Reprinted from South Texas Catholic by permission:

By Marc Ortiz
STC Correspondent

IWA Mission Program 2008

“Fill us up, and send us out.” These words taken from the song “God of Justice,” by Tim Hughes, hold powerful similarities to the Mass. We are filled up on God’s Word, love, mercy, and by the very body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ and thus “sent” to love and serve the Lord. For the sixth year in a row, students from Incarnate Word Academy have taken up these challenging words and put them into action.

During Holy Week, forty-seven students, fourteen adult sponsors, and Fr. Eduardo Montemayor, SOLT, traveled to three remote villages near Tula, Tamaulipas, Mexico, to evangelize to the people of the area. The IWA Mission program began partnership in 2003, with St. Joseph’s Academy in Brownsville, Texas, who had an existing mission program. Poignantly, IWA began this partnership in Mexico on the 100th anniversary of the Congregation of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament’s entry into Tula. This partnership allowed students from IWA to join the students from St. Joseph’s in evangelizing in their villages. In 2007, IWA began evangelizing on its own, while keeping a close working relationship with St. Joseph’s. This came as a result of an increased number in student participation.

In preparation for this year’s mission trip, IWA students began meeting weekly to share in prayer, study, faith formation, and faith sharing. They also participated in fundraising efforts to make the trip possible. The team also attended a transformational three-day retreat in the hill country. All of this is done to ready the students to provide religious services, catechesis, and evangelization to the natives.

Through the experience, however, students realize that they receive far more than they give. There is a profound interior change of heart and mind as a result of experiencing the people of Mexico’s extreme poverty and way of living, all while having true joy. “You don’t have to try to be happy; it just happens,” says Mary Allman, an IWA sophomore.

When asked what impact the experience had on his life, IWA junior Alejandro Villamil says, “It was life changing. It made me focus on centering my life on God and not on materialistic things.” This sentiment is common among all of the students who know we live in the midst of a materialistic and consumer society. He continues, “In twenty years, I will remember the love we shared with them and the love they shared with us. They showed me the true meaning of love. They opened my eyes to a side of love I had never seen; everything they did was centered on God and God’s love.”

Upon their return, students realized that though they were sent, they returned with an even more powerful message. It is the message of true joy found in relying solely on God’s providence. The Mass comes to life evermore through the realization that the fullness of God’s providence is found in the Eucharist, where Christ provides himself that we might have life within us and thus go out and share that life with the world. It is in the Eucharist that God fills us up and sends us out.

Marc Ortiz is the Director of Campus Ministry at Incarnate Word Academy. For more information about the IWA Mission Program you may contact him at (361) 883-0857 ext. 173 or ortizm@iwacc.org.