Cinnaminson deacons experience mission trip to South America
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
By David Karas | Correspondent
Deacon Jack Hvizdos can vividly recall the moment he stood at the altar where Archbishop Oscar Romero was martyred.
“That was just, to me, a very powerful experience ... to be standing on holy ground.”
Deacon Hvizdos, who serves in St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Cinnaminson, joined Deacon Romeo Modelo, also from St. Charles Borromeo, for a pilgrimage and retreat this past January, during which they were immersed in a mission experience in Guatemala and El Salvador.
From Jan. 12-23, the pair joined a group of 10 American priests and two other deacons from parishes across the country. Designed as a pilgrimage in the memory of the many martyrs who gave their lives during a time of genocide in Central America, the experience organized by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers included visits to many sites in the region.
“We were visiting places where people were martyred for their faith,” said Deacon Hvizdos. He added that some of the Maryknoll missionaries they met and interacted with told personal stories of knowing some of those who gave their lives.
“They experienced the atrocities which were (taking place) at that time,” he said. “It was just so powerful to have eyewitness accounts of it.”
The deacons’ journey began when they flew into Guatemala, later embarking on a five-hour journey in a van to El Salvador. The mission experience, they said, featured stops at many sites that invited prayer and often song, including a site where six Jesuits were killed, as well as a library where an American priest was martyred.
“Every place that we visited, we stopped, experienced, (heard) a story and said some prayers,” said Deacon Hvizdos. “And then we all sang ‘Holy Ground’.”
The deacons also had a chance to assist at daily Masses held throughout the trip. Deacon Hvizdos shared that on one occasion, they served for a Mass in a cathedral designed to hold 1,500 faithful. During that Mass, it was packed with 2,000 guests.
“As we processed out after Mass, all the children in the congregation ran up, hugged us, (and) held our hands,” he recounted. “They walked out with us.”
Deacon Modelo said that the idea for the journey began in 2013 when a missionary priest, Maryknoll Father Bob Jalbert, visited St. Charles Borromeo Parish to educate the community about the history and plight of the poor population of Guatemala and El Salvador. Before the end of last year, the parish pastor, Father Peter James Alindogan, approached the deacons with the opportunity to attend the pilgrimage retreat.
“My heart jumped up and my curiosity to learn more about these countries and to reach these countries (was awoken),” he said.
Deacon Modelo likened the experience to visiting his own home country, the Philippines.
“Their lifestyle is very similar to us,” he said. “The structure of the roads and houses are the same. The noise on the streets, the combustion from vehicles and the bumpy roads were reminiscence of my past.”
He continued, “But the most interesting experience I had was the feeling of people’s contentment on simplicity of life and their faith to God. Their love to one another is a reflection of the most difficult encounter they have had in their lives.”
He also discussed the safety concerns facing clergy in the region they visited during this latest pilgrimage retreat, and the ever-present security escorts and precautions taken as they traveled around.
“I felt that there were people guarding us. This and other exposures we had regarding killing here and there for no reason at all made some of the days frightening,” he shared. “I was so scared that I might not go home anymore. I was so disturbed that I might be able to see my family anymore. I could not even sleep well at night worrying so much.”
However, he said that prayer and faith brought him peace despite the all-too-present reminders in their daily journeys of just how dangerous the region has been for men and women of faith.
One of the things that touched Deacon Modelo was the sense that there is a desire among many to provide support to the communities there.
“Their history was scary, I was scared when I was there and I feel that their future is still scary – yet there are so many people – young or old, but mostly Americans – (who) still insist” on going there and living there, “not for their convenience but to help the poor and to be with the poorest of the poor, most especially children.”
He concluded, “There is some magic in the air that I do not know, and that I do not understand, but I can feel.”
Father Alindogan expressed his joy that two deacons from the parish had the opportunity to participate, and said that the experience they had is one that will become part of their expressions of faith.
“The mission experiences of our deacons will surely filter in through their homilies, and especially in their lives,” he said. “They made the mission a part of their lives during their immersion trip and now their experiences will be the mission t
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By David Karas | Correspondent
Deacon Jack Hvizdos can vividly recall the moment he stood at the altar where Archbishop Oscar Romero was martyred.
“That was just, to me, a very powerful experience ... to be standing on holy ground.”
Deacon Hvizdos, who serves in St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Cinnaminson, joined Deacon Romeo Modelo, also from St. Charles Borromeo, for a pilgrimage and retreat this past January, during which they were immersed in a mission experience in Guatemala and El Salvador.
From Jan. 12-23, the pair joined a group of 10 American priests and two other deacons from parishes across the country. Designed as a pilgrimage in the memory of the many martyrs who gave their lives during a time of genocide in Central America, the experience organized by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers included visits to many sites in the region.
“We were visiting places where people were martyred for their faith,” said Deacon Hvizdos. He added that some of the Maryknoll missionaries they met and interacted with told personal stories of knowing some of those who gave their lives.
“They experienced the atrocities which were (taking place) at that time,” he said. “It was just so powerful to have eyewitness accounts of it.”
The deacons’ journey began when they flew into Guatemala, later embarking on a five-hour journey in a van to El Salvador. The mission experience, they said, featured stops at many sites that invited prayer and often song, including a site where six Jesuits were killed, as well as a library where an American priest was martyred.
“Every place that we visited, we stopped, experienced, (heard) a story and said some prayers,” said Deacon Hvizdos. “And then we all sang ‘Holy Ground’.”
The deacons also had a chance to assist at daily Masses held throughout the trip. Deacon Hvizdos shared that on one occasion, they served for a Mass in a cathedral designed to hold 1,500 faithful. During that Mass, it was packed with 2,000 guests.
“As we processed out after Mass, all the children in the congregation ran up, hugged us, (and) held our hands,” he recounted. “They walked out with us.”
Deacon Modelo said that the idea for the journey began in 2013 when a missionary priest, Maryknoll Father Bob Jalbert, visited St. Charles Borromeo Parish to educate the community about the history and plight of the poor population of Guatemala and El Salvador. Before the end of last year, the parish pastor, Father Peter James Alindogan, approached the deacons with the opportunity to attend the pilgrimage retreat.
“My heart jumped up and my curiosity to learn more about these countries and to reach these countries (was awoken),” he said.
Deacon Modelo likened the experience to visiting his own home country, the Philippines.
“Their lifestyle is very similar to us,” he said. “The structure of the roads and houses are the same. The noise on the streets, the combustion from vehicles and the bumpy roads were reminiscence of my past.”
He continued, “But the most interesting experience I had was the feeling of people’s contentment on simplicity of life and their faith to God. Their love to one another is a reflection of the most difficult encounter they have had in their lives.”
He also discussed the safety concerns facing clergy in the region they visited during this latest pilgrimage retreat, and the ever-present security escorts and precautions taken as they traveled around.
“I felt that there were people guarding us. This and other exposures we had regarding killing here and there for no reason at all made some of the days frightening,” he shared. “I was so scared that I might not go home anymore. I was so disturbed that I might be able to see my family anymore. I could not even sleep well at night worrying so much.”
However, he said that prayer and faith brought him peace despite the all-too-present reminders in their daily journeys of just how dangerous the region has been for men and women of faith.
One of the things that touched Deacon Modelo was the sense that there is a desire among many to provide support to the communities there.
“Their history was scary, I was scared when I was there and I feel that their future is still scary – yet there are so many people – young or old, but mostly Americans – (who) still insist” on going there and living there, “not for their convenience but to help the poor and to be with the poorest of the poor, most especially children.”
He concluded, “There is some magic in the air that I do not know, and that I do not understand, but I can feel.”
Father Alindogan expressed his joy that two deacons from the parish had the opportunity to participate, and said that the experience they had is one that will become part of their expressions of faith.
“The mission experiences of our deacons will surely filter in through their homilies, and especially in their lives,” he said. “They made the mission a part of their lives during their immersion trip and now their experiences will be the mission t
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