Catholic Youth Renovation Project 2014

I am very proud of our youth in this diocese, for many reasons. So many of them give of themselves so generously in the service of others. The Catholic Youth Renovation Project is a perfect example of what I mean. For five years now, youth and adult volunteers from the parishes around Mission, Texas, give a week's time to an intense experience of fixing-up homes in the colonias on the western side of Hidalgo County, near St. Anne's Church in a Pueblo de Palmas, and it's missions.

They put new siding on the homes.

They add another room to create more family space in the homes.

They enjoy the experience of working as a community of believers.

And they even persuade their bishop to get on the roof and demonstrate the use of a nail-gun :)

 

This year members of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's department lent a strong helping hand to show support for the community out-reach efforts of the youth.

I was able to spend some time today visiting also some of the families whose lives were being impacted for the good by the CYRP. The youth and their adult mentors get to know the families, the children, and something about the mystery of grace. Because the fact is that we cannot reach out to help someone else without ourselves receiving more in return. This "more" is the joy of a real human encounter, and a real sharing of life.

My favorite photo of the day! A visit with a grandmother and her 5 grandchildren, while a young man continues working on their home in the background. 

I spoke to the youth after visiting some of the sites, and told them they are an example of what it means to be a follower of Jesus and member of his Church: They work together, go outside of themselves together, to extend a helping hand and to offer a smiling face to another; they pray together, go out and serve together in a common love for the ones that Jesus loves. 

And while I was there I got a quick interview or two in with the local media. I always wondered what it looked like from the camera-man's angle!

Many thanks to the young people who work so diligently to make better the lives of others. Thanks also to the adult volunteers, the business sponsors who send food and water, and to the families who share their homes and lives with our young people during this week. And thanks be given most of all to God, who inspires such goodness in the hearts of so many.

No wonder I am the happiest bishop in the country!

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