I am at great peace with the prospect of going to Honduras, sometime between the end of January and May of 2007. I really feel as if I am being led by God. I have had so much support – from friends and from our pastor and from the Parish Council of Saint Thomas Aquinas. It is truly humbling.

I do have a few minor concerns – how to dispossess myself of the too many possessions I have, what to save and where to store it, etc. But they are not major. I don’t even have major concerns about finances. This week the parish Finance and Administration Commission will make some proposals, but I am not part of it. It is in God’s hands. As I have been saying for some time: if it is of God, a way – un camino - will be found. That way has been opening up before me in ways I never expected. God is good!

There is one concern, though. I have been reading on the internet of the pressures being put on Monseñor Luis Alfonso Santos, the bishop of Santa Rosa de Copán. There are rumors of death threats against him because of his support of efforts to control mining and to have the mining companies pay Honduras more than 1% of their earnings. There are also rumors of pressures from within the church because of his outspoken efforts to be with the poor and to advocate with them. I pray that the pressures may ease on him.

But it troubles me when I recall some of the last things Monseñor Santos said to me before I left Honduras in August. I mentioned that I hoped to return in late January. Nonchalantly he said something like – “if I am still alive and they haven’t removed me.” I really admire his courage and his willingness to risk life and career for the sake of the poor. May God truly bless and protect him.