By Michael Gresham
The Texas Catholic
For 10 days in Costa Rica, a group of students from the Diocese of Dallas traded the relaxing routines of summer break for work gloves, prayer, and a mission to serve.
By the time they returned home June 18, the students had helped pour the concrete foundation for a new church, renovated parish facilities in neighboring communities, and shared in the faith lives of Costa Rican families through daily Mass, home blessings, and evenings of prayer and reflection.
The June 9-18 mission trip brought together 38 students and 12 teacher chaperones from Bishop Dunne Catholic School, Bishop Lynch High School, John Paul II High School, Cistercian Preparatory School, and Ursuline Academy of Dallas.
Hosted this year at Santuario Diocesano Nuestra Señora de la Cueva Santa in Santa María de Dota, Costa Rica, the annual mission is a collaboration between the Diocese of Dallas office of Catholic Social Ministries, the office of Catholic Schools, and the five Catholic high schools.
For the community of Copey de Dota, the students’ work represented another milestone in rebuilding Templo San Rafael after the original church was destroyed by fire in 2017. Throughout the week, the missionaries poured concrete for the sanctuary, sacristy, and adoration chapel, completing the project’s scheduled phase of construction.
In nearby San Martín de Dota, students helped renovate the parish hall by laying tile, building an entrance to the church and parking lot, and constructing sidewalks.
At the host parish, Santuario Diocesano Nuestra Señora de la Cueva Santa, students painted the exterior of the parish hall.
While the construction projects met practical needs, mission organizer Juan Rendon, director of Catholic Social Ministries for the Diocese of Dallas, said the mission’s greatest purpose was forming young Catholics as missionary disciples.
“The mission provides the opportunity to grow in a greater understanding of three Catholic social doctrine principles: human dignity, solidarity, and subsidiarity,” Rendon said. “It also helps the students to see themselves as missionaries and capable of touching the lives of many people in the communities we served. They bring hope and the enthusiasm that young people bring in a unique way.”
Students began each day with Mass and ended it with prayer, reflection, and faith sharing, taking time to consider where they had encountered Christ in the people they served and in one another.
The missionaries’ visit coincided with celebrations for the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, allowing students to experience a tradition deeply rooted in the local Church. Bishop Juan Miguel Castro Rojas, bishop of San Isidro, spent several days with the missionaries, celebrating Mass, administering the sacrament of confirmation for local parishioners, and accompanying students as they visited homes throughout the parish communities.
“Our students visited homes and experienced house blessings and consecrations to the Sacred Heart,” Rendon said, adding that some students read the introduction and the 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart before the blessings. “Many of our students … got to see firsthand how much the people love their shepherds.”
Other student missionaries joined priests on home visits — including two Costa Rican clergy members and Fathers Ambrose Strong, O. Cist., and Augustine Hoelke, O. Cist., both of Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey in Irving — where they witnessed families consecrate their homes to the Sacred Heart.
Beautiful and humbling
For rising Bishop Lynch High School junior Camila Galindo, the mission to Costa Rica offered more than the chance to travel. It gave her a new perspective on her life at home and offered an opportunity for self-reflection.
“I was able to meet new people and connect with peers who I might have known but hadn’t previously bonded with,” Galindo said. “I learned there is so much to live for in my mundane routine, but I also learned how much you can discover about yourself when given the opportunity to look into the lives of other wonderful people across the world.”
Hailey Meza, a rising Bishop Dunne Catholic School senior who participated in the mission for the second consecutive year, called the experience both “beautiful and humbling.”
“As a student who lives by the words, ‘Serve as Jesus did,’ having the ability to give back and offer a helping hand to these communities helps me to serve like Jesus,” Meza explained. “Getting to see the smiles and the impact that we leave with each person that we interact with was the greatest reward.”
Rising Ursuline Academy of Dallas junior Emmaline Tobin said the mission immersed her and her peers in daily service in the community of San Martín, where they visited homes and schools and helped with construction at a local church. She said witnessing the deep faith of the Costa Rican people, including their active participation in daily Mass, strengthened her own faith.
“Seeing the people’s devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus made me want to be more open and profound in my faith,” Tobin said. “Every day, we would attend Mass in Spanish. I understood little to nothing during Mass, but seeing the Costa Ricans’ active participation made me feel at home and like I was at my home parish.”
Kouki Fraccaroli, a rising senior at Cistercian Preparatory School, said his experience in Costa Rica taught him that joy can be found in every aspect of life, “whether through work, prayer, or having fun together.”
“Everywhere I went, I was met with the most joyful people wanting to spread the word of God and their love of God in every interaction,” he said. “With every interaction I had with a local, I could feel as though I walked out of that experience feeling rejuvenated.”
Mia Gonzalez Lara, who will be a senior at Ursuline Academy in the fall, said the warmth and generosity she encountered in Costa Rica left a lasting impression. She said local families welcomed the student missionaries with open arms, and the country’s spirit of “pura vida,” or “pure life” — expressed through smiles, waves, and everyday kindness — made the group feel at home while showing that true hospitality comes from the heart.
“One of the first things I noticed was how open everything was. I remember walking to Mass and seeing homes with their front doors open, and many of the families we visited welcomed us into their homes without hesitation,” she reflected. “To me, this reflected vulnerability and an open heart. Even though they had just met us, they trusted us enough to share their stories and their lives.”
Expressions of faith
Rendon said the Costa Rica mission also gave student missionaries a firsthand understanding of the Church’s social teaching by allowing them to put the principles of human dignity, solidarity, and subsidiarity into practice. Working alongside parishioners rather than simply serving them, he said, students experienced what it means to accompany communities striving to rebuild, grow, and live their faith.
Along the way, Rendon said the missionaries also encountered the richness of Costa Rican culture through its music, folkloric dance, coffee traditions, and expressions of Catholic faith.
Isabella Rivera, a rising junior at Bishop Lynch, called the experience “life changing.”
“It opened my eyes to the beauty of God’s creation and allowed me to see his presence in ways I had never experienced before,” Rivera said. “The kindness and joy of the local people became the most meaningful part of the trip, and I thank God for placing those moments and those people in my life, reminding me that his love is often found through the hearts of others.”
Matthew McCarthy, a rising Cistercian senior, said that the mission deepened his faith in an unexpected way. Although he has long felt close to God in nature, he said the people he met in Costa Rica had an impact on his spiritual life.
“I always like to say that I see God, especially in nature, but this trip, submerged in nature, I would confidently say I grew close to God because of my experience with the people of Costa Rica,” he said. “They showed me another side of life that I don’t see back home in Dallas. They showed me the importance of appreciating every single thing I have and not taking any of it for granted.”
McCarthy’s classmate, Charlie Kane, added that the mission offered students an opportunity to put their faith into action.
“It is one thing to read about acts of faith in the Gospel and another thing to perform those same acts yourself,” he said. “This trip provides a way to do just that.”
Meza agreed, adding her participation offered her a new perspective on her relationship with Christ.
“A phrase that was said during this mission trip that has stuck with me are the words, ‘The Lord knows our names from the moment we were born. So, now it is our turn to learn his name,’” Meza said. “These words really stood out to me, because I felt like God was talking to me in that moment. The clarity that seemed so out of reach before this mission trip was found through these words.”
For Tobin, her experience underscored the need for such opportunities to be offered to Catholic school students.
“I think it is important for Catholic schools in Dallas to offer such experiences to students, because you are living and following Jesus’ footsteps,” she said. “Giving students the opportunity exposes them to different cultures, showing that there is so much more beyond the city of Dallas.”
Rendon said he hopes the student missionaries’ experiences in Costa Rica will continue to bear fruit long after the students have returned to North Texas.
“I hope our students bring back a missionary spirit to our diocese, a renewed sense of gratitude, and a commitment to grow in holiness as missionary disciples,” Rendon said. “I hope they share with family, friends, and classmates some of the memories and touching moments they experienced.”
Cutline for featured image: A group of Catholic high school student missionaries pose for a photo during a special trip to tour the Finca Voo farm in Costa Rica in June. Student missionaries from John Paul II High School in Plano, Bishop Lynch High School, Bishop Dunne Catholic School, Ursuline Academy of Dallas, and Cistercian Preparatory School in Irving traveled to Costa Rica for a Diocese of Dallas mission trip June 9-18. (Diocese of Dallas photo)
