Hope in times of trouble

“Hope is always just about to turn into despair, but never does so; for at the moment of supreme crisis, God’s power is suddenly made perfect in our weakness. So we learn to expect His mercy most calmly when all is most dangerous, to seek Him quietly in the face of danger, certain that He cannot fail us....”

 Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island 

In the midst of the pain, the suffering, the violence, the neglect of the poor, the corruption and governmental incompetence, I have seen signs of hope. I want to share a few of them. 

CHRIST THE KING

Though I have concerns about the possible health consequences of a large gathering, I could not help but rejoice at the more than 800 people who showed up for the parish’s Christ the King celebration yesterday – even though we did not do as much promotion as in previous before the pandemic.

What struck me was the hidden work of preparation of the place where we gathered (a new auditorium where we used to have a poorly used soccer field). Some women got up at 5 am to get to the parish to make tortillas and freshly squeezed orange juice. There were also the women (from Plan Grande) who prepared enough rice with chicken and brought it.

PARISH COFFEE FIELD

On November 1, parishioners from several parts of the parish came out to do the first harvest of coffee, as well as to do some weeding. They worked really efficiently and had everything done by early afternoon. (In contrast, last year it took almost three days.)

BAPTISMS

The day before the celebration, after the parish council meeting, I told the pastor that I was available if he needed anything. 

He had scheduled nine baptisms in a rural village, El Limón, but had many responsibilities to prepare for the feast day Mass. So he sent me – for nine baptisms of children under seven years. The small church was packed. 

As I began the baptisms (which were celebrated within a Celebration of the Word with Communion), I noticed that the parents and godparents were very responsive. At times I can hardly hear the godparents and parents, but here they were responding loud and clear. There were are few kids about five years old who were very responsive – when we have the parents and sponsors raise their right hands during the profession of faith, the kids also raised theirs.

There are 18 baptisms next Saturday in Plan Grande where I live. I hope they are as responsive.

HONDURAS AMIGAS 

Amigas is a Missouri-based medical group that has been coming to our area for many years. Because of the pandemic they haven’t been here for two years but decided to make a short trip here. Before they came here, they attended people in La Lima, Cortes, which had been devastated a year ago by Hurricanes Eta and Iota. They visited two places during this visit but almost 1000 people were seen. They also left medicines for a local public health center. 

REBUILDING

People are still doing some rebuilding after last year’s hurricanes and for other reasons. 

The parish has a solidarity fund to help. The money comes from various sources, including some donations from our sister parish, St. Thomas Aquinas in Ames, Iowa.

Perhaps I am a little too first-world, but our policy is to supplement what the family and the community can do. I ask that each community helps in some way with the needs of their own members; in this way I think the fund can help foster a sense of solidarity. Some communities are very good in this; some have established their own village or sector solidarity funds; others help by collections or fund-raising events; others help by volunteer labor on the houses.

This month we have helped two families – with cement, tin roofing, and other details.

ASAMBLEA ECLESIAL

Today the Latin American Church opens the Church Assembly in Mexico. There are about 1000 participants – only 100 in person, the rest by Zoom.

The Assembly was preceded by consultations – hearings – in dioceses throughout Latin America. In our diocese we had hearings in the parishes.

In our parish we held hearings in the sectors of the parish as well as with some other groups. They were analyzed and summarized. 

I had a role in compiling both the parish and diocesan summaries. It was fascinating to read what the people had said. I also tried to assure that the parish and diocesan summaries reflected what the people had said and were not “interpreted” by those compiling the results. It was good to hear in the diocesan assembly one of the priests saying that the summary reflected what he had heard in his parish!

DIOCESAN ASSEMBLY

Last week we had a three day diocesan assembly with clergy and representatives from the parishes of the diocese as well as from some movements. It went fairly well. Today, the diocesan pastoral council is meeting to produce a final document.

ELECTIONS

Next Sunday Hondurans will go to the polls to elect the president, the members of the national congress, and the mayors. It’s been a very conflictive campaign, including persons killed and wounded. There are also real concerns about possible irregularities and fraud. The last week or so, especially the last weekend, there have been noisy party assemblies and car caravans as a way to close the campaign. (There should be no public campaigning this week.)

I saw one mayoral candidate at the Christ the King Mass. I have known him for several years. I asked him if he was going to have an event to close the campaign. He said no – because of his concern that it might be dangerous. I think he may have even been offered funding for an event. I’m impressed.

UPCOMING

This Friday we’ll have another meeting of the catechists who are preparing people for confirmation, hopefully in February. We will have close to 500 confirmed. Because of health concerns, we will have the Masses in 6 or 7 places; the bishop also has asked that only parents and godparents be present. 

We will have the rite of entry into the catechumenate on Sunday, December 5, in the main church. There are about 44 preparing to be baptized at next year’s Easter Vigil. We usually have the rite on the first Sunday of Advent but. We’ve changed the date because of elections on that day.

PERSONAL

On a personal note, I’ll be having a Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday with the Dubuque Franciscan Sisters at their Gracias house. It will be a great joy to be with them. I still don’t know what I’ll bring – probably bread and/or cinnamon rolls.

We have had a good number of people migrate from our parish – and almost every Sunday we pray for people on the road. The pastor and I are very concerned, especially since we hear of kidnappings and other dangers the people face. Also, neither of us have really good information on what exactly is the US policy and what happens at the border.

I read about a border immersion in December organized by Maryknoll. I decided to go, in order to get a first-hand look at what is happening at the border. I’ll be with them in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez from December 8 to 15.

I’ll get back just in time for our parish assembly – and planning meeting on December 17-18.

The other news is that the pastor of our sister-parish, St. Thomas Aquinas in Ames, is planning to visit us in early January. 

Please keep us in your prayers.

I’ll be posting on these events as they happen.

Mission and more

October is the month of the missions.

Many think of missionaries as those who go to a foreign land, eat exotic food, suffer without water and electricity, and are always smiling.

NO!

But here in our parish there is a different sense of mission. In the spirit of the Latin American bishops’ meeting in 2007 in Aparecida, Brazil, we are all called to be disciples-missionaries. If this sounds familiar, this is also a theme of Pope Francis which he knew very well as one of the major writers of the Aparecida document.

But our parish has a special way of doing mission work. This year, as we did last year, the parish sent out about 45 people in twos (or threes) to villages throughout the parish, from Sunday October 8 to Sunday October 15. They went without money, without cell-phone, not to preach but, by visiting people in their homes and listening to them, to help them discover the God of mercy in their lives, their families, their communities.

The missionaries were sent out at the end of Mass on October 8. Two new missionaries received a cross to wear but all of the missionaries received a cross which fits in the palm of the hand. But the cross was to be given to a sick person or another person in need. The crosses were given so that the sick, the elderly, the homebound would have a reminder that Christ is there with them in their suffering.

 They were also given a rosary. A parish in San Antonio had donated rosaries to AMIGA which has sent medical brigades to this area several times (and are here right now.) The directors gave them to me and we gave them to the missionaries so that they could give them to someone who wanted to pray the rosary but did not have one; it didn’t matter if they were ill or well, old or young. It was to be given to encourage them to pray.

Most communities sent someone to bring them to their assigned villages. One group was waiting on the church steps but no one arrived. Another group, accompanied by someone from the village, was there, but they had no ride. So I gave them a ride. Two missionaries and their guide got off the truck at one point to walk to the village. I took the others to San Marcos Pavas, one of the most remote villages in the parish. We were able to get in because the landslide had been partially removed. However, I left my car on the other side of the landslide.

During the week I went to two places to preside at a Holy Hour and Benediction. Thursday I led them here in Plan Grande. Friday I was going to another remote village but, after calling someone from their at the suggestion of Padre German, I decided not to go, since the road was washed out in one place due to a ground fault. The experience of the Holy Hours was very good for me. I left time for all of us to place the sick, the departed, and all our needs before Christ in the Eucharist.

Saturday I went to a meeting of one of the zones, most of all to help them plan for Confirmation in a village there in less than two weeks.

Sunday, we had the closing Mass of Thanksgiving with the returning missionaries.

Monday, I spent at least five hours in church in Dulce Nombre.

Confirmations are scheduled for October 25 and 26. The more than 250 to be confirmed (as well as their sponsors need to go to confession before confirmation day. Padre German has had some confessions in the aldeas but most of those to be confirmed and some sponsors came to Dulce Nombre on Monday for confession. Padre German asked me to arrange a morning of prayer and more while he heard confession. So we had a penitential rite with prayers, readings, and music, which had been planned by several young catechists, followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for about an hour, followed by the Rosary led by one of the local sisters, Oblates of the Divine Love. Thanks be to God three priests arrived to hear more than 300 confessions – during more than three hours. Then we concluded with a Mass.

What a sign of Gods’ love and mercy.

After Mass, I rushed off to Concepción, Copán, about ten minutes away. AMIGAS was attending patients there and they needed translation help. I helped for a few hours and then headed home.

Tuesday I helped translating for the brigade which saw people in nearby Candelaria, Concepción. 

After leaving a few doctors went to the home of a bed-bound woman about 32 years old who lives here in Plan Grande. The doctors examined her and will see what can be done. During the visit the mother mentioned that they had not had a blood test for several years, mostly for lack of the thirty or so dollars needed. I told her about the parish’s Solidarity Fund and we’ll see what we can do. I also shared Communion with the woman – praying for continuing healing of body and soul.

Next week we have confirmations and we’re trying to get ready for that. In addition, I’ll be leaving for the US right after confirmations -  a time to visit our sister parish in Ames, Iowa, as well as to take a short retreat at a Trappist monastery.