The 2010 Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers’ Holy Week retreat will be hosted by Father Leo Shea, M.M.  Retreatants will travel to Montigo Bay, Jamaica and live and work with the physically challenged children of Blessed Assurance home.  Located on five acres of land in Windsor Lodge, St. James, just outside of Montego Bay, Blessed Assurance provides care and shelter for children with HIV/AIDS and severe disabilities.

The Holy Week Services will be a tremendous missionary experience.  Sacred liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday will be conducted at the local parish.  During the retreat, there will be opportunities for participants to pastorally work with the children and form dynamic faith relationships. Daily reflections on lived experience will help concretize the missionary element of service to the poor.  Since English is the language of the island, retreatants will have no problems sharing their deep love for the gospel with children in need of affection and friendship.

Evan Maille, a Catholic college student who made a mission trip to Jamaica experienced first hand the love and friendship of the  physically challenged children of Blessed Assurance that you will encounter.  He said  "the children there were happy because we were there. They enabled us to look past what was on the outside, past what we had for clothes or how we looked.  He further commented that the children down there can teach each and every one of us something about life, adding that he learned patience, how to smile and to have fun, all within the span of a few short days.

Noting that the children at Blessed Assurance will most likely spend the rest of their lives in the community and rarely will leave, Maille concluded “if these kids can smile each and every day and be happy, then there is no excuse for me not to be.”

During the retreat, participants will also experience a day at the local beach to recuperate energies and to sample Jamaican life and hospitality.

Holy Week in Montigo Bay, Jamaica will definitely be a most interesting and rewarding experience.  So, mark your calendars for March 29-April 4, 2010.  Participants must possess a current US passport to attend!  It can take up to several months to obtain a passport, so send in your application early.  For more details, contact Deacon Steven DeMartino at: sdemartino@maryknoll.org