Mission Month

Thursday and Friday last week were cold and rainy. Thursday afternoon the outdoor thermometer at the Catholic University campus read 15° Celsius – about 59° Fahrenheit. It felt colder since it was so damp. Friday I was inside most of the day since I went to a workshop on the rights of the child where I got a chance to meet some of the people her working on children’s issues. Saturday it was still cold, with some light showers, but no sun.

But the sun was visible on Sunday, October 28, when I went to Dulce Nombre de Copán for Mass and to attend the celebration of the month of Missions.

In the Honduran church, almost every month has a theme: August is the month of the family, September celebrates the Bible, and October is the month of Missions. Throughout the Catholic world the third Sunday is Mission Sunday.

In the parish of Dulce Nombre de Maria, base community members from one sector of the parish spent a day evangelizing in another sector, visiting from door to door. There are probably more than one hundred base communities in the parish and so a good number of people participated throughout the parish.

The end of the month was celebrated with a special Mass and festival of song in Dulce Nombre.

I arrived a little early and talked with a few young guys who had been part of the mission effort the day before. One wore a t-shirt that read “Upper Iowa Youth Soccer.” We talked and I found out that of the seven guys only three were in school. The guy with the Iowa shirt was illiterate and hadn’t ever gone to school. Why? his parents had died and he had to work on the land to support the family.

After Mass the mission festival was held in the parish hall, packed with several hundred people. There were a wide range of performances – including a few skits with kids. A number of people had taken the pastor’s challenge to heart and had written songs – both music and lyrics – with a mission theme. The two best groups were all-male groups from small villages. One sang ranchero style, but both had four or five stringed instruments.

I was really impressed at the talent there is in these villages and so I am looking forward to visits to these areas. I’m going out to one area the weekend of November 11-13 and another two weeks later.

This week is fairly full. A faculty member at the Catholic University campus has agreed to help begin a series of meetings of professors to talk about their faith and their vocation as teachers; the first is Thursday. This Saturday campus ministry is sponsoring a futbolito competition. (Futbolito is a miniature soccer game played in a smaller enclosed space with only five players per team.) I have been asked to lead a little prayer or reflection between the matches! This should be interesting.

Also, with the help of a neighbor’s nephew I’ll soon be meeting with students from the local campus of the national University of Honduras. It looks as if I'll finally have an entry there.

What else? I continue visiting the kindergarten in Colonia Divina Providencia and occasionally helping a sister with her literacy work in the jail. I am waiting for the bishop to get back this week to talk with him about the children’s lunch program which I hope can get started in a few months.

As you can read, I am finding myself a place – or rather a series of places. Keep all of us in your prayers.