This morning, sitting in my prayer room, my quiet was broken
by the song of two yellow chorchas, orioles, at the window. Their beauty
astounded me, since they have been gone since last year. I wasn't able to capture a photo of them but here's a photo of a small bird, the size of a chickadee, that I saw this morning.
As I continued to pray, my reading on the scripture of the
day focused on the text from Deuteronomy 30: 15-20:
I set before you: life
and blessing, death and curse…. Choose life.
I would be preaching later and focused on the two paths
before us – life and blessing, death and curse. I had no idea that I would see glimpses
of both.
Padre German had invited me to accompany him in visits to
the sick as well as two Masses. He asked me to preach at both.
I arrived at the parish about 8:30 am and we went in search
of three sick persons who were in need of a pastoral visit. We only visited one
– since the other two had gone to the hospital, because of the severity of
their situation.
We visited a very thin elderly woman, confined to her bed, and after
prayer, she received communion. The house was simple and the woman was being
cared for by a relative.
We then returned to the parish where we met a couple with
their six-month old child who was very ill. I had met the couple and the child
on Sunday at Mass and noted the yellowish complexion of the child. The child
had been in a San Pedro hospital for a few weeks but was still ill. In fact,
the parents were so worried that they brought the child to be baptized.
Padre German baptized and confirmed the baby in a moving
ceremony, where the child was laid on a mattress to ease the pain in his body.
Tears flowed as the child was welcomed into the community of faith.
I found out later that the mother had had a medical
condition during pregnancy which could have been cured but the medicine was unavailable in
Honduras. The result is a gravely ill child whose survival is in question.
After the baptism we headed to Plan de Naranjo, one of the
most remote aldeas (villages) in the parish. The last part of the trip
was treacherous as Padre maneuvered the pick-up on roads – If you can call them
that – with deep ruts and potholes, some at least a foot deep. I had visited
the community in December 2015 and it had been a poor road but this was many
times worse – the result of the lack of attention by the municipal authorities.
There was a small group at Mass. After Mass we headed to the
nearby village of Joyas Galanas. But on the way we stopped at the site of the
house of one of the women at Mass. The house had collapsed last November, with
her inside, during one of the intense rainy weeks. It may have been a landslide
but there also seems to have been a geological fault that went for at least a
kilometer, down the hill and up the next hill. It was a devastating sight.
Her family is rebuilding at another nearby site, further down the road. When we approached
the house, her father-in-law came out to greet us from the house just up from
theirs. One of his eyes was gone and the empty socket was surrounded by flesh
and scabs. He had lost the eye when working in a coffee field. He had not gone
to a hospital – because he was afraid to go there. I think that he was afraid
that he would not get out of there alive. Padre talked with him and we hope to
take him to the hospital sometime soon so as to prevent gangrene and diminish
the terrible condition of the wound and his skin. Often people don’t trust the
public health facilities. This is not unrealistic, since they are often poorly
staffed and have little or no medicine, because of government neglect.
Then we headed to Joyas Galanas – gratefully the road was a little
better than the roads closer to Plan de Naranjo.
Almost no one knew about the Mass. A message had been sent
but not delivered. So we went to see an eighty-nine year old man who was
gravely ill.
He lived with his common law wife, a daughter, and a
grandson in a small dirt-floor shack with plastic table cloths lining the
wooden walls to try to keep out the cold air.
Padre prayed and anointed him. The man was hardly responsive
when Padre asked him if he repented his sins.
We soon learned that his wife and he were not married in the
church. He had been widowed and then he and his current wife moved in together
and had several children. Three survived – nine others died, some from measles!
Padre questioned the woman if she wanted to get married to him. She was
somewhat hesitant – perhaps thinking that she couldn’t because he had been
married beforehand. However, Padre explained that this was not a problem since
the previous wife died.
Padre then questioned them if they loved each other and
wanted to be married. It was touching listening to them respond; I could see
their love for each other. Padre then heard the woman’s confession and the
wedding began.
She sat on the side of the bed as they were questioned about
their commitment. They even exchanged rings. She took off one of her rings and
put it on his little finger (since the ring finger joint was so inflamed that
the ring didn’t fit.)
I stood there with one of the daughters and her son. I
explained to the grandchild how significant this was – his grandparents were
getting married. Yesterday was the day of friendship (as they call St.
Valentine’s Day here), but today is the day of love, expressed in the
commitment of his grandparents. He got it. His mother, who seemed rather timid,
stood there, watching her parents’ marriage, visibly moved. Tears welled up in
me as I witnessed their marriage vows.
We left and then returned to Dulce Nombre. There we stopped
to greet a ninety-one year old man who had four heart attacks and had spent
time in a San Pedro hospital. He was incredibly lucid, sitting on the porch of
his rather nice house.
Then I came home.
I needed some time to process the day and went to the Holy
Hour (but tuned out the prayers being said). I prayed evening prayer and reviewed
the day.
When I entered, one young man in his late teens was sitting
in one of the last pews. By the time the Holy Hour ended, there were five young
men in their teens in the last pews, praying.
Life and blessing, death and curse.
I saw life – the love between the old couple, the love of
the couple with their gravely ill child, people caring for ill and aged
persons.
I was the blessing, most of all in the six sacraments what
were celebrated today.
I saw death – gravely ill people, including an infant and
two aged persons.
I saw the curse of neglected villages, poor medical
assistance, and more.
But I also saw people choosing life – from the warm care
that Padre German showed to the ill to the people who were caring for those who
were ill.
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