Praying to the true God in face of the idol of gold

The community of Azacualpa in the municipality of La Unión, Copán, is in the middle of a serious controversy. The mining company wants to move the cemetery because there is a vein of gold under it. Some have agreed and been paid by the mining company to allow the removal of the bodies, but some have continued resisting. For now, the mining company is prevented by a judicial action from continuing the removal of remains from the cemetery

But the situation is critical. In early September the diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán released a strong statement against the situation of Azacualpa and the continuing mining in the diocese, especially the mining which has caused such devastation to the area – deforestation, destruction and contamination of water sources. To make visible the support of the diocese for the people, the Santa Rosa de Copán bishop, Monseñor Darwin Andino, went to preside at a Mass in Azacualpa on Monday, October 29.

GETTING TO AZACUALPA

When we met the bishop and the other priests in Cucyagua, we heard that mining supporters were blocking the road. When we reached the new town of San Andrés Las Minas, the parish priest of the area spoke with the police and they escorted us up to Azacualpa.

As we passed the curve up to the town, we saw a grand crowd of supporters screaming at us, but we passed through safely. 

But just past the turn, we stopped, seeing a large group of people who were hidden in the forest. They came out and filled the bed of one of the pickups. They had hidden from the crowd of angry supporters but wanted to come with us to Mass.

THE MASS

The Mass was celebrated beside the church. There were probably about 150 or more people there and we – the bishop, eleven priests, and a deacon (me) – accompanied them.

Providentially, the first reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (4:32-5:8) spoke strongly of greed.

“no immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.”

THE BISHOP'S HOMILY

Monseñor Darwin Andino, the bishop of Santa Rosa de Copán, spoke strongly.

He asked the people who was here first, the community or the mining company. The community, of course, responded the people. He then spoke of the Machiavellian efforts to divide the people in order to conquer them.

He emphasized that the church is not against development, but for integral development, that develops the whole person and the whole community.

His strongest words were framed in terms of the reading from Paul to the Ephesians. Henoted the motive of avarice, which is, in Paul’s word, idolatry. The mining companies want to remove the bodies from the cemetery in order to extract the gold, but, as the bishop said,

“More valuable [than the gold under the cemetery] is what is above – the people buried there. For greed and avarice, for love of money, it doesn’t bother us [the mining company]to destroy a mountain and to damage water.
For they only think of their money – money which is dirty (cochino), damned (maldito), and stained with blood (manchado de sangre)".

He condemned the money of the mining companies and also mentioned the killing of environmentalists for defending the environment.

He also urged them to continue their struggle and to realize the presence of the church with them.

“Be courageous. I invite you to not bend your knees, be strong.”

A part of the homily can be found here on You Tube.

THE PROCESSION

After Mass, the people walked in procession to the cemetery, led by a cross carried by three young men. 

The bishop and the priests accompanied them in their vestments. The people sang and at one point began to pray the rosary.

As we approached the road up to the cemetery we saw a small crowd of supporters of the mining company. Thanks to the presence of the police we were able to pass by, with no violence. But as we prayed and sang, the mining company supporters screamed at us. There was not a confrontation but a parting of the seas of anger with prayers and hymns.

In the cemetery

When we arrived at the cemetery, we passed through an empty space where a tomb had been and went to a spot in the middle of the cemetery.

I looked around at some of the above ground tombs – some still contained the coffins of the dead, but others had obviously been taken away.

We stood around and finished the rosary while young men prepared a hole for the cross. 

I noticed at least one older man grieving.

At one point I noticed that the bishop was holding what were bones of the dead. They had been found scattered at the back of some graves. Later someone picked up another bone, just in front of me.

The bishop then noted that Catholics respect the bodies of the dead. We hope for the resurrection and so we need to respect their remains. And so he buried the bones beside where the cross would be erected.

We prayed as the cross was erected and waited, praying and singing, as the young men filled in the hole. I was moved and went to help move the dirt, praying in penance for all that the nations of North America had done to bringing such pain and injustice on the poor here in Honduras. The mine is run by a Canadian corporation, but Honduras has suffered many decades of control and exploitation by US governments and corporations.

After the cross was erected, the bishop offered a space for the people to speak. One articulate man recalled the prayer of Agur, a passage from Proverbs 30: 7-9:

Two things I ask of you… Put falsehood and lying far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only with the food I need; lest, being full, I deny you, saying, “Who is the Lord?” or, being in want, I steal, and profane the name of my God.

Looking down on the devastation

After praying in the cemetery, we were led to a place where we could look down on the mining operations. What tremendous use of resources to take the gold out of the earth.

As we were walking back, a young twenty-five-year old man told me how he had worked in the mine for a time but began to feel very uncomfortable with that kind of work. He quit his job, despite having a wife and two kids. What an example of courage and of conscience. These small acts of a man are signs of the power that is in each person, the power of that small voice of God we call conscience.

I think he is not alone. As I looked around at Mass and in the cemetery, there were a few spies. But there were even more young men and women present, praying and singing and participating in what must be risky for them. I admire their simple, yet profound, courage.

The struggle will surely continue, but it was good to be present where the church offered a sign of accompanying the people – not in a partisan political way, but as fellow human beings seeking dignity, justice, and respect for all.

I was glad to be there and I pray for these people and their community, in the midst of trials and sufferings.

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More photos can be found in this album on Flickr.

Instituted an acolyte

Today I was formally instituted in the ministry of acolyte. I wrote about this in three earlier blog posts.

It is a call to serve in a special way at the altar and so become more connected with the Eucharist. One of the roles of the acolyte is to assist the deacon and priest; another is to be an extraordinary minister of Communion, especially to the sick.

As I was kneeling before the bishop, I heard him pray these words:

así como participan de un mismo Pan con sus hermanos, así también deben formar un solo cuerpo con ellos; por tanto, amen sinceramente al Cuerpo místico de Cristo, que es el Pueblo de Dios especialmente a los débiles y enfermos

…as you share of the same Bread with your brothers [and sisters], so you should also form one single body with them; therefore, sincerely love the mystical body of Christ, which is the People of God, especially the weak and the sick…

As I listened to these words, I recalled an experience I had almost three years ago in Assisi, in the Basilica of Saint Clare, kneeling before the Cross that St. Francis heard calling him to repair His church.

I knelt and prayed, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" That day I had a very clear sense that Jesus was telling me, 

"Love." 
"Love my people."
"Love the little ones of this world, the poor, the people at the margin."

Here I was, kneeling before the bishop and hearing almost the exact same words, calling me to deepen my commitment. Tears welled up within me.

At the Mass I was also entrusted with distributing Communion, assisting Bishop Darwin Andino and Padre German, our pastor.

I have distributed many times before but today was special and I recalled what often comes to mind as I distribute Communion. As I lift up the Host before the people, saying “Body of Christ,” I often find myself looking at them “through” the Host, focusing on both Christ in the Eucharist and the member of the Body of Christ before me, seeking Communion.

My sense of the Body of Christ in the Eucharist and my sense of the Church as the Body of Christ are intimately connected.

May I serve both!

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The three previous posts related to the institution of acolyte can be found here, here, and here.
More photos of the Mass, which included the acceptance of a seminarian as a candidate for the priesthood and the institution of three seminarians as lectors, can be found here.

Consecration of the Quebraditas Church

Yesterday, Bishop Darwin Andino consecrated the church in Quebraditas, Concepción, Copán, in the Dulce Nombre parish, with Padre German helping.

March 19 was the day chosen for the even since it is the feast of St. Joseph who is the patron of the village of Qeubraditas.

I went out at 9 am in the morning and with Marcia from Dulce Nombre helped prepare the church and get the people ready for the Mass and ceremonies.

The people had painted the church, put in a ceramic floor, and transformed the church.

I had liked the church before it was painted. It had been a beautiful rose color. But the people wanted the new colors.

Preparing the church for the Mass had its interesting moments. For example, when curtains were hung from the beams or tin sheets were taken down off the beams, we used a ladder that did not reach the beams; it had to be held by four guys so that a kid or an adventurous young guy could go up and get the work done. Typical campesino ingenuity - when you don't have what you need, improvise.

It was a two and a half hour Mass and would have been longer if the bishops hadn't limited his homily to 35 minutes. But the consecration of a church has many extra elements:

the handing over of the keys to the bishop and the pastor,

the blessing of the people and the walls with holy water,

the litany of the Saints (which I ended up singing),

the anointing of the altar and the walls with chrism,

 and the burning of incense on the altar.

Since a tabernacle was not prepared we did not have the blessing of the tabernacle.

And of course there was a lot of singing.

After the Mass all were invited to share tamales.

I got home to Santa Rosa at 9 pm, tired, but glad to have been able to take part in another celebration in the parish.

I had also gotten a chance to chinear un bebé - hold a little kid who reached out to me when I was talking with his mother.

He wasn't one of the ones who looked at me and either hid or cried! His eyes are closed because of the bright sun.

The joys of ministry.

Confirmations, a Franciscan get-together, and transforming conflict

Monday morning I went out to San Agustín, Copán for confirmations by Monseñor Darwin Andino, our bishop.

Monseñor Darwin, Padre Efraín, Padre Henry

 San Agustín is about 40 kilometers from Santa Rosa – about 90 minutes by car. Surprisingly the last portion of the road is fairly good since the mayor of San Agustín has done much for the municipality.

Those to be confirmed came from San Agustín and from four nearby villages. Most were young people from 14 to their early twenties, but there was one older man from San Agustín, probably in his seventies.

After Mass and a meal, I headed to Gracias, to spend some time with the Dubuque Franciscan Sisters there. A special treat was the visit of a good friend, Sister Pat Farrell, one of the members of the congregations whom I have known since about 1987 when I met her when she and another sister were serving in a  displaced persons camp outside San Salvador, El Salvador. In 1992, I volunteered for six months in Suchitoto, El Salvador, where I worked with the Salvador parish priest and six US sisters, including Pat and Nancy (who has been ministering in Gracias for more than six years.)

We talked of many things but the highlight was centered around evening prayer. We – Sisters Pat, Nancy, and Brenda and Betty, a volunteer living with them and I sat in prayer in their small chapel. At the end of Evening Prayer, I signed the Mutual Covenant as an Associate, as a sign of my connecting myself in prayer and mission with the Franciscan sisters of Dubuque.  After this, Pat and Nancy, who had served together in Chile and El Salvador, sang a few songs. Their harmony was outstanding.

Pat and Nancy singing, such harmony!

 I left Tuesday morning for Siguatepepque, after taking Pat and Nancy to the bus station and getting a piece of furniture with Brenda from the local jail.

I’m here in Siguatepeque until Saturday for the final follow up of a series of Caritas workshops on Constructing Peace and Transforming Conflict.

Each morning a team shares a review of what happened, often including memorable quotes. Among the quotes heard yesterday, someone had said: “When I have a nightmare; I think of Juancito; when I am sad I think of Juancito.”

An activity during the Transforming Conflict Workshop

I thank God for this chance to share a bit of the joy I have experienced. I guess that too is part of my Franciscan spirit.

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If you haven’t read Pat Farrell’s address to the LCWR assembly, you can find it here in both English and Spanish. It’s worth study and prayer.

Workshops, a youth assembly, and more

I haven't really written much about the parish in the last two weeks and so I want to share a few thoughts on events here.

 

Friday, June 22, the parish of Dulce Nombre had a dinner with a guest speaker, a priest who is also a singer from Choluteca. They raised money for the parish’s kitchen/dining room and meeting hall, which is rapidly being constructed – despite financial restraints.

Walls of the second floor are almost finished

The priest was  a good singer and an animated speaker. I didn’t quite like his style and found his message a little simplistic. But the people enjoyed it and the meal was good.

The mornings of June 22 and 23, I spent with leaders of the base community’s going over the new Catholic Social Teaching booklet they are using (and that I wrote); I used the meetings to help them improve their meetings, making them more participative. The leaders were receptive and, in fact, some mentioned that their style is to promote as much participation as possible. How encouraging in a culture where people in authority are accustomed to speak AT people for long periods of time. It was good to be with them.

At the meetings I also spent time doing a little reflection with them on the parable of the mustard seed, trying to help them relate it to their lives as campesinos. Perhaps I was reading more into the parable than is there but I asked them about seeds and how much time is needed for them to sprout – four days for a mustard seed, five for corn, four for beans, months for coffee, about a year for noni, and quite some time for trees. We talked about the need for patience and how people grow in their faith at different rates. This may help them in dealing with people who don’t seem to respond to their efforts to evangelize the people.

Sunday I went to Joyas Galanas. The road there was terrible and I thought I’d get stuck a few times – but new tires and four wheel drive low got me through. (I returned by a different route – with a much better road.) The crowd at the Celebration of the Word was small, but many came to Communion. 

The Joyas Galanas valley

Friday and Saturday of this week was the training session for new catechists. Forty-eight showed up – most of them young and most from a zone of the parish that needs a lot more youth in their ministries. Since it was a young crowd they were a lot less participative than I’d hope. We treated the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.

Catechists during a small group session

On Friday I did a session on examination of conscience. I went through a few ideas but we then spent about half an hour using the Jesuit examen. It was absolutely amazing the silence in the hall while we went through five steps. I was very glad to see even the young people taking advantage of silence.

Saturday morning I did a session on the parts of the Mass, using a sort of jigsaw puzzle approach that I’ve used before. In groups, they had to arrange the parts of the Mass in order.

I’ve done this before, but this time it was harder for the groups to do it. I ended up running between the four groups, helping them in the process. (And so, no pictures.)

Afterwards we reflected on how hard it was for them. They actually did very well with the Introductory Rites and the Liturgy of the Word but the Liturgy of the Eucharist was really hard for them. I think this was partly because I included the official Greek terms (epiklesis, anamnesis). But I think it was so hard because most of them don’t experience Mass in their villages very often. They might get to a Mass in their sector or a special parish Mass but many had Mass in their village only once a year! They are very familiar with the weekly Sunday Celebrations of the Word and so could identify the parts of the Introductory Rites and Liturgy of the Word. But lack of access to Mass made the other parts of the exercise difficult.

I left the catechists with a little booklet with the parts of the Mass. They were glad to have it and some talked about sharing it with other ministries in their villages. I urged them to study it with the village church council, especially before a Mass in their village.

Sor Pedrina at the Youth Assembly

After my presentation I hurried back to Santa Rosa with Sor Pedrina and six young people for the diocesan Youth Encounter. Over a thousand young people (and some older folks) showed up for the walk from the Catholic University to the City Gymnasium where Mass was celebrated, followed by a concert that ended with Benediction. We got there in time for Mass.

Bishop Romulo Emiliani preaching

Three bishops and about 8 priests concelebrated. Bishop Romulo Emiliani, the auxiliary bishop of SanPedro Sula, preached on the problem of violence and the need to turn to Christ. He’s quite the orator and the message was quite good – talking about the roots of violence in consumption, materialism, and more. He did speak a bit about corruption and other social problems of the country, including the 42% of infants with chronic malnutrition. I wish he had been more specific in his homily about the social and political roots of the violence here, since this was a Mass for Peace in the face of violence. But it was good.

After a lunch break there were warm up acts for the main event “Son by 4,” a Puerto Rican music group. Their singing was quite good, but I was left hungering for something more.

Son by 4 in concert; note all the cellphone cameras

The music was spirited. But at one point I felt that I was at a rock concert, with phone cameras going wild and people clapping and singing.

The lyrics, as far as I could understand, were very individualistic. They shared stories of their group and of a conversion they’d witnessed.

The lack of a social context left me wondering. The event cost 100 lempiras - $5.00, which is a lot for people from the countryside. About a third of  the group were Catholic University students, who are mostly middle class and upwardly mobile.

But I didn’t hear anything in the group’s songs about the poor. Love of God, yes – but love of the neighbor and a commitment to the poor didn’t come through to me. (Maybe I missed it, since sung lyrics are often hard to understand.)

I know some of the young people from other parishes were poor and others, including a group of five friends, do have a sense of care for the poor. 

Bishop Andino carrying the Eucharist in procession

I left at the end of Benediction. Bishop Darwin came back and carried the monstrance with the consecrated Host through the crowd and placed it in front of a statue of Mary. 

Monstrance with consecrated host before statue of Mary

The group sang several of its songs but what struck me was the image of the monstrance in front of Mary. It was, as a friend noted of the photo, “iconic.” The monstrance was placed in front  of the statue in such a way that it appeared to be just in front of Mary’s womb – where some icons place Jesus.

I was struck by this image as we knelt in adoration of Christ in the Eucharist.

I left and went  home – to a noisy neighbor playing music at an incredible volume. I went and asked them to turn it down and they did!

Reflecting back on the last week, I find again that I feel myself most at home with the poor – even at their celebrations with poor music. Their wisdom and piety nurture my soul.

The hype of the concert and its individualistic message left me cold – though the piety of young people kneeling in prayer continues to inspire me (as it inspired me during my 24 years in campus ministry at St. Thomas in Ames.)

There is hope – though it is a long struggle to lessen violence here.  I don’t think it will come through concerts or a lot of large meetings. It may come with the work of people in their communities, with small groups working and praying together.

Also, work on alternatives is important. And the parish of Dulce Nombre de María is planning to host a workshop in late July.

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More photos of the Diocesan Youth Encounter can be found here.