Dominican Mission Foundation

I receive a newsletter from the Dominican Mission Foundation each month and sometimes find the contents of interest, especially when they contain first-hand accounts of missionaries. Dominicans of the Western Province of the United States have missionaries in Mexico, Guatemala, Kenya, Lithuania and I cannot remember where else. The Master General indicated a need to take on more missionary work, but the present situation makes that almost impossible.

In Mexicali, Mexico the Western Province supports their friars working out of a house recently built so that more Dominicans could be assigned to the work. A main "parish" with three or four scattered "chapels" takes care of the stable population, but there are many more for whom more is needed. The recent issue of the Dominican Mission Foundation Newsletter shows a wonderful house suitable for much more than just the living place for the friars. A missive from one of the friars living there tells the story of many more places in the "parish" that have little access to such things and would require 4-wheel drive vehicles, or the old fashioned horse to easily get around. Those people do not seem to have easy access to church or sacraments, often drifting from the Faith.

It seems so strange that a country that would be thought of as "Catholic" would have such great difficulty nurturing the Faith. Of course I remember reading Graham Green's "Power and the Glory" and can have some sympathy for the situation, with an attendant fear that if there were many, many vocations the same weaknesses might develop.

Meanwhile, prayer is the most powerful gift one can give to the missionaries in Baja and other places throughout the world. Cash is nice also, but cash without prayer seems cold, useful but cold. Prayers, prayers and more prayers. If you are interested, look up The Dominican Mission Foundation with your favorite search engine. Did I forget to include a URL? no.