The (not quite) Holy Family.

I Love Christmas! Seriously, I love everything about it. Family, friends, food, church, decorations, etc. I’m not a fan of the shopping and guessing what people want for Christmas but, besides that, I love Christmas.  However, this Christmas things are a little different and my family is a little smaller. This Christmas is the first one without my big brother Erwins and it’s kind of heartbreaking that my kids won’t be receiving an obnoxious toy from Uncle Erwins, that’s way too big and noisy, that we won’t even be able to fit in our suitcase to bring back to Haiti. This Christmas is going to be difficult. As family was preparing to come visit me, my wife and the kids, I was thinking of what kind of things we could cook, what type of drinks we should have, and what we will do. I realized that all of my ideas, from buffalo wings to beer to watching cheesy Christmas movies, and seeing who has more swag as we dress for Christmas, are things that would mostly be appreciated...

To the guy who killed my brother, Murderer! Is not who you are and deep down inside I truly believe that you are afraid, in shock, confused and on a rollercoaster of emotions. Your actions have my family feeling the same and so much more. We are angry, heartbroken, distraught. Some of us are in a place of despair, frustrated and feeling as if we've been dealt a bad hand. To you, I'll call you guy, I pray and hope that you have befriended my Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Never before have I felt such heartache and pain. It's as if my heart is being crushed. My older brother wasn't perfect and none of us are. But he spent a good part of his life putting others before himself. He was a son, a little brother, a big brother, the "world's best uncle", a friend and so much more. Most importantly Erwins was a child of God. Therefore he is not only good but the first chapter of Genesis ensures us that he was created very good. Guy, the same goes for ...

Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me… when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” ( Matthew 19:27-29) When the Lord calls people into mission He also calls them to give up a lot, “sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor… Then come, follow me” (Luke 18:22) . We gave up a lot of things by answering Gods call to be missionaries in Haiti; cars, jobs we loved, high speed internet and Chick-fil-a. But one of the hardest things to give up was the people in our lives, our family and friends, our parish community and all the big moments in our loved ones lives....