even if only for a short time. Here are some sketches from life of some of the people I have been able to spend time with. Some of them are fellow missionaries, some of them friends of the missionaries- members of host families and others who have spent time with us. I feel that a special privilege I have as an artist is that when I am able spend time with someone through drawing them, it is a unique opportunity to reflect on the dignity and beauty of the human person and seek to perceive the image of God in people.

Blessed John Paul II's Theology of the Body has really had an impact on me as an artist. Pope John Paul II really emphasizes in his teaching that the person, made in the image of God, is revealed through the body and therefore the human body communicates into the visible world the mystery of God more powerfully than anything else in the created order. In his General Audience of February 20th he stated that:

The body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden since time immemorial in God, and thus be a sign of it.

Along these lines, in his Letter to Artists Pope John Paul II writes that "Art must make perceptible, and as far as possible attractive, the world of the spirit, of the invisible, of God."

For this reason I feel it my responsibility and privilege as an artist to go deeper into the mystery of the human person, whose spiritual mystery is expressed visibly through the body. For going deeper into the subject of the mystery of the human person one reflects on the mystery of God.

-Shana

Meet the new walkers!

2011-07-20T00:24:00.002-04:00

Walking with a Host Family

2011-07-19T23:11:00.000-04:00

I was excited to be walking with one of our host families for a day. It was inspirational how their little daughter Terese wanted to carry our cross so much, so we let her for several short periods. Their daughter Elise was like sign me up for the MOES when I get to college. The entire family put there hearts into the walk and hosting us. They were an inspiration to us all.

~Shawn

We're in Vermont!

2011-07-18T09:29:00.000-04:00

To all moms and dads who have been worried because we haven't been blogging- I apologize. The hills of Maine and Vermont do not allow for internet access very often. Regardless, it has been a great three weeks of walking, praying, and spending time with one another. Each day we are all learning how to live in community with one another; the (four) men and (three) women are learning how we can best serve one another.

The Lord has been so generous to us with wonderful people who teach us how to live the Catholic faith, great food, an abundance of funds, and the perfect amount of available showers to keep us humble :).

More blogs will be coming soon along with a video to introduce all of our walkers! God bless you all and please keep praying for us!

in Jesus and Mary,

Martha

Strangers in a Foreign Land

2011-07-15T12:14:00.001-04:00

As with other MoEs, carrying a crucifix on the side of the highway has given me a new perspective on the world. My first realization was how counter-cultural our Catholic faith is. Carrying the crucifix and praying, actions completely normal within our small group, is undoubtedly an oddity or even an annoyance to many of the cars passing by. I feel as if we are activists of a certain kind. However, instead of primarily focusing on bringing about a change in the near future we are focusing on a past event, namely, the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The image on the cross does not fit in with popular understandings of the how the world works such as consumerism, egoism and hedonism. The horrific image of Jesus being crucified stands in stark contrast to the often beautiful landscapes we pass by. In my mind, the MoEs are truly strangers in a foreign land, as all Christians ought to be.

-Jordan

Living in sync with the heart of the Church

2011-07-15T11:48:00.002-04:00

We as Missionaries of the Eucharist are called to "proclaim the beauty of the Catholic faith", as is written on the back of our shirts. In order to share the beauty of our faith we seek to immerse ourselves in it, to live it deeply. Our day revolves around the Holy Mass, we take Christ into ourselves for without doing so it would be impossible to bear Him out to others. Another integral part of our spirituality is the chanting of the Liturgy of the Hours. Like the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours is part of the Church's liturgy. In other words when we participate in these prayers we are inserting ourselves into the heart of the Church and are connecting ourselves in a powerful way with all the Church's members. Daily Mass as well as our daily recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, Morning, Evening and Night Prayer gives a rhythm to our life which is in sync with the rhythms of the Church and sanctifies our day. What a blessing it is to be a MoE!

-Shana

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us!

2011-05-01T21:18:00.000-04:00

Today is truly a blessed Sunday! It is a day jam-packed with graces and reasons to celebrate! Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, Beginning of the May (MARY'S MONTH), The Feast of St Joseph of the Worker and the beatification of Blessed Pope John Paul II!

BLESSED JOHN PAUL II, ORA PRO NOBIS!

Take a look at why Blessed Pope John Paul II is one of the Missionaries of the Eucharist patrons!

Intro to our Patrons, Part III : Venerable Pope John Paul the Great

There should be no question why the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul the Great, is one of the patrons of the Missionaries of the Eucharist. After all, he wrote the theology of the body. Yet, just as the great graces given to St. Joseph were not the only reason that he was chosen as a patron, so too with the writings of John Paul the Great. In other words, there’s more to this man than meets the eye.
Pope John Paul the Great quoted two sections of Vatican II’s Gaudium et Spes over and over. The first of which says, “Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear” (22). Now, when John Paul quotes this in his theology of the body, he often leaves out the middle section: “by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love.” Why he does this, I am not sure, but I believe that he was inferring that section whenever he invoked the text. In other words, for us to understand John Paul’s love for this quote, we should take it in context with the section often left out, namely how God reveals His great love for us. That revelation is at the root our understanding the humanity of man, and it is that revelation that makes man’s “supreme calling clear.”

Why is this so? The answer is in the First Epistle of St. John:

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (4:9-11).

In other words, just as God’s love is manifested through the cross, so too should man’s love be manifested in his self-sacrificial love for God and man. And, what does this have to do with John Paul the Great? Everything. This idea of self-sacrificial love pervades his writings. Still, not only was it at the heart of his theology, but it was also manifested constantly in his life. Most visibly, we can see this in his last years as Pontiff. He showed the world what the power of redemptive suffering looked like. He showed the world how great is the dignity of man, even in the face of death. What he was not able to write in the theology of the body, he wrote through the will and actions in his own body. He not only gave the world a theology in his words, but he also gave a theology in his deeds. This great witness showed how he had taken his other favorite quote to heart: “Man…cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself” (Gaudium et Spes, 24). And this is exactly how he found himself through his whole priesthood: he gave himself away out of love for God and neighbor.

Summer 2011

2011-04-19T22:59:00.001-04:00

It is a great joy to share with you all that the Missionaries of the Eucharist will be having another walk this summer!!

The Missionaries of the Eucharist will be walking from Maine to NYC from June 27 to August 12th!

We are called to be.... Magnets?

2011-04-15T12:02:00.003-04:00

Visitation Joy!

When walking down the street wearing my blue Missionaries of the Eucharist t-shirt, I am frequently asked, “Who are the Missionaries of the Eucharist?” To many this answer is simple: “The Missionaries are a bunch of crazy young adults that walk hundreds of miles every summer to spread Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.” This is very true. The Missionaries of the Eucharist are a group of young adults. We do walk hundreds of miles through the northeastern United States. We do spread the beauty of the Catholic Faith through the lens of the Theology of the Body, but to me the Missionaries of the Eucharist are more.

We must first look to the Blessed Mother of our Lord, Mary most holy, the first living tabernacle, who was and is the first missionary of the Eucharist. After receiving Jesus beneath her heart at the Annunciation, she ran off in haste to the hill country of Judah to help her cousin Elizabeth. She ran in haste to allow her cousin the joy of adoration. When she arrived and greeted her cousin, the child leapt in Elizabeth’s womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit! As Missionaries of the Eucharist, we are called to this act of charity EVERYDAY! Every morning we receive our Lord in the Eucharist before we go out and there, on our walk we like our Lady, encounter those who are in need. We want to give them everything. We want to say everything so that they may know the love of our Lord. But we must remember then the greatest gift we could give was the Eucharist that received just that morning. He who waits silently beneath our heart, waiting to reveal His heart to all. We must never forget that we have our Lord within us, dwelling there beneath our heart, when we encounter our brothers and sisters, they too should exclaimed like Elizabeth, “… and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:42) Blessed is the fruit that you have within you have quenches our hunger, our desire for Love!

In his apostolic letter, Mane Nobiscum Domine, Pope John Paul II speaks of the presence of Jesus in the tabernacle, as “a kind of magnetic pole” that attracts souls “enamored of him, ready to wait patiently to hear his voice and, as it were, to sense the beating of his heart.” When we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, we too, like our Lady, become a living tabernacle. When we receive the Eucharist we are filled with a great gift of joy. Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God. I once heard joy compared to static cling. We all have experienced static cling at one point of our lives. As a child I use to rub my feet against the carpet and put my hands near my sister’s hair and loved seeing her hair flying towards me. You can’t see static cling, but it just sucks everything towards the thing it clings to, and joy is like that -- it just draws people to the Christ from whom it originated from. People are drawn to that joy not because of you but because the Lord is resting beneath your heart. What a gift from God that we can be the carriers of His static cling.

Sometime when I rubbed my feet too much against the carpet, I sometime got that static shock. Sometimes joy is so overwhelming that when encountering others you receive the joy-shock. So much better than static shock. Ever hear a joyful person laugh? It’s contagious, you have no idea why you are laughing sometimes but there’s a happiness, a gladness, a joy there That’s the Jesus’ joy shock. Joy is something that every Missionary of the the Eucharist should have. That magnetic pull, that static cling, is what can bring us into a deeper union with God through each other.

The beauty of this all is that we, all of us, are called to be missionaries of the Eucharist. You don’t need the blue shirt, the swollen ankles or to walk hundreds of miles, all you need is to receive Jesus in Eucharist with a pure heart and then go out and share that joy with others. When we go up to the altar of God, where there we will receive His Most Precious Body and Blood, we say to ourselves the preparatory prayer that priest say at the foot of the altar in the Tridentine litugy, “Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam”--“I will go unto the altar of God, To God who gives joy to my youth.”

-David Sao

Attention Connecticut followers!

2010-08-07T01:07:00.000-04:00

Please tune in to the CT channel to watch the show Crossroads Magazine; a Catholic TV show (which airs right after the channel broadcasts the Mass!) which covers different faith stories in the Connecticut area. Jason, the show's host, followed the moes around while walking through New Haven and interviewed them about their journey to DC for the Catholic Church. If you are not in the Connecticut area and do not have access to WCCT, please stay tuned for the link which will be available next week.
Thank you Jason for all of your hard work and for helping to spread the Good News of Christ Jesus and His Church on Earth!

Click here for the schedule for the CT channel, and to find a station near you!

We love our leaders!

2010-08-06T12:31:00.000-04:00

Praise God for giving us Dee and Nick as our walk leaders this summer! Here they are beaming with joy at the doors of the Shrine. They truely were gifts to us and lead us with such love and sacrifice. Please pray that our Lord pours out His grace in abundance into their hearts.

2010-08-06T12:18:00.000-04:00

AVE MARIA!!! Our journey to the Shrine ended yesterday with our walk into DC! It was such a time of grace and joy for the missionaries to finally walk up the steps to our Lady's Shrine and to greet our Eucharistic Lord with all of our excitement and thanksgiving. Thank you for all of your prayers for us this summer. Thank you so everyone who has supported us along the way. Thanks to our parents and families for allowing us to make a gift of ourselves this summer on the walk. Thank you to our patrons: Our Lady full of Grace, St. Joseph, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Therese, and Ven. John Paul II... and thanks to Bl. Teresa of Calcutta for always interceding for us. Jesus, most of all, we thank You, we praise You, we love You.

Pax Tecum!!
the MoEs

WE FINISHED!!!!!

2010-08-06T12:01:00.000-04:00

WE FINISHED!!!

Almost there!

2010-08-05T00:57:00.001-04:00

I am currently lying on Lacy Howard's living room floor in College Park, MD. Tomorrow, the missionaries (along with brand new walker Kevin Leopold and last year's leaders Scott Wilkins and Dave Sao) will approach the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC and finish our walk!!! Please pray for us and our final 4 miles!

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"Philadelphia" - City of Brotherly Love

2010-07-30T23:23:00.004-04:00

+ On Tuesday July 27th, Nia and I walked through the streets of Philadelphia and God truly did amazing things in the people we met and most especially in us. This is a video about that great day!
God Bless you and your families and may Our Lady lead you
In Jesus through Mary,
Erin Dunne

Theology of the Body Congress

2010-07-29T15:00:00.001-04:00

This summer's missionaries are blessed to be the Prayer Team at the first Theology of the Body Congress. During the different conferences throughout the 3 days of the congress, we have been interceeding for the speakers and those in attendance. We will blog on Saturday, and share with you all the grace of how the Lord lead us to this congress.

Venerable John Paul II, pray for us!

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Believe in Love

2010-07-25T22:35:00.000-04:00

+
Cardinal O'Connor said, “God wants to reach out to others through your hands, God wants to speak to others through your lips, and God wants others to look into your eyes and see Him. Give God permission.” Every day of this walk, this is what we try to do. Little and weak as we are, our Lord can do so much with our yes. Here is our little magnificat...

We were on a one-mile shift in CT, and we sat down on a rock outside of a Mobil gas station waiting for the others to pick us up. An older man named Benny came out and meant to walk right past us but he stopped in his tracks when his eyes met the cross. (We carry a processional crucifix) He just looked at the cross with such awe for what felt like minutes. We were all silent just gazing at the cross and then Benny, around 45, said "when I look at the cross I see how much He loves us." He asked what we were doing and after we explained our mission he was so filled with joy and kept smiling and saying "God BLESS you God BLESS you!" He was so encouraging to us and Caroline said, "Thank you so much Benny, it means a lot! Please pray for us because at times it gets really hard." Benny said, "When I see the cross I remember how much Jesus suffered for me. He really loves us." After pausing for a moment, with tears in his eyes Benny looked again at the cross and said, "I had a really hard time this morning. I didn't want to wake up. I didn't want to be alive. This morning was not a good morning, I was going to commit suicide, I was going to kill myself, end my life. But I look at this cross and I see how much He loves us. Your walk is not in vain. At church when I was younger we used to sing a song, 'If I walk all day and all night, travel many miles, if I help one soul my journey would not be in vain." Over and over he kept telling us, "Your walk is not in vain! Even if you don't meet anyone else, you have helped me. Thank you thank you so much. Your walk is not in vain..." After praying with Benny and giving him the rosary and the Divine Mercy image we shared a big hug and parted ways.

How great is God's Love! He, God of the universe, in His infinite humility and love, used us to show Benny how much He loves him. We were the pencils and God the Divine writer. Praise Him for this miracle.

Blessed Mother Teresa said, "Let's believe in God's love, and let's be faithful to him. If you look at the cross, you will see his head lowered to kiss you. You will see his arms stretched out to embrace you. You will see his heart open to welcome you. Don't be afraid. He loves us, and he wants us to love one another. He loves us in spite of how poor and sinful we are. His love is true, and we should believe in his love. If we truly believe, it will not be hard for us to identify with the poor, even the poor in our own homes."

No matter what life brings you, keep your eyes on the cross. Keep your eyes on Jesus, your Savior. He is the answer to every struggle, every hardship, every trial.

We are very grateful to God for this experience and may it renew in each of our hearts a love for Our Crucified Lord Who is truly risen from the dead and is very much alive!

Thank you for all your prayers, God Bless you!
In Jesus through Mary,
Erin and Caroline

Nia Hunt

2010-07-25T21:30:00.002-04:00

The Image of Merciful Jesus

2010-07-20T00:08:00.000-04:00

+ In the Diary of St. Faustina Jesus told her “Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish" (Diary, 48).
"By means of this Image I shall be granting many graces,
so let every soul have access to it" (Diary, 570).
As Missionaries of the Eucharist we chant the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3pm in honor of Jesus' death and have an hour of silent prayer.

Divine Mercy in NYC

2010-07-19T23:51:00.000-04:00

+ We are praying the chaplet of Divine Mercy at the World Trade Center.

MoE's are coming to NYC

2010-07-19T23:46:00.001-04:00

+Manhattan here we come! It's Friday and the Moe's are walking over the Brooklyn Bridge.

My friend Juan

2010-07-19T23:41:00.000-04:00

I met Juan while walking through Jamaica Plains, MA south of Boston. He was blown away by the beauty of the Rosary, and promised me he would pray one every night before he went to bed if I prayed one every night before I go to bed. We talked for 45 minutes about life, the Church and Mary. I think about my new faithful friend everyday and I can't wait to meet at the gates of heaven.

MoE's + Marians + Holy Orders = Praise the Lord!

2010-07-12T00:06:00.000-04:00

+ Glory to God! On Saturday July 10th the MoE's were so blessed to be present at the ordination of Father Jim McCormack, MIC to the Sacred Order of the Priesthood at Saint Patrick's Church in Burlington, CT. This picture was taken right after we received his first blessing, what a grace! We were blessed to meet the Marians while studying at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. where their house of formation is. They are so generous to CUA students, inviting us to adoration and even taking us to Divine Mercy Sunday in Stockbridge, Mass. Brother Rich Mary pictured between Fr. Bob and John is the one who really reached out to us and also organized the trip to Stockbridge twice! Fr. Bob is pictured next to Dee and John is a postulant with the Marians entering the novitiate on August 15th. Thanks so much to the Marians for letting us come on this special day. Please keep this truly awesome religious order in your prayers, especially Fr. Jim :). If you would like to learn more about the Marians go to www.marian.org and a wonderful website about Divine Mercy is www.thedivinemercy.org
God Bless you and thank you for all your prayers for us,
In Jesus through Mary
Erin and Caroline

Peace begins with a smile

2010-07-09T07:27:00.000-04:00

“Peace begins with a smile” – Blessed Mother Teresa. These words have always stuck with me. How much a smile can do. Nia, Dee and I were talking with a Mexican family outside their apartments and were giving them the gift of a rosary when Junior runs around the corner and says, “Are they free?” -in his little Hispanic accent and he was so EXCITED and we gave him one and he ran inside and then ran back out for another for his mom and then he ran inside and gave it to her and then he ran back out to get one for his sister and then he and his sister Marci came back out and we were there talking and enjoying one another’s company for at least ½ hour, Praise God. And Junior is just a bundle of energy at nine years old and he grabbed the flag and I said that is holy and so he stood near the street held it proudly and waved it and I said !Vive la Iglesia Catolica! He was so dear that Dee whipped out her camera and right before she got the shot Junior noticed and closed his mouth. He knew his teeth weren’t perfect so he did not want to smile. He has such a beautiful smile and Dee with her hilariousness got him to smile. How much good a smile brings to the world. There is a story, a man was walking to the bridge to jump off it and he passed someone who smiled at him, someone recognized that he is a human being with dignity and he chose life. Next time you see someone, especially someone who is lonely, try smiling at them. “A smile is the beginning of love”. In her acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize in ‘79, Blessed Mother Teresa said, “Love begins at home. It isn’t how much we do, but how much love we put into what we do that really counts, for His love is infinite.” Mother Teresa talks about knowing the poor. You don’t need to go to Calcutta to help the poor, first recognize the poor in your own homes, in your own families, is there someone who feels very lonely, unloved or unwanted?- this is real poverty she says, the poverty of the West. She continues on to tell those at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, “I want you to go and find the poor in your homes. Above all your love has to start there. I want you to be the good news to those around you. I want you to be concerned about your neighbor. Do you know who your neighbor is? Who are your neighbors?” Everything for Mother Teresa, everything, is prayer. In fact she confessed, “My secret is I pray”. “Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of Himself”, God is love. She repeats, “Remember where your love starts: in the home … But I think that if you look inside your own homes, you may notice how hard it is for you to smile at one another sometimes! And yet smiling is the beginning of love. Let’s be willing to smile at one another. Yes, a smile is the beginning of love. And once we begin to love one another, the desire to do something more naturally follows.” She concludes her acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize with a challenge, “Let’s concentrate on a worthwhile goal: that no child be unwanted, that no person go unloved. And let’s not stop smiling at whomever we meet, especially when it is hard to smile. I’ll never forget some time ago when around fourteen professors from different universities in the United States came to visit one of our homes in Calcutta. … One of them asked me, ‘Mother tell us something that we can remember.’ I told them, ‘Smile at each other. Take some time for each other in your families. Smile.’ Then one of them asked me, ‘Are you married?’ I said, ‘Yes and sometimes I find it very difficult to smile at Jesus because he can be so demanding. It’s true. But that is where you can see love best. When it is most demanding and you give cheerfully in spite of that, that is love at its best.”

Blessed Mother Teresa thank God for your life, please intercede for us all, that we may receive God’s love with a pure heart and be given the courage to love one another as Jesus loves us and to smile with a smile radiant with joy! Pray that prayer and love and peace may grow in each of our families and bring great joy and glory to God. Amen. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us!

New Friends!

2010-07-07T12:45:00.001-04:00

As a generous benefactor donated us some ice cold drinks from Dunkin Donuts, we met these beautiful Catholic women! Regina, Schola and Oche prayed over us and asked the Holy Spirit to continue to bless us along our way. Thank you ladies for sharing your joy with us!

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Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-07T11:46:00.001-04:00

We prayed for our country & our troops and watched these fireworks on the beach in Weymouth, Massachusetts.

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MoEs at moes!

2010-06-28T20:21:00.001-04:00

I'm so glad my first moe southwest grill experience was with my walkers. thanks to our generous benefactor, Mrs. Savoie, we all ate here tonight!
Happy Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul!
- dee

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Mocha Frappes are wicked awesome!

2010-06-28T18:36:00.000-04:00

Meghan and I just got back from a great shift. During the Second Luminous Mystery of the Rosary, two bike riders asked to be excused as they went passed us on the sidewalk in Hudson, New Hampshire. As we moved over so they could pass us, one of the boys looked back at us, asking what we were doing. When we replied, "Walking to DC. What are you doing?" Dom, 14, turned around with his friend Matt, 12, and couldn't believe us! After asking some questions about the missionaries, and after they chose to believe what we were doing this summer, our new friend Dom offered to buy us some McDonald's. Matt looked over at Dom and said, "We only have 8 bucks!" but Dom anxiously responded, "They're walking to DC for Jesus. We're getting them a drink!" We met them at the McDonald's about 1/10mile up the road. As Matt was waiting for the Mocha Frappes inside, Dom kept Meghan and I company outside the McDonald's. These two little gentlemen showed us what it is to give all you have, in their case 8 dollars, for another. We will keep you two in our prayers! Pray for us too! And remember, Saint Matthew and Saint Dominic are the coolest saints. And when you get to high school, Dom, remember that The Lord only made one of you, so just be yourself.

-dee & meghan

ps- if you two are reading this, those frappes were wicked awesome :)

Consolations

2010-06-27T16:10:00.000-04:00

Peace be with you!

So many blessings were poured out upon me yesterday, and I have come to the conclusion that a list is the most satisfactory way to impart them to the readers on the other end of this virtual medium.

1. Waking up fully alive and healthy to a new day

2. Mass at the cathedral in Manchester.

3. Praying outside Planned Parenthood in the city

4. Meeting Francis on the first walking shift. He sits in the doorway of his paint shop all way waiting for people to walk by so he can tell them about Christ. Meghan and I were priviledged to hear part of the book he is writing (reflections on the culture) and listen to him sing the song he wrote. We both agreed that he brought Christ to us.

5. Realizing that we met Francis while in the middle of the Second Joyful Mystery: the Visitation. The fruit of this mystery is love of our neighbor, just what Francis taught us how to do a little better.

6.Walking down a road in Merrimack and recognizing the name as the road that my aunt and uncle live off of

7. Calling my aunt and finding that she was home

8. Stopping by their house and seeing them for the first time in four years. This was the biggest blessing of the day. I still have no words to express the blessing and craziness of realizing we were right by their house, being able to stop by and chat for 25 minutes. The Lord continually surprises

9. Eating blueberries that my aunt gave to us

10. Learning that we were done walking two shifts before I thought we were.

11. Listening to the FIFA 2010 song in the car

12. Arriving at the Keena house.

13. Seeing Amanda, one of my household sisters from Franciscan, and spending the evening with her, her mom, and brother.Amanda and her mother. Anna, are pictured above

14. Coffee.

15. showers.

16. laundered clothes

17. singing the MOS household song with Amanda

18. finding a plate of fruit in the girl's room left by Anna.

19. Going to bed without setting an alarm

20. Falling asleep.

I pray that your day will be filled with as many blessings as mine was.

Molly.

Walking the Walk: an article on the MOEs

2010-06-24T11:57:00.000-04:00

Peace! An article written by Felix Carroll at the National shrine of Divine Mercy about the MOEs can be found on their website. He described who we are and what we do better than any of us have been able to. What a gift for us to read on the Soilemnity of the birth of john the Baptist.

http://thedivinemercy.org/news/story.php?NID=3970

2010-06-24T11:50:00.000-04:00

Tuesday evening June 22nd we arrived at the top of a mountain in Vermont at the Mellos Retreat Center. Dave in the red on the right and Terry on the ground near the right are the owners of this awesome retreat center. Dave and Terry are full time youth ministers and are such inspirations and so full of God's Love!!! What a gift that we could stay with them. Dave travels to parishes to start youth groups. This group here has been coming up from Hartford, CT for the past few years. Their youth groups have thirty and forty kids, it is amazing! These ten high schoolers were selected as leaders in their youth group to come to the retreat center for a week for evangelization training. We MoEs were so very blessed to join them Tuesday night. They are such lights in their community and they made a deep impact on us, especially the joy that comes from them. They are very much on fire for spreading Jesus' love and more than any words the respect they have for one another is remarkable. One girl said that she looks forward to this week ALL YEAR! and the others in the room agreed. They are so hungry to learn more about the truth of the fullness of the Catholic faith which is a grace from God. Two are just begining high school, five are going to be sophmores and three just had confirmation, Praise God, and are juniors. We sat in the beautiful living room of the retreat center after dinner for about an hour and talked about who we are as MoE's and our own experiences in high school and what we wished we knew then about God's love, that we know now and answered any questions and just hung out too :) Please keep this on fire group in your prayers as they train this week in evangelization that more than anything they will open themselves up to be loved by God. to love God and to love one another. Dave and Terry are great witnesses of the reality of God's love in everyday life. Their home is the retreat center and they constantly rely on God and the joy of the Lord is their strength. Once again we received much more than we gave. We will be in Hartford on July 10th and hopefully we will see the youth group again :) God bless you all and may Our Lady lead you. This night was definitly a fruit of everyone's prayers for us, and all glory goes to God. Please keep praying for us as we keep you in our hearts and prayers- humbly yours in JMJ - Erin

Brattleboro, VT

2010-06-23T20:55:00.001-04:00

Night shifts on some of the longest days of the year. From the rising of the sun to its setting, may the name of the Lord be praised!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.3.4

National Divine Mercy Shrine

2010-06-23T00:02:00.000-04:00

Peace be with you! We were blessed to stay last night at the National Divine Mercy shrine in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Two years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Divine Mercy shrine in Poland. It was there that the Lord began working on my heart, softening it to be able to receive the Lord's love and mercy. I was in awe of all the miracles represented by the medallions and jewels covering the walls of the chapel in Poland, especially in a country where religion had been oppressed for so long. It was a huge gift to return to a shrine devoted to our Lord's mercy two years later and realize how much the Lord has done in my life since chanting the Divine mercy chaplet with the Sisters.

Within the first two hours of arriving at the shrine we went to Mass, had adoration and benediction, and went to confession. The Lord took us in immediately and purified us so we should be even more open to the mercy he longs to give all of us. I was the only one of the MOEs who had never been to the shrine before; we spent the evening talking with the Marians over supper at their house and back at the JPII guest house where we stayed.

Deacon Michael Gaitley spent the evening with us telling stories. I could write for hours about what he said, but I will narrow it down to one thought: bringing the True Presence to those we meet on the streets. We are Missionaries of the Eucharist; the Eucharist is Jesus' body, blood, soul, and divinity, his true presence. When talking with people we should not go in with an agenda other than to simply love them and bring them the true presence of Christ which is love itself. This merciful love is far more powerful in converting hearts than anything else we can do. We must love and trust the Lord to do all else.

Jesu ufam Tobie!

Molly.

Liturgy in the Mountains

2010-06-19T15:14:00.002-04:00

We have made it into our first city: Troy, New York. We crossed the border from Vermont yesterday after a week of 30 mile days. We are getting out of the mountains and into the rolling hills of upstate New York, a welcome relief for our calves. Before leaving the Green Mountain state we made a trip to its highest point, Mount Equinox. At the base of the mountain there is a Catholic bookstore run by two beautiful women. They sent us up with their blessing and a warning to be easy on the breaks coming down.

Nick took the wheel during our ascent, masterfully guiding the Dodge minivan and seven passengers around hairpin turns and hills that seemed more appropriate for skiing than driving. We reached the lookout point on the side of the road and all tumbled out, anticipating the view that had been hidden behind rows of trees. When the foliage gave way to sky the view was astounding. The mountains were laid out before us, looking more like rumpled felt than tree covered earth.

The Padre Pio tote bag with our breveries was retrieved from the van, pages flipped to Friday Morning Prayer, week III, and the invititory rang out over the mountains and Carthusian monastery below us. We chanted the same liturgy as people all over the world, the same psalms that we have done in cities, homes, roadsides, and now a mountain top.

The closing prayer was said, we asked the Lord's blessing to be on us for the day, and began our descent. Along the road there are rest stops to pull over and let the vehicles cool off. Unfortunately we were a little too hard on the van coming down and arrived back at the bookstore with smoking breaks and the scent of burning rubber. I have been assured this is just the beginning of car troubles, and that the MOE vans are notorious for breaking, so we continue on our journey with the protection of our guardian angels.

Christ is with us wherever we go. We carry his Eucharistic presence within us every day, but he carries us through every step we take. It is he who directs our paths to all those we meet; it is he who gives us the strength to continue putting one foot in front of the other. And above all, it is he who gives us the love for the
work we do.

Auspice Maria,
Molly.

The Joy of Walking!

2010-06-19T15:08:00.000-04:00

+JMJ

Now that our 2nd week of walking is wrapping up, its been really cool to just be in awe of all that the Lord has been doing! We have meet amazing people... so many beautiful parishes and host families, so many excited car drivers who are generous with their honks, and so many people just thirsting for the Gospel. On one shift this week we meet 2 amazing guys. The first was a man who was totally in love with Jesus and His Word but was struggling to find the one true Church. What a joy it was for us to share our Catholic faith with him. He loved St. Francis and what do you know, we had one random St. Francis prayer card in our bag. The next guy we meet was 25 and has never heard of our Lord. Telling him about Jesus and how He died for us and wants us with Him in heaven was the biggest gift of the walk so far. He was so open and held on to his rosary as we walked away. Im just so in awe of how crazy it is that Our Lord allows us to be His hands and feet and bring people closer to His Sacred Heart. In reality, we really didn't do much at all. There are so many links in the chain of this walk and we are just the end of it! So many people have been working for months to get us here, so so many benefactors and people who support us, our families for letting us leave home for the summer, our directors and leaders who have put in so much work that we will never know about. Being a Missionary of the Eucharist is really a huge gift. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us with your prayers and generous donations. Know that we pray for you everyday and could not do this without your support. God is so good. Sometimes that's the only thing that makes sense on this walk. His goodness to us is just beyond comprehension. Like a kind woman told me after Mass, "Thank you so much for telling people about Jesus. People just don't know Him..." and so they don't love Him. As I walk I just continue to remind myself what St. Teresa of the Andes says... "its all about falling in love with Jesus" and bringing His love to others.
Thanks for reading our blog! God bless you!

In the Immaculate Heart,
Caroline

Future Housemates

2010-06-19T14:11:00.000-04:00

Meghan, Dee and Caroline will be living together next semester with their friend Anne during their senior year at Franciscan University. Here they are in their natural habitat: naptime. Notice the cups of coffee at their heads, made by their generous fellow walkers.

Family Photo!

2010-06-19T13:52:00.000-04:00

Here we all are in front of the Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, Canada. We had a beautiful retreat with Saint Joseph and Blessed Andre. Being able to spend the day partly on our own, then together as our MOE family with one of our patrons, Saint Joseph, was a great blessing.

St. Joseph's Shrine

2010-06-12T08:36:00.002-04:00

We're heading up to Montreal to St. Joseph's shrine for the day.

St. Joseph, pray for us

We're in Vermont

2010-06-12T08:28:00.000-04:00

We ended our first week of walking in the mountains of Vermont. It was our first day of real hills, up and up and up. One of the stretches we walked went up for almost five miles! The Lord is so good to us though, at the top of that incline there was a clearing in the trees that opened up to show the valley and mountain ridges behind that. The trial we endured walking up the mountain was so generously rewarded by that view.

This picture was taken at the end of our walking day. We drove back here to the lake to pray evening prayer. The water was completely still, except for the tiniest ripples made by dragonflies dipping their feet in to cool off. Meghan and I decided to toss stones in; the ripples they caused seemed to never end. The stillness and quiet of the water was sweet relief from trucks whizzing by. It make me think of Elijah on the mountain: he did not find God in the thunder or wind or fire, but in the tiniest whispering. This stillness, the peace and joy of a soul as calm as the water in the lake, is what we have found in Christ, and it is here we can greet him with joy. Peace be with you!

Molly.

2010-06-11T10:01:00.000-04:00

The conclusion of the MoEs spending a weekend learning from Monsignor Reilly. Here we have Monsignor and Sr. Eileen taking a pose with the MoEs at the Precious Blood Monastery in Brooklyn, NY.

WAOB

2010-06-11T09:51:00.000-04:00

The Missionaries on We are One Body Catholic Radio in Latrobe, PA.

Nick Lensing

2010-06-11T09:45:00.001-04:00

TOB Day

2010-06-10T14:31:00.000-04:00

Here we are with Theology of the Body speaker Damon Owens! Damon was kind enough to donate his day to training our missionaries on the teachings of Venerable John Paul II's Theology of the Body. We learned how important our encounters as human beings are and how we communicate with eachother and the Trinity through Communion. From this TOB day, the Lord gave me a special grace to understand a little bit more (I'm learning more and more each day of the walk) the importance of being a Missionary of the Eucharist and really our whole charism. We are able to receive God's total gift of Self, Jesus Christ, each time we come to the table of the Lord. Not because of anything on our part, but because of His LOVE for us! And it is through that Love, where Life itself exists. It is our role as MOEs to bring that message of Life and Love to the streets, because the Eucharist efficaciously unites us to the will of the Father, who IS Love. And the only thing we can do after receiving this Heavenly Food is Love. Love the ones we meet on the side of the road, Love the homeless who need an ear to listen, Love the other walker that is just so hard to love sometimes, and learn how to Love more deeply the Risen Christ and bring the Love of the Cross to those people we meet.

Keep checking back! It is very hard to get internet here on the walk route, but whenever we do come across internet access, you can expect many many posts at once!

Peace be with you,
dee

Nick Lensing

2010-06-10T13:21:00.002-04:00

... has been too busy being the only man on the walk, he hasn't been able to record his bio yet :) but stay tuned! It is on the way!

Erin Dunne

2010-06-10T13:11:00.000-04:00

Dee Simone

2010-06-10T11:47:00.001-04:00

Molly Lillis

2010-06-10T11:36:00.001-04:00

Meghan Sabo

2010-06-10T11:35:00.002-04:00

Caroline Savoie

2010-06-10T11:26:00.001-04:00

Blessings

2010-06-08T11:02:00.001-04:00

This is our spiritual director Father Boniface Hicks, OSB, blessing our vehicles before we begin our journey! After departing from Saint Vincent's Monastery in LaTrobe, we drove to Brooklyn, NY to visit Msgr. Reilly and the Helpers of God's Precious Infants. Please pray for Father Boniface and Msgr. Reilly during this special Year of the Priests.

Corpus Christi!

2010-06-07T01:03:00.000-04:00

Happy Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Our Lord, Jesus!

Erin Dunne, Nick Lensing, Molly Lillis, Meghan Sabo, Caroline Savoie and myself (we will post bio videos when we have access to the internet on our computer!) arrived this evening in Lewiston, Maine to begin our walk tomorrow morning. We had a week of blessings and opportunities to grow in knowledge of our Catholic Faith, community life, and eachother.

I should get some rest before our first day of walking tomorrow morning; but rest assured of plenty of posts when we aquire better internet.

Please keep us and all of the people we will meet in your prayers!

United through the Eucharist,
danielle simone

The Missionaries of the Eucharist and the Dominicans

2010-01-25T23:55:00.003-05:00

The Missionaries of the Eucharist were mentioned in the Dominican Monastery of the Holy Rosary's blog this week!

Check it out!

http://www.monialesop.org/2010/01/novices-annual-visit.html

Mass time!!!

2010-01-22T06:40:00.001-05:00

It's 6:30 in the morning and we're heading to the Verizon Center for Mass!

Blessings!

PB&J

2010-01-21T22:55:00.000-05:00

The night before the March for Life 2010, the Missionaries of the Eucharist making our favorite food, PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICHES!!!

Blessings!

March for Life 2010!

2010-01-19T03:21:00.003-05:00

Dear Friends,

We would like to invite you to join the Missionaries of the Eucharist for the March for Life this year!

The March for Life is Friday, January 22, 2010.

If you would like to join us for this please contact us at missionariesoftheeucharist [at] gmail [dot] com.

On Saturday January 23, we are excited to be doing a 7 church tour.

7 Church Walk -- We will be walking through southern D.C., following the Archdiocese's 7 Church Walk. While walking, we are hoping to pray the rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Litany to St. Joseph, have a Holy Hour and evangelize by passing out rosaries.

The Churches:
St. Patrick
Immaculate Conception
St. Aloysius
St. Joseph
St. Peter
Holy Rosary
Mary Mother of God

Please contact us if you would like to walk through DC with us.

Blessings!

Happy Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

2009-12-08T11:11:00.003-05:00

Happy Feast Day of the
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

Also today is the Missionaries of the Eucharist's birthday!

What a great day!

We are FINISHED!

2009-08-31T13:22:00.001-04:00

Dear Friends,

Peace and Joy to you all! After 6 weeks of blisters, walking, rain and laughes we finished the walk on August 8, the Feast Day of St Dominic. Thank you all for your prayer and support. Stay tuned to read more about our crazy adventures and some reflections of the summer.

Praise God for His Love and Mercy and for our beautiful Lady who guides out heart into the Love of God. Praise God for all those who helped found the Missionaries of the Eucharist, without your desire to serve the Lord we would not have had such a great summer. Praise God for St Thomas Aqunias, St Therese of Lisieux and St Joseph, for your patronage and prayer from above. Praise God for Servant of God Pope John Paul II, for showing us such a great love for God and His Love for us, body and soul.

Sacred Heart of Jesus,
we Love you.

Introducing...

2009-08-12T09:41:00.008-04:00

Br. Philip Neri
(Jeff Reese)

Br. Clement
(Michael Dickie)

You can read about these new friars and their classmates at the Dominican Vocations Blog. Photos are from the Province of St. Joseph's Flickr Page. Please pray for their continued discernment and formation as they begin their novitiate.

Peace and Good!
Taryn

Check this out!

2009-08-10T13:41:00.000-04:00

http://tob.catholicexchange.com/2009/08/10/1085/

St. Dominic

2009-08-02T19:44:00.000-04:00

As we were walking through Rhode Island, we were able to visit our Dominican walkers! These beautiful statues are placed within the beautiful campus of Providence College. Here is St. Dominic receiving the gift of the Rosary from Our Lady. He never stopped preaching of the importance and value of the Rosary. Our Lady would often appear to St. Dominic and inspire him to keep on spreading Her Psalter to convert hearts.

St. Dominic, Pray for us!
Our Lady of the Rosary, Pray for us!

United through the Eucharist,
dee

2009-08-02T17:32:00.000-04:00

hmmm... something about this picture just makes me smile. Maybe its Scooter's lovely face or the cozy-ness of the Sao van or the fact that this is when we were able to reunite with our Dominican brothers... anyway i just love it, yay for MoE's!
in Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
caroline

MoE's Culinary Creations

2009-08-02T14:28:00.000-04:00

After another long day on the road, the Missionaries of the Eucharist returned to the Andrew's house for dinner. On this glorious evening the Andrews barbequed hotdogs and hamburgers for the ravenous missionaries. Halfway through the dinner Missionary Renato L. Esposito II, was inspired to embark on a culinary endeavor. He reached to his left and acquired some spicy brown mustard. He then applied it to create some text on the hotdog. The world of Barbecue changed forever.

Saint Lawrence- The patron Saint of Barbecue, pray for us.

Renato Esposito

2009 Missionaries of the Eucharist Swim-Off

2009-08-02T13:51:00.000-04:00

After a long hot day on the road, Scott Wilkins and Renato L. Esposito II are preparing
to take part in the 2009 Missionaries of the Eucharist Swim-Off. As you can see in this
photo, on the left , Scott is sporting his brand new swimming goggles along with his retro teenage mutant ninja turtles towel. On the right, Renato is sporting the peach swimming goggles and retro summer design towel. These two men are destined for swimming greatness. I salute these two aquatic worriers, looks likes we may have 2012 Olympic future gold medalists in our midst. Swim strong you Sultans of swim, Paddlers of power, Backstroke berserkers, Dukes of the dive.

Renato Esposito

True Devotion to the Holy Spirit

2009-07-31T18:03:00.002-04:00

You're praying for our Dominican brothers as they prepare for novitiate, right?
If you need a prayer idea, they recommend this novena:

Novena to the Holy Spirit

After you've prayed, please enjoy Jeff Reese's wonderful talk on True Devotion to the Holy Spirit, presented in three parts below.

From the Desk of the Walk Leader

2009-07-30T23:01:00.002-04:00

As I look over our blog, I notice that many (if not most) of our entries are silly. While this is an accurate depiction of our communal life--we're a joyful and rambunctious crew--there are many sobering and serious moments as well. Whether it's praying the rosary in front of an abortion clinic, encountering the shattered lives of despairing homeless, or being jeered by passing motorists, there are times on the Walk when laughter is the farthest thing from my mind. But somewhere between these extremes of mirth and gravitas are indefinable moments of mixed emotions, so poignant that they leave an aftertaste.

Not long after the Walk began, my walkers began calling me "papa." At first I chuckled at the new nickname but as day blended into day and week into week I accepted the role and forced myself to see the paternal aspects of my job. But being a dad is no easy task and I've found myself contemplating the whole "fatherhood" thing. My spiritual director thinks that this can only be good for that whole discernment thing.

It's been difficult to say goodbye to my "children" who've left over the past few weeks. Like a dad who keeps staring at an empty place at the dinner table when his baby goes off to college I find my ears straining to hear Ludwig's absent voice when we chant the office or Marie's chuckle when I crack an exceptionally corny joke. When I'm rounding a hill at the end of a walking shift I keep expecting to see Martha behind the wheel of our van or Taryn typing on her iPhone to answer one of Nick's Franciscan questions. I miss seeing Jeff and Michael discussing the intersection of philosophy and economics or Sam giving a lesson on Church history or Maggie showing Dee how to properly stretch the hamstrings while Regina sings a Veggie Tales song.

For the next few days I have to contend with the very noticable absence of my co-pilot Dave. This summer has been a blessing for me--while Dave and I have lived together for six months and we were already good friends, this summer has really deepend our bond. Thankfully he'll be back soon.

I am really dreading the end of this walk. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have my own bed and the constant promise of a shower, but I would sooner walk for three more months (on feet layered with blisters) than see all my "children" disperse and go their separate ways. There's something special about this bunch. They bless me in so many ways... and they don't even realize it.

Gotta run... the kids need me to help them with their sore ankles.

Scott

The MoE-est Chapter in the New Testament

2009-07-30T09:52:00.007-04:00

On the eve of their entrance to the postulancy of the Eastern Province Dominican friars, Michael Dickie and Jeff Reese each gave the walkers a talk on a topic of their own choosing. Here Michael speaks about John 6 and the Eucharist. The talk is presented in two parts.
Please pray for these young men and their classmates - for their continued discernment and formation, and that they may receive the religious names they have written in their hearts when they enter novitiate on August 8th, the Feast of St. Dominic.

Roadside evangelization makes front-page news

2009-07-30T09:46:00.005-04:00

Yesterday's front page article of the Washington Post describes the five-week journey of six Franciscan friars that walked 300 miles to Washington DC.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072803220.html

It's a wonderful story about the joy of sharing the Gospel on the road.

Praise the Lord for the Franciscan friars - kindred spirits to the Missionaries of the Eucharist - receiving such a spotlight!

Questions from Our Viewers

2009-07-29T17:29:00.005-04:00

In this video, walk leaders Scott "Scooter" Wilkins and David "Aloysius" Sao answer questions from our faithful blog readers.

Don't forget to send your questions to questions@themoes.us. You could be featured in a future episode of Questions from Our Viewers!

To All the MoEs Who've Walked Before

2009-07-27T18:31:00.006-04:00

This post is a shout-out to all the MoEs who have walked before us.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the MoEs have lots of customs and traditions. Some are profound and some are silly. On The Walk, I discovered that many of them are multi-layered in their wisdom:

Observing an hour of silence daily and a longer period on Fridays provides an opportunity for personal prayer and contemplation - but it also provides a welcome (even necessary!) respite for people who are living with constant noise and zero privacy.
Praying the rosary on every walking shift sanctifies each step and sends thousands of prayers heavenward over the course of The Walk. It also provides a pleasant walking cadence and makes hot shifts, rainy shifts, and last-shift-of-the-day shifts pass more quickly.
Chanting the Office in men's and women's choirs proclaims the complementarity of the sexes - and it also sounds really neat.
Having extensive and expandable car prayers gives us a chance to pray together in a relaxed and unhurried manner. Having a simple and reverent Grace Before Meals prevents MoE mutiny at mealtimes. :o)

So, to all the MoEs who developed these and other MoE customs - thank you! You are wise indeed.

Peace and Good!
Taryn

Introducing Handlebar Dimitri Mousekolnikov

2009-07-27T13:10:00.013-04:00

Now that I've introduced myself, I have the great honor of introducing a new MoE, Handlebar Dimitri Mousekolnikov. I could tell you a little bit about him, but I think I'll just let him speak for himself:

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Here's what happened when Handlebar met Dee:

Now that you've met Handlebar, you can be his friend on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/themoemouse

Peace and Good!
Taryn

We Are Family

2009-07-27T11:50:00.019-04:00

Dear friends,
Hello! My name is Taryn and I'm the redhead in the picture above. I've just returned from a week on the MoE Walk, and I'm popping by to share a bit of what I learned with you. I owe my involvement with the MoEs to my dear friend David Sao. I'd tell you that he's the fellow on the left, but I'm sure you already know that, because Dave knows everyone. He's introduced me to more wonderful people than I can count, including many, many MoEs.
The first thing that I learned is this: the MoEs are family. I've had the pleasure of helping host MoEs in Philly and being hosted by more MoEs at the March for Life, so I already knew the strength of the community. It wasn't until I joined The Walk, though, that I understood just how much of a family the Missionaries are. Like any family, the MoEs have traditions and sayings and jokes that no one else would find funny. We pray and eat and sleep and travel together. Most importantly, though, we take care of each other. We tend to each other's blisters and do each other's laundry.

Sometimes, on The Walk, showers are hard to come by, and we have to get creative to maintain a reasonable standard of hygiene. The MoE family is always ready to help!*

I miss my MoE brothers and sisters very much! Walk well, pray hard, and take good care of each other - I'll be be praying for you every day.

Peace and Good!
Taryn

*Just kidding! No MoEs or commercial dryers were harmed in the making of this post.

We Got Ditched!

2009-07-23T09:50:00.000-04:00

So one morning I dropped off Caroline and Nick to walk an early morning shift. I guess I hadn't woken up completely when I was driving because while attempting to park, I backed into a ditch. This picture was taken about 4 hours after Dave's van fell into the hole. Ludwig is determining how to get the van out. God heard my prayers though... I had prayed through the intercession of our Blessed Mother that the Lord might send us a free tow truck. Praise God always~ He's so good to us :0).

in Christ's perfect love,
Martha

Jeffrey Matilda Reese

2009-07-23T08:46:00.004-04:00

We miss you!!!

This picture of Caroline, Jeff, Martha and me was taken on Jeff and Michael's last day with the MoE's at St. Monica's Parish. On their last night, they gave us talks on True Devotion to the Holy Spirit and The Eucharist. Being able to witness our two brothers "in preacher mode" helped us realize (even though we knew already) their vocations to the Holy Priesthood.
I think this picture sums up our relationship with Jeff quite well. Scare-oline, Miss Martha and I going crazy laughing at Jeff. Whether he was picking us ladies flowers along the walk, talking about the Faith, making fun of Dave Sao, or punching people in the neck, he always had the ability to make someone smile no matter what we were going through on the walk.

We miss being able to spend time with you along with your great sense of humor, but we look forward to spending that time with you in the Eucharist.

Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit...
Make Us Saints! :)

United through the Eucharist,
dee

Got Franciscans?

2009-07-20T23:02:00.001-04:00

First Abortion Clinic

2009-07-20T23:01:00.001-04:00

Divine Mercy Shrine

2009-07-20T23:00:00.002-04:00

We love Tim!

2009-07-20T22:59:00.001-04:00

I forgot to post.

2009-07-20T22:58:00.000-04:00

Oh Cars...

2009-07-19T23:28:00.000-04:00

jmj

You'll probably hear us talk about our many car problems. This picture is of renato and me trying to jump start my car after it died. The battery continued to die on us every day for a week, so we are became pretty much experts now at jumping cars. Praise God I ended up getting a new battery.

Please pray for our vehicles.

Peace and Joy!
Dave Sao

Michael Dickie

2009-07-19T23:24:00.000-04:00

jmj

This is Michael Dickie, he is an awesome man of God and a great friend of mine. The one thing the Missionaries of the Eucharist are good at is loving one another. Michael and I have been housemates this past year in the a house of prayer and discernment and Michael always greeted me with a big hug when I came back home from an exhausting day of school. It was a blessing to have Michael on the walk this year. Michael was very loved in our group especially because Michael knows a lot about a lot of things. Please pray for him while is now with the completely his postulancy with the Dominicans of the St Joseph province.

We miss you Michael Dickie!

Peace and joy!
Dave Sao

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for us!

2009-07-19T23:17:00.000-04:00

Here we are the first week of the walking at St John the Evagelist in St Johnsbury, VT. Being that we all love Our Lady of Guadalupe, we thought it would be great to take a family photo of us with her.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is very special to us because she is the patroness for the unborn and we believe in the diginity of all life from conception to natural death, from the womb to the tomb. In the image she is pregnant with the Christ-child and we ask her to every day to to pray for the mothers who are pregnant and are contempating an abortion.

Our Lady of Guadalupe,
Pray and protect the unborn!

Peace and joy!
Dave Sao

Old timers

2009-07-19T23:05:00.000-04:00

jmj

Maggie, Scott and I thought we should show how hard core we alumni are.

Peace and Joy!
Dave Sao

Guitar

2009-07-19T19:39:00.001-04:00

This is Dee and I singing a song down by a lake on an off-shift. Dee brought her guitar for the summer walk, playing guitar and singing songs has been a great way to build community. -Nick Lensing

2009-07-19T17:56:00.000-04:00

This picture was taken on the top of Mount Equinox, which is located in Arlington Vermont. In this photo you can see what looks like a building complex. This is actually a Carthusian Monastery called the Charterhouse of the Transfiguration. I later found out that this monastery was the first Carthusian Monastery located in the western hemisphere. The monastery is surrounded with beautiful rolling hills and green woods; this is a perfect location for a contemplative monastery. I would like to thank Brain and everyone at the Carthusian monastery Gift Shop for letting us go up the mountain.

May God Bless you.

St Bruno Pray For us.

Loading Team Extraordinaire...

2009-07-19T09:55:00.000-04:00

Loading Team Extraordinaire: Ludwig Kern and Nick Lensing at it again. Notice our new car top carrier which prevents sleeping bags from getting wet when it rains. Praise the Lord! -Nick Lensing

Divine Mercy Shrine

2009-07-19T09:43:00.000-04:00

This is the Divine Mercy Shrine where we went on Monday, July 13, 2009. There we prayed the Rosary for Life, had Adoration, Mass, prayed Chaplet of Divine Mercy, had Confession, prayed Liturgy of the Hours, had a Eucharistic Festival of Praise, and learned about the shrine. -Nick Lensing

2009-07-19T00:54:00.001-04:00

These beautiful statues of the Holy Family were purchased during our training week at St. Vincent's. Placed in the center of the dashboard of the Sao-Van where us MoEs cram into everyday, we automatically focus on Jesus, Mary and Joseph and pray for their intercession as we promote the beauty of holy Catholic families.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph... We Love You! Save the souls of the Unborn Children, All the Souls in Purgatory, All the Priests and Religious, and All Marriages and Families!

United through the Eucharist,
dee

2009-07-19T00:47:00.001-04:00

Here is the beautiful Miss Martha reading up on Theology of the Body, lakeside in New Hampshire. Her joy is contagious!

United through the Eucharist,
dee

2009-07-19T00:44:00.000-04:00

This is Scott, our fearless Leader.

"Unnecessary Mystery"

2009-07-16T13:57:00.001-04:00

One the biggest topic that the MoEs always talk about during the summer walk is "Vocation Discernment"! Many of us are in that stage of life where we just want to know what our vocation is. Is it to marriage? To the priesthood? To the consecrated single life? These questions are just always in the back of our minds. During the walk we encounter amazing priests and religious brothers and sisters and they show us the beauty of living the heavenly marriage with Christ on earth. They are all so beautiful that we just want to run off to be priests, brothers, or sisters so we can live such a joy-filled life. We also meet amazing loving families that trully are signs of the heavenly marriage and our hearts then desire to get married and raise children to love the Lord and Church.

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed thinking about vocations to marriage, priesthood, or single life that we forget that our first vocation is to be Holy and to love God with a humble and willing heart. If we keep our eyes on Christ He will reveal us His gift of our vocation to us.

Here's a picture of Dee with a great book we found called, Religious Vocation, An unnecessary mystery by Fr Richard Butler OP. It's a great book to read for those who might be feeling called to religious life.

Pax vobiscum!
Dave Sao

Our Lady, Spouse of the Holy Spirit!
MAKE US SAINTS!

Ice Cream!!

2009-07-16T13:26:00.000-04:00

Silly Renny.. Marie, Ludwig and Renato are getting some super great ice cream at Immaculate Conception Parish. When we arrived here, the lovely parishioners left us several super large pizzas and ice cream. Mmm, so so good. At this parish we were also able to sing praise and worship songs infront of the Tabernacle before bed. Blessed be God!!!

Precious Blood Monastery Room

2009-07-16T13:17:00.000-04:00

This was one of the rooms we stayed at in the Precious Blood Monastery in Brooklyn NY. It was such a beautifully humble place to stay. Monsignor Phillip Reilly was extremely welcoming and a wonderful man to be around. His passion for the pro-life movement is inspiring and contagious. Little did I know that this bed would be the last bed I slept in for a few days.
~Brittany

Doctor/Papa Scott

2009-07-16T13:13:00.001-04:00

Here we are at All Saints Parish in Lancaster, New Hampshire. After a very long day of walking we were welcomed with greaaat spagetti with meat sauce and very good salads. This is papa Scott playing doctor as usual. Dee's feet welcomed a nice little family of blisters, which Scott handled quite well :0). Renato is sitting in the backround, probably pondering life, or making sassy comments.

~ Martha :0)

Dee-Monkey and St. Francis

2009-07-15T09:41:00.001-04:00

This beautiful statue was outside at the very legit Nation Shrine of Divine Mercy. We had just arrived and were heading in to the Shrine for Mass when all of a sudden our good friend St. Francis popped out of no where. He was just sitting out under the trees with his bird friends. That was such a beautiful day. Praise God!!!
~Brittany

Laura's Tower

2009-07-15T09:38:00.000-04:00

We were at the top of Laura's Tower (1400 ft Alt.) in Stockbridge, MA. Brother Richard Mary, a Marian brother, took most of us on a 45 minute hike up a mountain. We all learned that we weren't as in shape as we thought. At the top of the tower we could see a good chunk of Stockbridge, including the Shrine of the Divine Mercy!! Woot woot!
~ Martha :0)

Sunday Brunch Frolic

2009-07-15T09:31:00.001-04:00

This lovely picture was taken in the backyard of the Fazioli's. We were enjoying a relaxing time in the grass after Sunday evening dinner. The Fazioli's were oh so good to us. They had a cookout for us this day and invited their extended family over as well as some friends so we could meet some more great people. This was a b-e-a-utiful Sunday. Mm. God is so good to us.

~ Martha

2009-07-15T09:28:00.003-04:00

Breakfast Feast!!!

When we pray for food the Lord hears and answers. This was in the rectory at St. Elizabeth in Lyndonville with the wonderful Kate King (who is not in the picture...). The table was beautifully filled by divine providence with eggs, beacon, bagels, and a mountain of french toast(delicious).

Car Explosion!

2009-07-15T09:23:00.002-04:00

We were on the way to the Fazioli house in Troy, NY. I was taking a nap, and then the car exploded. "Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!" Phil 4:4 -Nick Lensing