WHEN ONE THINKS OF Jamaica, it is often of the plush resorts on Montego Bay, the dynamic Rastafarian religion, the reggae music and culture scene or the unique spicy cuisine. However, while tourism bustles and is credited with broad economic gain to portions of the population, far from the glitzy north coast resorts, residents in the slums of the capital city of Kingston live in a vastly different reality.
DAYS CONSISTED OF WORKING AT CENTERS OPERATED BY THE CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES OF THE POOR, DAILY CHORES, PRAYING AND TIME FOR REFLECTION AND SHARING. PHOTOS COURTESY OF ST. THOMAS MORE PARISH
These are the people the Catholic Missionaries of the Poor, formerly Brothers of the Poor, have served since their founding in 1981 by Fr. Richard Ho Lung. Since 2006, when not interrupted by the pandemic, congregants from the Diocese of Orange have been traveling to Jamaica with Fr. Eugene Lee, pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Irvine, for an annual summer ministry and pilgrimage.
This year, a contingent of 14 young adults made the journey with Fr. Thomas Tran, parochial vicar at St. Thomas More, after Fr. Eugene had a scheduling conflict. During the nine days in Jamaica, the young adults lived and worked among the missionaries at the Jesus the Redeemer monastery. Their days consisted of 6 a.m. Mass and Adoration, six to eight hours a day working at centers operated by the brothers, daily chores, praying and time for reflection and sharing.
THE SUMMER MISSION TRIP TO JAMAICA INCLUDED MORNING MASS.
The centers serve elderly residents, many of whom suffer from severe disabilities, homeless women, infants, children and adolescents who have been abandoned or can’t be supported by their families. Some are Catholic, most are not. All are welcomed but not required to worship and pray with the brothers. The air is sweltering, stagnant and ripe with the smell of human waste.
“It was definitely fulfilling, but it wasn’t pleasant,” said Brandon Clark, 29, who made his first visit. “But it was exciting, like being the hands and feet of Jesus.”
Clark recalled spoon-feeding a man who had lost his limbs.
“This is what Jesus would do, what He did do and more,” he said.
ST. THOMAS MORE PARISH’S MISSION TRIP TO JAMAICA GAVE PARTICIPANTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE AND SERVE ALONGSIDE THE MISSIONARIES OF THE POOR WHILE IMMERSING THEMSELVES IN THE DAILY LIVES OF THOSE THEY SERVED.
Rather than recoil, Clark said he learned to embrace the physical discomfort and was better able to connect with his spirituality and deepen his faith.
“Going through discomfort really makes you lock in and focus and be fully there,” he said.
Andrew Romo, 22, said he has seen poverty and impoverished communities, particularly in his parents’ hometown in Mexico. To experience it and to live a monastic life and hear stories firsthand from residents and clerics was something else altogether. For him it meant being “more present” and taking everything in.
“Every now and then we have to realign ourselves with them,” he said.
Romo remembers an adolescent boy who attached himself to the Californian one day, helping him with chores and sharing time together.
“He wouldn’t leave my side,” Romo said. “Things like that will stick with me the rest of my life.”
Although most of Jamaicans are Christian, only about 3% are Catholics. The religion was suppressed after the English conquest in 1655 over the Spanish and subsequent colonization and institution of Protestant denominations.
Protestantism along with evangelical and interdenominational Christianity remain the dominant religion in the country. Rastafari, a religious, social and cultural movement formed in the 1930s, also maintains a strong identity and connection to Jamaica, although its numbers are widely debated.
Despite the small Catholic population, the works and ministry of Missionaries of the Poor are widespread. Based in Kingston’s Trench Town neighborhood and working in the poorest neighborhoods, the brothers operate seven service centers for different populations.
In addition to Jamaica, Missionaries of the Poor operate 13 missions in 10 countries.
Fr. Thomas, ordained a priest for the Divine Word Missionaries in 2000, eventually made his way to the Diocese of Orange, where he has been serving for many years and in which he is now incardinated. He said he was happy to be “back in the trenches,” if only briefly. “It was a joy to get back to being the priest I was when I was a missionary,” he said, adding “It was truly missionary outreach to the poorest of the poor.”
Plans are to hold another mission from St. Thomas More next year with Fr. Eugene, although this time the plan is to include older adults. Fr. Eugene said while other pilgrimages to poorer countries and religious orders are beneficial, most don’t go this deep. He sees a particular value in a true immersive experience with the missionaries and the chance to “live their lives.”
“It’s a spectacular environment of spirituality, steeped in Catholic life,” he said.
“This is an opportunity for our own growth in humility and respect,” Fr. Eugene continued. “We’re not going in to rescue them, they’re rescuing us. It’s a chance to meet Christ in the poorest of the poor. It’s spiritually intense every time.”