ADVENT

This is my second Advent in Honduras. It still feels strange to celebrate Advent without cold and snow. I do have four Advent candles, though I haven’t gone out and sought pine bows for an Advent wreath. Many people in Santa Rosa de Copán have lights and there was even a Santa Claus at the upscale supermarket here.

But Advent is more than cold and snow, Santa Claus and Advent wreaths. It’s about waiting. And there’s a lot of waiting here in Honduras.

One of my continual struggles is with patience in the face of things happening all too slowly – if they happen at all. I also struggle with patience in the face of people (mostly in-town professionals) who just seem not to respond to requests or who don’t plan how to do things or who do things at the last moment.

But the poor really wait – for good weather, for a ride into town (so they don’t have to walk three or four hours), for ways to feed their kids in the face of rising food prices, for justice.

Yet this year I have been privileged to work with the parish of Dulce Nombre, where devoted pastoral workers (all volunteers, many with little education) serve with a hard-working pastor to bring people in this poor parish some Good News.

The Good News is not just the many ways they try to bring the Gospel to people; it’s also the programs to improve people’s live through education in natural medicine, methods to prevent infant mortality, and making of silos to store basic grains.

But it is also the presence that the Church, especially the pastor and the sisters, Oblates of the Divine Love, who work in the parish.

The comedor de niños, the lunch program for kids, is also I believe a sign of hope. The kids are getting a good meal. Last Saturday students from the Catholic University had a special meal for the kids; a doctor also came and examined the fifty some kids who showed up. He found about eight with grade 3 malnutrition (which means severe malnutrition) and three with anemia. He left some medicine and vitamins. I am glad we are doing a little to help a few kids here in Santa Rosa.

The message of Advent is hope – for the coming of Christ and his Kingdom. But it is also a time to bring comfort.

What many people in the United States may find hard to believe is that our presence with the poor of the world makes a difference. By being here we tell them that they are important, that they are also daughters and sons of God and our brothers and sisters in faith.

And so, I pray that this Advent may find me waiting, alert to respond in love to those in need, to recognize Christ present in our midst - Emmanuel, God with us, who comes to save us, but also comes in the disguise of the most vulnerable.

What a blessing to have God who identifies with the poorest among us - and gives us a chance to show our love for Him through lovign and serving them.