CHANGE OF P(L)ACE

A Change of Place

After four weeks of living in the obispado, which serves as both the bishop’s residence and the diocesan office, I am moving to a house about six blocks up from the center of town, on a dirt street. It’s a little large for me but will serve as a great place to welcome visitors. The place was completely empty, but the bishop has given me some furniture which will significantly cut down the cost of setting up a household. I bought a refrigerator and will have to buy a stove as well as household supplies.

Moving to a house will make my move to Honduras much more real for me. I am no longer a guest in someone else’s house – but a member of a community.

The house is in a part of town called Colonia Prado Alto. There is a small chapel a few blocks up from my house – Saint Martin de Porres. I have already gone to Mass there and found it a very welcoming community. I had planned to go there on Sundays no latter where I lived, but now I can be part of their community. Furthermore, a few days ago I met the young man in charge of the base communities in the parish. He invited me to come to the meeting of the leaders on Tuesday nights. I hope to take him up on this and also plan to join one of the communities.


A Change of Pace

For a change of pace, I went twice this past weekend to the town of Gracias, Lempira, a small colonial town (founded about 1536). Saturday I accompanied the bishop who was blessing eighteen new communion ministers for the parish. The parish already had thirteen communion ministers, but these new ones were all from the countryside. These sixteen men and two women will take communion to the sick and dying and will distribute communion at celebrations of the word in their communities. The Eucharist will be reserved in the chapels in the communities where they live.

The parish of Gracias has one priest for about 100 widely scattered rural aldeas and Sister Nancy Meyerhofer, a Dubuque Franciscan sister, works in the parish and has visited many of these communities. But there seldom are Masses in the communities. Yet the people have a deep love of the Eucharist and a longing to receive. The presence of these new communion ministers will enable the people to receive communion more often.

It was really moving to see them, chosen by their communities, at the Mass on Saturday. To me they appeared to be simple campesinos, people from the countryside, truly the salt of the earth. They were trained by Sister Nancy. I hope I have a chance some day some to work with people like them. I love working with college students, but there is something real about the campesinos in Latin America.

Sunday I went back for a meal and a few hours with Sister Nancy and Sister Brenda. Brenda, also a Dubuque Franciscan, was raised in Ames, Iowa, and is visiting Nancy for a month. I think she’d like to be stationed here. It was the first time in two weeks I had had an extended conversation in English! It was great to connect with these two delightful women.

Getting on the return bus from Gracias I was greeted by a woman with two kids. She was the teacher from the kindergarten I had visited last week. A block later a student from the Catholic University got on the bus and greeted me. I am getting to know people and be recognized faster than I’d thought. I better watch what I do!