Knights in the USA: Day 4 - Found in Translation

Monday, June 13^th we woke up to have breakfast, but by the time 11:45am rolled around we were on our way to have noon Mass at Our Lady’s Center in Ellicott City. Here I was faced with an interesting question, “Mr. are all the priests in Baltimore Africans?” I laughed, but from what they observed in the two days they had been to Mass in the States it did seem to be true. Up until that point they had never thought of the United States as mission territory. After Mass we went for a round of Bowling at Brunswick Zone. For the first few times, one group had the kiddie bumpers up and so they thought bowling was one of the easiest things they had ever done, once I asked the attendant to put them down, they were quickly humbled. Each spent time gaming in the arcade and naively fishing for prizes with a mechanical claw. We left for an appointment that we had at the Franciscan Friary of St. Anthony’s to have an interview with ChristLife for a podcast about my experience as a missionary and their experience with me as a teacher. It was fun to be able to hear them answer questions about their experience thus far and also very humbling to hear how they think of me. After our interview, we spent some time praying and reflecting on the grounds of the beautiful Franciscan Monastery. Reminiscent of the beauty and simplicity of Assisi, the Franciscan Friary was a beautiful place of peace for the boys as they journaled in the chapel. From there we went to a friend of my dad’s who had spent some time as a Jesuit volunteer in Orange Walk in Belize who had married a lady from Mexico. The house was very large and beautiful, complete with a basketball court, tennis court, pool, indoor racketball court, hot tub, and lap pool. The boys loved the house and the facilities, but what they loved even more was being able to speak Spanish with his wife and his wife’s friends. You could see a light in their eyes as they began to speak in Spanish, it was a feeling of home and of being comfortable with their surroundings. I think it was helpful in letting them discover their identity of who they are and where they come from. A lot of times people do not appreciate what they have until it is gone or until they miss it. It is in those moments you discover and find out who you really are. They were finding out who they really were. They are Belizeans. It was great for them to also meet kids around their own age. David and Louis had formed a friendship, while Jose, Emil, and Johann enjoyed teasing Rosie about Justin Bieber. After jumping and splashing in the pool, pegging each other with racketballs, and playing tennis, we enjoyed smores from the fire pit – their first ever taste of this American delectable treat. We ended the night with Liturgy of the Hours.

Knights in the USA: Day 3 - Making Memories of Baltimore

That Sunday June 12th we went to Mass at my parish St. Agnes in Catonsville. I think it was a great opportunity for them to experience the universality of the Catholic Church in that everywhere there is a Catholic Church there is the same Mass with the same readings as in Benque Viejo del Carmen. This helped them feel at home even away from home. We then got ready for the Orioles Major League Baseball game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. My dad and I escorted all seven guys to the Orioles game where they each received a free orange O’s hat. They were excited to be able to experience a professional baseball game. Even though the O’s lost that game, they had a great time in the baseball atmosphere with the huge stadium, with the chants, the cheers, the wave, and even a homerun. In a short amount of time, these Belizeans had become Orioles fans. When the game had finished, we headed down past Ravens stadium where they each made sure to touch the foot of the bronze statue of Johnny Unitas. We then made our way to my sister’s house for dinner. There my sister Alison, her husband Pete, my nephews Michael and Matthew, my Aunt Patricia, my Uncle Mike, and my cousins Amanda and Jayne eagerly awaited meeting the Belizean boys. We had a cookout with games. In the backyard alley, the boys held a relay race for fun, where they each ran barefoot showcasing their amazing speed. They were all beginning to bond with different members of my family, but one particular bond warmed my heart: Rolfy and my two year old nephew Matthew. There was a special connection between the two, perhaps it was that Rolfy could detect the mischievousness in Matthew or perhaps that Matthew could detect the mischievousness in Rolfy, whatever the case, these two hit it off. They chased each other and teased each other. It was something to behold. We played a game of Guesstures or charades, which was a blast, but when it was time to go the boys were not ready to go home to sleep. So I took them to downtown Baltimore to be enchanted by the lights of Baltimore at night reflecting upon the waters of the Inner Harbor. I marched them up Federal Hill urging them not to look back until we had reached the top of the hill. When they finished climbing the steps, they turned right and then they lifted up their heads to be awed by the lights of an American city shimmering in the distance. This was the place that so many of my nights in high school were spent, now I was able to share those moments with my own students in a much more personal way. In my heart I knew that I was creating for myself and for them new memories that would be forever remembered.

Knights in the USA: Day 1 & 2 - Dogs, Drinks, Dolphins, and Dreams Come True

I apologize for having taken so long to update this blog about my many Belizean adventures, but with the Knights’ trip to the United States this past summer, it seemed to be a daunting task to write a reflection on it because no words seemed adequate to express exactly what happened and what has been on my heart. But I will try my best. After months of planning, thousands of dollars raised, and visas being approved, 7 Knights of the Immaculate travelled from Benque Viejo del Carmen to the border of Chetumal, Mexico. Daniel, David, Edvin, Emil, Johann, Jose, and Rolfy. There, some of them had their first experience of the modern world. We stopped at the mall for some food, where they begin to pull out their cameras taking pictures of the shopping centers and department stores. I knew they certainly were in for a culture shock. We then took an overnight bus from Chetumal to Cancun where some of them took their very first flight. You could see the excitement in their faces as the plane began to lift off the ground. They all leaned over to get a look out the window as we ascended higher and higher into the clouds.

When we eventually landed in Baltimore, after exiting the maze of Miami Airport, they were excited to meet my parents. My mom and dad greeted us there and guided us to where the car was parked. When we entered the elevator, Daniel’s eyes began to glow and widen on his first ever elevator ride. That day they came to my house with their eyes gaping open and their mouths ajar at the grandeur of an American home. That night they enjoyed re-living my high school years of playing pool, Guitar Hero, and watching TV on a big screen. My best friends Brendan, Mark, and Steve stopped by to meet them.

The next day, my brother Vern accompanied us as we went to downtown Baltimore for Little Italy’s St. Anthony’s Festival. Although it hadn’t started yet, the boys enjoyed walking through the neighborhood until they entered a few stores. It was funny to see them overly excited about what they could buy at clothing and Baltimore souvenir stores. There in the middle of Fells Point they saw their first ever poodle, which shook hands (Dogs in Benque are ugly, dirty, mangy, and are treated like animals instead of a family member, so needless to say they were very surprised). We ate lunch at the Hard Rock Café, where they had their first experience of free refills. They began to bombard me with questions. “What do you mean free refill?” “What if I get five refills? Is it still free?” “What if I get 100? Is it still free? Is there ever an amount that I will have to pay for it?” After each had 5-8 Cokes, we made our way to the Inner Harbor and to the Baltimore National Aquarium where essentially we saw sea animals that are from their neck of the sea. Here the sea creatures were behind glass that you can literally swim with off the coast of Belize, but yet most of them have not had the same opportunity to do that, so this was a treat for them. They smiled excitedly at the Dolphin Show as dolphins leaped and played with their trainers.

That night we had dinner with the Boffens and the Vidmars, family friends of mine, who had hamburgers and hotdogs authentically welcoming them to America. They played corn-hole or bag toss as well as ladder golf, while conversing with family and friends. After the day of fun, back at the Brokke home base we prayed Evening Prayer and reflected on their favorite part of the trip thus far. I was expecting to hear tales of seeing the city, the Aquarium, stores, airplanes, etc… but what I heard was tales of how much they enjoyed meeting the people I had grown up with and people who had helped them attain their dream of coming to the States. It was the people who had made their experience thus far enjoyable and I was so proud and delighted to hear their words of wisdom, that, and their humorous stories of trying to figure out how to make an automatic toilet flush at the Aquarium.

Knights Semester Retreat Fall 2011

The Knights of the Immaculate had their semester retreat at Chapel Hill on November 6^th and 7^th. We had 31 guys from the high school attend with 21 new Knights. It was awesome! Everyone loved it and they're all on a little retreat high right now and they're looking forward to the next one. The older Knights gave talks on Peer Pressure (Joseph Rivera), Chastity (Johann Castañedez), Confession (Edvin Martinez), the Eucharist (Emil Mendez), and the Importance of Brotherhood (Hector Pacheco). They all did a great job! Emil's talk on the Eucharist was amazing. Emil spoke about his experience at the youth conference this summer in Steubenville and it was so powerful. While talking about his powerful experience he began to tear up and you could feel the power of his words and everyone was affected by it. Then when they all got their letters from their parents and teachers, most if not all of them began to cry. They all had a very profound experience in front of the Blessed Sacrament and going to Confession. It was beautiful. Many of the older Knights helped pray over the new ones and it filled me with such pride and love. On Sunday they got knighted by Fr. Gerry and went to Mass. After Mass they shared about their experience and it was so amazing to hear what they had to say. Some said it was the best decision they had ever made was to come on the retreat. There is such a thirst for what is good, beautiful, and true in these young men. There is a need for a crusade of manliness and purity to bring about a renewal of masculinity in society, and this crusade is our work! There are now at least one or more Knights in every single classroom! We have 40 total Knights!

Holy Week 2011

Holy Week approached with all of its grandeur. Almost every night there was a procession: Our Lady of Sorrows on Holy Monday, the Encounter on Holy Tuesday, the Transfer of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the Passion play, and the Good Friday Procession. Teaching the Old Testament this year completely gave me a new outlook and perspective on these processions. At first I always thought they were a bit strange as they paraded a bunch of statues around town, but after I looked at them through the eyes of the Old Testament, they took on greater meaning. These processions gave the Catholics of Benque Viejo del Carmen an identity – it was a cultural manifestation of the Catholic Faith in Benque, it set them apart. What God was doing in the Old Testament might have seemed strange to an outsider – the spreading of blood to a doorpost, sprinkling blood on the people, circumcision, parading the ark of the covenant seven times around the walls of Jericho, the making of a bronze serpent, etc… but what God was doing was forming these people as His own. He was giving them their own culture, their own identity as the people of God. The other concept that comes into play is the concept of a “memorial.” A memorial to a Jewish person was much more than just having something that helps you remember what happened in the past, no, to a Jewish person a memorial was doing something similar or having something similar to an act that was done in the past but through that act those things of the past are made present. This I why every time Jews celebrate the Passover, they refer to it as happening “this night.” That memorial made that act of history present. This is why Jesus said at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of me.” He was asking that the act of the Last Supper be done as a memorial so that every time you ate the bread or drank the cup you proclaimed and made present His death. So the Last Supper, the Passion, Death, and Resurrection are all made present at every single Mass. When the processions in Benque occur, and they parade a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows encountering Christ carrying His Cross in the middle of town, that act becomes present in the streets of Benque. Those graces of that moment are brought alive in our small little town. His saving acts are made present to us in that moment.

At Easter Vigil, four students were baptized and confirmed, and five received their First Holy Communion. This is testimony that Christ is still at work today. He is alive! He is Risen indeed! God continues to act and work in His people and make His presence known to His people. These students heard His call and they responded with grace to His invitation to enter into His family, into His Church. I had the privilege of becoming the padrino – or godfather – to two of the girls baptized. I was so blest and moved by what the Lord was doing in their lives. I felt instantly connected to them as they had living water poured over their heads to enter into Christ’s death and Resurrection. Tears ran down one of their eyes as sanctifying grace entered their soul. They wrote, “That night I was filled with joy and love!” He is Risen indeed!

March 2011

The week my family came into town was a week of refreshment. I was able to show off the beauty of the country that has become my second home. I was excited to hang out with my Dad, my brother, my sister, and my brother-in-law and to introduce them to my town, my fellow volunteers, but above all my students. We had a lot of much needed fun visiting Flores, Tikal, and San Pedro.

The following week was the yearly visit by the mission team from Franciscan University. It was great to have a week off from teaching and watch others reach out to my students in different ways. It was interesting to watch the students interact with these “strangers” who had come from the USA visit their classrooms. It’s funny to look at them and think of how I was one of them two years ago. I was amazed to see how my students had warmed up to me and formed a relationship with me and how they were still weary of these newcomers just as they were with me. The Friday Night Youth Night was a beautiful display of faith as the Lord began to work miracles in a lot of the kids’ lives. It’s so cool to have fresh and enthusiastic faces ready to serve and able to reach out to the kids I haven’t been able to reach out to. It is nice to be woken up from complacency which can often take place once you’ve become comfortable with your surroundings. The Lord surely worked through them in great ways. Not only uplifting the students, but also me.

The week after that was the week my good family friend came into town. It was cool to have someone more immersed into my life as a missionary rather than my life as a tourist. That week was a lot of fun showing her the ropes of Benque.

Somehow in the craziness of March I was still able to complete my distance learning master’s class even amidst all the hustle and bustle of three weeks of visitors. God truly performed a miracle in allowing me to complete this course.

After a semester of planning, the 4^th Form Retreat was underway. This retreat was an overnight co-ed retreat which was a risk but it proved to be well worth taking. The students all had so much fun and grew so much. During Adoration the students received letters from their classmates, their teachers, and their parents expressing their good qualities about them. Almost all of them were moved to tears. The Lord was doing awesome things in this 4^th Form Class. He was breaking down walls and uniting them together. It was beautiful to see how they all shared their experience of what happened on the retreat.

2nd Semester 2011, January and February

This semester has been filled with many ups and downs, twists and turns, yet it all continues to move forward in the same direction. Its hard to sum up everything that has happened over the past five months because so much has happened and yet it seems as if everything remains the same. Our lives are so hectic and busy, and yet so plain and ordinary. Yet in the midst of all the monotony and everything mundane, through the ordinary God has done the extraordinary. Amidst all the madness and confusion, God brought stability.

The beginning of this semester began with the tragic news that one of Mount Carmel’s former students had committed suicide. This sent out a big shockwave throughout the community of Benque. It especially affected my former homeroom, the class she was in. I will never forget the day that I and my former homeroom approached her house as we heard the wailing and moaning of her grieving mother. Everyone who heard it felt her pain. I didn’t want to go inside, I didn’t know what to do or say to a mother who had lost her child. I was terrified, but because I am called “teacher” I had to pretend to know what I was doing and that I was not afraid. We went in and paid our respects. To see the pain of a mother in so much grief twisted one’s heart into knots enough to wring tears out of one’s eyes. I’ve never understood Our Lady of Sorrows as much as I did at that point. I thought a lot of how Mary must have felt when she lost her only Son to such a horrible death. A dark cloud had descended upon Benque, over the next few weeks reports of more suicide and suicide attempts rolled in. It seemed as if crisis had taken over. Yet it was the community of faith that held everything together. Death and the Evil One had knocked on Benque’s door, but Benque with much grief responded with faith not by becoming focused on the evil surrounding it, but by ignoring it. There was a shift in thought that was necessary to happen in order to not give credit or attention to the Evil One. It is clear that those who were involved were longing for something more: they were longing for Love.

During the next month, my fourth form students were asked to apply everything that they had learned about that Love that everyone longs for in a chastity presentation that they would give to primary school students in the area. They were all so nervous and excited about how to make their presentation applicable to youngsters. It was beautiful to see because through learning how to teach it, they learned to believe what they taught and a transformation grew within them. Although they went to give presentations to help other students learn, it was really them who were learning and learning to Love. The excitement in their faces as they returned from their respective schools was contagious. It was clear that God was working in their hearts to teach them about the demands of true Love rather than the counterfeit form they are surrounded by.

New Podcast!

Check out the New Podcast from ChristLife. While 7 of my students and I visited the United States from June 10th - 21st, we had the opportunity to be interviewed by ChristLife about my life in Belize as a volunteer teacher and their experience of me as a teacher. Check it out!

Theology of the Body Exam

This was my favorite Fourth Form Exam Essay that I received. They are learning!

The two fundamental questions of the theology of the body are “What does it mean to be human” and “How can I lead a life that leads to happiness?” In order to answer the question, “What does it mean to be human?” We have to look at the 3 phases of humanity.

The first phase is our origin, which has three sub-phases, original solitude, original unity, and original nakedness. Original solitude means that man is unique in his own nature. God is spirit, He is immaterial and invisible. Animals are matter, they are material and visible. Man is alone in his nature because he is body and soul, matter and spirit, visible and invisible! Apart from that we have free will and the ability to love.

Original unity is simply the union of bodies. Male and females are made for each other. The male body does not make sense without the female body and the female body does not make sense without the male body. Just by look at the anatomy of a man we can see that he is meant to protect, give of himself, to start and initiate the act of love, pursue a woman and sacrifice himself for her. A woman on the other hand is meant to receive, she has a mystery to be revealed, a relationship to be pursued, and a beauty to be unveiled. She is one that receives life. It is also important to remember that we are a body, but also more than a body, we are a union of body and soul. We are meant to be united with God and our neighbor through the call of love because it is through love that we are united. Because we have been made in the image and likeness of God we are to become one with God and with our neighbor. The only way we can fulfill our humanity is to love.

Original nakedness is to see a person with true love, divine vision, to see each other as God sees us. With the gift of original nakedness one could be naked without shame because we were able to see each other as a gift. Remember that original innocence is when man didn’t know good from evil, so he was not able to lust. With original nakedness we know our call to love each other through our bodies as God loves us.

The second phase is our history. We now know that there is good and evil because in the beginning of time, when Adam and Eve were created, they soon fell. It is because our first ancestors disobeyed that we must now have the shame of being naked. Our eyes no more have divine vision. Adam and Eve covered themselves in shame as a self-defense against objectification. They did not see each other as gifts to love and be loved, but as objects to be used.We had fallen from grace. But the story doesn’t end there.

We were redeemed. God the Father sent His Son to redeem us. Jesus Christ became flesh and incarnated in Mary’s womb. In order to save us God had to sacrifice His own flesh to redeem us in the flesh. He did this when He was crucified. It is when Christ rises from the dead that our bodies are redeemed. Jesus came and death had been defeated. By Christ’s resurrection we get the gifts of the sacraments and the opportunity to go to heaven. The purpose of the sacraments is to receive God’s grace through our flesh in order to help us get to heaven when our bodies will be glorified. This is our destiny, we were meant for love. Our last destination as humans is to achieve a union with God and that union is in heaven. This is the Beatific Vision.

Now, in order to answer the question, “How can I achieve happiness?” We have to look at the Christian vocations. Vocations are meant to make a gift of ourselves to love others and serve them. We can either choose marriage or celibacy. Even if we choose any one of these, our vocation will always be to draw us into communion with God and each other. If we choose marriage, we make vows to love each other till death parts us. Basically we are sacrificing ourselves for the good of the other and we do it on our own will, with love and with a purpose. The purpose of marriage is to begin a family and to give forth new life through the gift of love. The purpose of marriage is not only to procreate, but also to achieve a union with your spouse and to lead your spouse to heaven.

Many people think that celibacy doesn’t fulfill what it means to mean to be a man or a woman, but it certainly does. A priest or nun have sacrificed their sexuality and have given it to God. They want to achieve a closer union with God here on earth, which is also the end goal of marriage. Celibacy still fulfills what it means to be a man or woman because they lay down their lives in sacrifice to serve, guide, protect, and give forth spiritual life. Priests lay down their lives to serve and love the Church. In Mass, he initiates love and life through the giving of the sacraments. Sisters also give spiritual life through their service, charity, and teaching. In their femininity they receive the love of Christ and tend to their spiritual children. They fulfill what it means to be man or woman because they are an opportunity to love.

In both of these vocations, they allow man to make a gift of himself in love, and only in giving yourself away can you find yourself and find true happiness.

Carmen Kotch, 4th Form