Sunday, coming back from Mass in San Agustín, I gave a ride
to a family that was walking on the side of the road. As I often do when I see
families with kids walking, I offered them a ride. Two hours previously, on my
way to San Agustín, I saw them walking.
I let them off at the turn off to Plan Grande, but stopped
to talk with them. They were for Guatemala and had left Saturday to get to a
place near Plan Grande to work for about a month on the coffee fields. They had
left that morning from San Agustín at 11 am. I picked them up at about 4 pm.
They had been walking almost five hours.
We talked a bit – this Guatemalan and his wife, their three
kids (one an infant in the arms of her mother, two boys about 3 and 7
years old), and the man’s brother. I told them I lived nearby and invited them
to Mass next Sunday in Plan Grande.
Travelling for two days, probably walking or seeking rides
for the trip, penniless – but looking for work for their family. So are the poor - with such resilience.
A week on Catholic Social Thought with two Franciscan novices
Last week, I had two Franciscan novices with the Dubuque Franciscan
sisters with me for an intensive study of Catholic Social Thought. We prayed together,
discussed various themes, and ate together. They endured my vegetarian meals.
Last Thursday, I went to a rural village with one of the novices.
We visited the sick and had a Celebration of the Word with Communion. This is a
village which is seldom visited by a Communion minister and so I’m trying to go
there at least once every two months to visit the sick. This time we visited
four homes. I was struck in one how one bedridden woman was not well cared for.
The smell of urine was evident. In another, a 95 year-old man (who still goes
out to work in the fields) was there with his wife whose health had
deteriorated since I last visited.)
One joy was that a man, who had severe mental health issues
that confined him to his home, came out for the celebration.
The Celebration went well – and I asked the novice to give a
reflection. It’s good for the people to hear a woman religious speak. Who knows?
Maybe it will open some young women to the religious life.
The week was challenging for me. I tried to cover the main
themes in a participatory way and also give a Franciscan spin to some themes of
Catholic Social Thought. I wish I had a full month to do nothing but prepare
this, but I presume it went well.
Two nights we had a movie – in Spanish of course. The first
was Dead Man Walking, the suggestion of one of them. The other was Babette’s
Feast, which is one of my favorite movies. I wish I had access to Francis
and the Sultan, which would have been a good way to deepen discussion about
peace and nonviolence.
Social Ministry
Yesterday, I had a meeting with coordinators of Social Ministry
in the communities in the parish. Twenty-nine showed up, our best attendance
this year. The social ministers are doing a lot already – visiting the sick,
helping the sick and the poor, doing cleanup campaigns, and more. Some communities
are establishing small funds for the needs of the poor – especially for medical
expenses: exams, surgery, medication. The parish has a small solidarity fund
but I suggested we try to do the same in the eleven sectors of the parish. Often
when there is a need, people organize a fund-raising activity, which is good;
but having a fund may be a way to expand our help. The fund I administer is
meant to subsidize the efforts of the families and the communities for these
costs; I believe that we must try to find ways to help each other and not just
look for handouts.
We began by looking at the achievements and challenges of
each group.
The main challenge for many communities was water.
There are some communities that don’t have a public water
project. Others have a project that is inadequate or is deteriorating. In one
community the water is privatized and the owner of the source charges for use
of the water. In some communities the owners of the land near or leading from a
water source are holding on to their lands.
Another problem is the scarcity of water; many see
deforestation as a serious cause of this, especially around the water sources. Interestingly,
many other had listed deforestation as a major problem. I myself have seen many
large expanses being burned and then planted with coffee.
But a very serious problem is the contamination of streams.
The coffee producing process can contribute to this, if serious efforts are not
taken. Several communities talked about efforts to have pools for the water
(called aguas mieles – honey water) that is used is the cleaning and
fermenting process after the pulp is removed. But there are many who still just
let the water go into the streams. Much of this is happening in two sectors of
the parish. I tried to encourage them (probably more like push them) to seek a
private meeting with the two mayors, informing them of the problem, inquiring
about laws on water contamination and how they might be enforced, and asking
the mayors to get access to some projects for environmental-friendly processes in
the production and initial processing. We’ll see where this goes.
Another group will be promoting throughout the parish a
major campaign in the beginning of October to plant trees.
It was a good meeting and I am grateful for the willingness
of these people to work together. It is a great joy to be bel to accompany
them.
What else is coming up?
Confirmations
August 31 we will have about 160 confirmed at two sites in
the parish. I’ll be working with the catechists and others to prepare the
liturgies. I had been planning the Eucharist as the theme for the upcoming workshops.
Now we’ll have theory and practice – a good combination. The first workshop is
tomorrow for the zones who will be having confirmations in Dulce Nombre.
We’ll also be having confessions for those who will be
confirmed. Padre German is working ot have several priests from the deanery
come. The morning of confessions will end with Mass with First Communion for
those candidates who have note previously received Communion.
We will need to prepare a reconciliation service for the
time of the confessions as well as the Mass.
Mission month
In October the diocese will be participating in the
Extraordinary Month of Mission called for by Pope Francis. In our diocese
missionaries will spend a week in another parish in their deanery.
We have been having training sessions. I have been helping
with a few themes. Last month I ended up doing both mornings of a two day
workshop – since Padre German ha a wedding each morning.
Other aspects of my ministry
As is my custom I try to get to a village every Sunday morning
for a Celebration of the Word with Communion. If there is time and a need, I
like to visit some of the sick and home-bound. Then, in the afternoon, I get to
one of the Masses that the pastor is celebrating. He usually asks me to preach –
and, since I’ve already preached in the morning, I usually oblige him. It gives
him a short rest since he normally has a Mass Saturday evening, two in the morning,
one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. Only the second morning Mass and
the Sunday evening Mass are in the main town of the parish, Dulce Nombre. At
times, he has another Mass either in the later morning or the late afternoon.
One Sunday I presided at the Celebration here in Plan Grande. Since the church was being painted inside, we had it outside in front of my house.
I also try to accompany Padre German for a Mass or two during the week , especially for the patron saints' days in the villages. On July 16 I was able to get to the Mass in the nearby village of Candelaria, where the school band accompanied the procession before Mass.
I have been doing a few interviews of the couples finishing
up their marriage preparations. Normally the preparations are done in the
village where the couple lives. Sometimes the marriage will be more like what
is called a convalidation, sacramentalizing in the church the marriage that has
already been lived, sometimes for more than a decade, often with several children.
But recently I have interviews of three couples who are not living together. I
am glad whatever the case.
Speaking of marriage, I have to share something I do that is
quite unusual – even for me. I often find myself speaking with some young guys
or a couple and in the course of the conversation I ask them if they are
married. Most often they say no. Some I will ask “Why not?” But I encourage all
of them to consider getting married in the church. I don’t know why I’ve become
such an advocate of marriage, but it comes naturally and the guys and couple
react good-naturedly and are not offended. I hope some will take the step, if
not now, perhaps in a few years.
Personal
I had a bad dough and chest cold for almost four weeks. I’m
recovering but I find myself wanting to slow down. After all, I am 72.
I have also been having some dental work – some fillings,
some restorations, and a root canal. The dentist is a friend and she uses the visits
to practice her English.
I've also had a little work done on the pick up. Beside oil changes and cleaning or changing filters, I recently had to have a rear driveshaft replaced. No wonder - with the roads here.
This morning there was a double delay. They're putting down dirt and gravel to fill in the holes and fissures. So I stopped and slowly went to pass machinery when I came across the other obstacle - a Honduran traffic jam - driving cattle in the road.
Another point: I was very disappointed that a group from Iowa that planned to come in November cancelled. (I will save my response for another time.) It's been a long time since I have had people come from Iowa. I really wish some people would come and see the people who live, work, and more here.
Beauty
Dorothy Day liked to quote Dostoevsky stating that the world will be saved by beauty. I am amazed almost every day by the beauty around me - not just the garden flowers and the vistas, but by the beauty of conversations with people.
Parish note
The parish is renovating and repainting the church. Most of
this money is coming from profits from the parish coffee fields (very little
this year) and the fund-raising efforts of parishioners, especially those who
live in Dulce Nombre. The efforts to remove the stucco on the church have revealed
the hand-carved stone of the two towers.
Commenting on politics
I will refrain from any major comment on politics in this
post, not because I am not concerned, but because the issues are quite complex.
But I am seriously concerned about US policy toward refugees from Central America
and the efforts to make the governments here do the US’s bidding. It feels like
bullying. I am also seriously concerned about the mass killings in the US. I
wonder if it is safer for me here in Honduras since I know where I should not
be to avoid the violence of the gangs, the drug traffickers, and repressive government
force. I am also concerned about the future of Honduras. The country is being more
and more militarized. Also, there are more and more reports of the involvement of
high government officials in drug trafficking or in receiving drug money to
finance their campaigns.
Maybe I’ll treat these themes in the coming weeks. But in
the meantime, it’s visit the sick, assist in the Eucharist, help catechist
prepare children and youth for the sacraments, and even – occasionally –
burying the dead.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment