Maryknoll accompanies U.S. Catholics to discern how to share the gift of mission, says Deacon Leonel Yoque, who leads the Maryknoll Society’s Missionary Disciples team.

Deacon Yoque, Maryknoll Father John Martin and I guided two immersion trips last June. The destination for both groups was Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Adults from different states and university students from the Catholic Community at Stanford set out for our program offered in this cradle of Mayan culture.

The Yucatán is characterized by lush jungles and an abundance of water. However, this year was the second driest in recent history. Drought and a heat wave proved deadly for wildlife. For example, a news article I read reported that howler monkeys were so dehydrated they were falling from the trees.

With the theme of care for creation, participants learned about ecology, Indigenous spirituality and human responsibility. The itinerary centered on engaging with local communities and hearing stories of Maryknoll missioners who accompanied the people for over eight decades. Grateful for Father Martin’s presence, both groups held daily prayer and reflections.

One of the roots of the current climate crisis can be traced back to the subjugation of the original caretakers of the land. We visited Maní, which was the capital for Tutul-Xiu, a Mayan city-state. It had been an important religious center for the Indigenous people who have inhabited the region for thousands of years.

Maryknoll Father John Martin (in vestments), trip participants and Maryknoll affiliates gather for Mass at St. Joseph the Worker parish in Mérida. (Marisol Perez/Mexico)

The key encounter of the immersion trips was our stay at the agricultural school U Yits Ka’an (Dew that Falls from Heaven). There, participants experienced the school’s mission, promoting sustainable agriculture according to Mayan cosmovision. We were served traditional Mayan meals prepared with ingredients grown on the land. Besides agriculture, the school offers workshops on Mayan practices of beekeeping, traditional homeopathic medicine and Indigenous theology.

“We learned from Indigenous locals about their pursuit to maintain and recover their ancestral ways of being and to protect their cultures and lands from the exploitation and destruction that come from Western ‘development,’” says participant Brinkley Johnson, who works at Refugee Services of Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego. This type of knowledge, she continues, can help us discern “how we ought to proceed as we try to face this moment.”

The Yucatán peninsula was selected as the site of our newest mission immersion trip because of Maryknoll’s long history there. As the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers began its presence in Latin America in 1942, a group of missioners including Bishop James E. Walsh and Father Alonso Escalante departed from New York for Bolivia. Along the way they visited the Yucatán  at the invitation of Enrique Muñoz, who had been a classmate of Bishop Walsh at Mount St. Mary’s College in Baltimore.

“Exactly one year later, in 1943, about 12 Maryknoll missioners arrived in Mérida, one half to stay and the other half to go to Nayarit on the Pacific Coast,” Father Martin says. Ordained in 1966, the missioner was first assigned to the Mexico region. Even as he served in other countries, the missioner maintained relationships in Yucatán.

Participants felt the Maryknoll spirit at the human rights organization Indignación (Indignation), which helps Mayan communities fight for their rights. The director is Cristina Muñoz, a granddaughter of Enrique Muñoz. She promotes equality for Mayans, who are often discriminated against.

The work of Indignación shares a common thread with Caritas of Yucatán. The Caritas center, led by Eduardo Seijo, takes a truly holistic approach. It provides clothes and household items, offers programs on values and courses on Catholic social doctrine, trains volunteers, maintains a cadre of local benefactors and covers the high costs of medical procedures for people of limited resources.

Participant Brinkley Johnson (far left) and two local partners create traditional Mayan herbal products at U Yits Ka’an. (Courtesy of Brinkley Johnson/Mexico)

“Connection in community needs to move past church gatherings and into everyday life. To meet people where they are and help uplift one another,” says Adelina Almanza, my sibling, who joined the trip from Phoenix, Arizona. “God in action is what I saw at Caritas, a movement in activism, education and basic needs.”

Johnson says, “The unforgettable adventure with Maryknoll filled me with a renewed commitment to live the Gospel. To venture into new experiences, to learn from different cultures and people, and to pursue — relentlessly — my vocation to serve others.”

Testimonies like these from young people show the importance of Maryknoll’s immersion trips. “Through this experience, participants rekindle their faith,” Deacon Yoque says. “Through encounters with other people, they broaden their cultural horizons.”

Both groups visited the archeological sites of Chichén Itzá and Izamal — as well as witnessing contemporary displays of an ongoing rich cultural life. Artistic and musical presentations in the City of Mérida exemplified the message that Father Martin emphasized throughout the trip: “Mayans are still here!”

On the final day of each trip, we were invited to join the Maryknoll Affiliates in Mérida. Father Martin celebrated Mass at St. Joseph the Worker Church. After the Mass, all were invited by the affiliates community to a special dinner of traditional dishes. We enjoyed the hospitality of our hosts who continue the Maryknoll mission spirit in their local church.

The visiting groups benefited from Father Martin’s extensive knowledge of the Yucatecan culture and Maryknoll’s presence throughout the years. The warmth of the Yucatecan people was felt in no small part because of the relationships Father Martin has nurtured, in some cases spanning multiple generations within a single family.

After years of working and living alongside the people of Yucatán, Father Martin shared, “I felt a special burst of pride in the richness and creativity of the Yucatán and the Mayan people.” He felt a sense of joy, he adds, that this rich Maryknoll connection was “able to resonate with folks from the United States.”

Featured Image: Maryknoll immersion trip participants join elders at the U Yits Ka’an school for a Mayan ritual of thanksgiving. (Denny Davis/Mexico)