Originally From: Wichita Kansas.
Serving with: Vagabond Missions
(Year of Service: 5th)
About: Tomas was raised in a culturally Catholic Mexican American family
where his father was absent for most of the time. His family went to church
but it was not flowing from a place of faith. When he got into High School,
he started to get into drugs and some gang activity until his neighborhood
received a visit from Vagabond Missionaries who began to invest in him and his friends. A critical moment came when his cousin was shot and he was asked to pray for him in the hospital. This forced Tomas to examine his faith in the light of what he had experienced from the missionaries. He eventually chose to be confirmed, embracing the sacrament NOT because of culture but by personal choice. Now he serves the ministry with the hope of helping others like him to leave a self-destructive way of life. He recently got married to a woman that he met through Vagabond.
Capital Campaign
We who serve the CEM POC grant do so because we have encountered Jesus in the Feast and we want all the world to be fed. So in these next few months as we step into times of celebration and feasting I would encourage you to see the world around you with new eyes. When was the last time that you invited someone to Church...to the Eucharistic Feast. As we close out the year of the Eucharist and work to spread the beauty of Christ's presence in that feast, let us consider how we might love our friends, neighbors, coworkers and family members by gently...patiently...lovingly inviting them to taste more. You may not be able to work in evangelization full time like our grant recipients but you can smile as you show the world the banquet that, like the prodigal son, takes place in their true home in the Church.
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