Life and death - the second week of Easter

This past week I had three pre-marriage interviews. I have at least one next week. For some reason people are getting married in the church.

The couples who want to get married first have an interview with the pastor and then have a formation process in their villages, usually lasting about twelve weeks. Then they have an interview, most often with me, though the transitional deacon has done a few. This is an interview with witnesses to make sure there are no obstacles and that the couple has some idea of what their commitments will be as married Catholics. 

I have had many sorts of couples – a few older couples who have been together many years and have grown children; others have been together for a few years, sometimes with a few children; and there are the usually young couples who have decided to get married. Most often they are campesinos with the men working in the fields and the women working at home, but I have had a young agricultural engineer and a young man who is teaching six grades in a rural school and working on a college degree.

For me, it is a joy and a privilege to be with them. I often offer tell them how I admire their decision to get married in the church when the culture of short-term relationships or of living together is common. (I must acknowledge that for many of the older couples there was probably not much opportunity to get married in the church, since the priest didn’t get to the villages very often in the past.)  

This is one aspect of my diaconate that I never expected to do but which I usually find important and fulfilling. 

As I have mentioned often, another aspect of my diaconal ministry that is important is accompanying the families of those who have died.

This Friday I assisted at two Masses for the dead, though the pastor preached. In a previous blogpost, I shared accompanying a community that experienced a violent death on Easter Monday.

The custom here is to have a novena of prayer for nine days after the burial, with an altar of nine steps in the house of the one who died or a family member. At the end of the nine days, there is a special prayer, and people often request a Mass in the home.

The end of the novena in Las Pavas was Friday and Padre German said he would be there for Mass at 1 pm.

I got there a bit late – but not as late as the pastor who had to respond to some serious situations.

We used two non-traditional readings at the Mass, since the death was a homicide. The first reading was from Genesis, the story of Cain and Abel. The Gospel was part of the passion according to Saint Luke, in which Jesus asks God the Father to forgive them and Jesus promises the Kingdom to the Good Thief. 

The pastor preached on the important of forgiveness as well as the importance of denouncing the crime to the judicial authorities. 

There is a culture of violence and vengeance here, largely because the judicial system is not inefficient and corrupt and so many crimes against the poor do not receive a just trial. There is thus the importance of helping the people forgive, but still seek justice. It’s tricky, but we will try to accompany the family. 

The pastor had to leave for two more Masses and so left me to say prayers for the dead in the room where the altar had been erected.

I prayed there with two of the children of the man who had been killed. Then, at the request of a son, I blessed his tiny house – where he, his wife, and their three-year old live. This was not easy. 

But there was another funeral Mass that night, supposedly at 8:30 pm, in a nearby village. 

A Delegate of the Word had been suffering, from cancer I believe, for several years.

Last Saturday. I was in a meeting in the parish when one of his daughters came to the office and asked someone to come see her father at a nearby medical clinic. The pastor was gone and so I went. 

He was very weak and unable to speak but he was conscious and attentive as we prayed. 

He was not eating, since he couldn’t swallow. So, after praying and talking to Don Manuel, I took the daughter and her brother outside the room where her father was hooked up for what I presumed was intravenous hydration and perhaps more. 

I decided to talk with them straightforwardly and tell them that their father was probably near death. The doctor came out to talk with one of the family members and he concurred. I wondered whether this was a good thing to say to them but I decided that it was important that they were prepared.

On Friday morning about 5:45 am, I got a call from the daughter and she told me he had died. She was trying to get the pastor but couldn’t get through to him. I later sent him a WhatsApp message and he told me about the evening Mass. 

Three couples preparing for message and two families mourning the loss of loved ones – life and death – in the second week of Easter.

The mystery of life - and death.

Life and death - Holy Week and Easter

This was a strange Holy Week for me. 

Perhaps this flowering rose bush is a good symbol. The bush has almost died a few times and has been devastated a few times by sompopos (cutter ants who eat all the leaves).But this year it bloomed with multiple roses on a single branch - the first time it has done this so extravagantly.

Last year I spent Holy Week as a hermit, alone at home. 

This year there are some activities, but we are trying to avoid major concentrations of people and urging people to take health safeguards. 

For many years we began Holy Week with a parish-wide stations of the Cross in Dulce Nombre on the Friday before Holy Week, traditionally celebrated in honor of Our Mother of Sorrows. Most years I wrote the Stations, usually with a specific local concern in mind. The texts were photocopied for the use of people in their villages on Good Friday. To avoid major concentrations of people, we cancelled this year’s parish Stations. 

Because we often had a number of catechumens baptized at the Easter Vigil, we usually had only one parish-wide vigil. This year there will be Vigil celebrations in many communities. The Dulce Nombre Vigil was smaller, since only people from a few communities will be invited. Fernando, a transitional deacon in our parish, led a celebration in San Agustín and I went to Vertientes for a Vigil with them and the nearby community of San José El Bosque. 

But there is more to the ministry of a deacon in Holy Week – and throughout the year. 

For me Holy Week began on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, helping guide a geologist and a civil engineer in the community of San Marcos Pavas, which suffered serious damages during the hurricanes last year.

The two men in their thirties (the guys in straw hats in the first photo) came from Santa Rosa and spent almost five hours going through the community and examining the terrain and the houses. Several community members accompanied them, showing them what had happened and giving a little history, since there have been problems of landslides and sinking soil for many years. 

 

The geologist will make a report that he’ll share with the community so that they can send it to various public authorities and other institutions to see what can be done to stabilize the situation of the community. 

It was a long and hot day, with lots of walking, and I forgot my hat. So, I found myself over-tired. 

Palm Sunday 

I went to Dulce Nombre to participate in the Palm Sunday procession and Mass. After Mass we sent about 14 parishioners as missionaries in several communities in the parish.

Monday, after getting the car washed in Dulce Nombre, I went to get some items in Santa Rosa de Copán. In the afternoon I went to Debajiados to preside at a Celebration of the end of the novenario for the young woman who died there and whom I mentioned in an earlier blog post. 

The custom here is to have nine days of prayer in the home after the death of a family member. The people often request a Mass at the end of the novenario, especially if they were not able to have a funeral Mass. Padre German couldn’t make it to the community for the Mass at the end of the novenario and so I went.

A small crowd gathered in the church. I used the daily readings, partly because it was Holy Week and partly because it was the Gospel of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus. In think that like Mary, Maria Maricela was full of love and enthusiasm for her Lord.

the church in Debajiados 

Tuesday, I went to San Antonio Alto. 

In the morning we had the Lenten retreat It wasn’t well attended, partly because many people are still harvesting coffee in the fields. After the retreat, I went and visited the sick – eleven persons in a small village. I’ve gone there several times to visit the sick but there were never this many. 

I tried not to rush the visits, because it’s important to talk with them, to see how they are doing. I had decided to use the first verse of the Holy Thursday Gospel with them, to help them see the love that God has for them, accompanying them in their sickness.

He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.

Wednesday, I went to Granadillal. Again, I led the retreat in the morning and visited the sick afterwards. There were only two houses to visit, though I spent some time talking with a catechist about two persons with mental health problems. Thank God there is a psychiatrist who is willing to help these and other persons with serious problems. 

Thursday, one of the diocesan Chrism Masses was held in Santa Rosa de Copán. Many of the priests from this part of the diocese were there as well as the three transitional deacons who will be ordained to the presbyterate on May 1. 

Part of the Mass is procession of the oils at the offertory. The oils are brought to the bishop and then one of the deacons takes them to the table where they would later be blessed or consecrated. I ended up taking the Oil of the Sick, which seemed so fitting after visiting so many suffering people this week. 

In the afternoon, I presided at a Celebration of the Word with Communion in Concepción and later in the evening at Plan Grande. Washing the feet of the people is such a privilege. One of the persons whose foot I washed in Concepción is an older man who always walks around barefoot. His and others are not feet that are cushioned by good footwear. Many have rough feet as well as bunions caused by inadequate shoes. I caressed their feet with gentleness. I recalled this icon which I used on the prayer card for my ordination.

Good Friday, it was raining and so I didn’t go out to the Stations here in Plan Grande in the morning. I also felt a need for some quiet reflection. 

I was planning to go to Plan de Naranjo in the afternoon for the Celebration of the Office of the Passion. A half hour before I planned to leave, I got a phone call from someone there, advising me not to come since the roads were slippery with all the rain. I was glad that they called me because I was a bit concerned, remembering how slippery it was the last time I went there.

I ended up at the celebration in Dulce Nombre. This was the first time as a deacon that I served at a parish Good Friday liturgy. Usually, I’ve gone to remote villages that don’t have a Communion minister. I was moved, especially seeing the newly restored crucifix that belonged to Padre Juan Gennaro, the Italian missionary who built the church.

Holy Saturday, I spent at home, cleaning and baking. I made bread and cinnamon rolls to share with the Franciscan sisters at lunch on Easter in La Entrada. I also made enough cinnamon rolls to share some with the pastor who asked me for some.

EASTER VIGIL 

Saturday evening I presided at the Easter Vigil in Vertientes, which included participation from other nearby communities. We decided to celebrate in the unfinished church and so they put in some provisional lighting. The large church was filled!

We began in darkness outside the church with a great Easter Fire. Then we entered and proceeded with the Vigil. We didn’t use all the Old Testament readings but this let us have a careful reading of the creation and exodus passages. (I also could get home before 9:30 pm).

The planners did an excellent job with the liturgy and it was a time of rebirth.

Easter Sunday for me began with a Mass in Dulce Nombre. We welcomed back the missionaries who had spent the week in several communities. 

I ended up preaching. The liturgy was recorded by a local channel and I checked out my homily – with my grammatical errors at the end. The surprise – it was almost exactly 7 minutes.

After the Mass, I hurried to La Entrada for lunch with the Dubuque Franciscan Sisters and an associate who lives across from their house in Gracias. It was good to be with them, to share good food (including vegetarian quiche and pecan pie), and to catch up on life. I was quite tired and so I left earlier than the others. 

Easter Monday 

I intended to spend Monday as a day of rest. I got up late, spent a lot of time praying, and was about to begin doing some chores around the house as well as catch up on reading. Then I got a call. 

Cristina from Las Pavas couldn’t get through to the pastor and so tried me. She wanted to know if there were provisions to help a family that had suffered the death of a family member and would need some food for the all-night vigil as well as for the novenario. 

Providing food is an important part of the experience of sitting with those who have died and with their families. I arranged to get the food and proceeded there, only to find people outside the church, with several police cars. 

I soon learned that Carlos Arturo, 36 years old and suffering from epilepsy, had been killed and his body still lay in the coffee field across from the church. 

I found the mother and a brother of the murder victim and prayed with them. Later I approached the field and saw the body covered by a plastic tablecloth. I prayed and blessed the body. I spent a few hours there, speaking with people. 

More police came in about an hour to examine the site where the body was found as well as make an initial examination of the body. 

The carried the body up the hill and placed it on the ground outside the church. People gathered around.

It was not easy to watch, as they examined the four machete wounds. I can’t imagine how hard it was for the family. 

Then they took the body to the morgue in Santa Rosa de Copán and told the family they could come and get the body the next day. 

I stayed for a while and agreed to come the following morning to take some folks to bring the body back to Las Pavas. 

EASTER TUESDAY 

Tuesday was a long day – an hour from my house to get to Las Pavas and then two hours to the morgue in Santa Rosa. We were about three hours waiting at the morgue, though I went with a school teacher from Las Pavas to get lunch for those who came. Before we got lunch, she invited me to have a cup of coffee in a coffee with another woman from Las Pavas.

We got back to Las Pavas late in the afternoon. 

They had planned to wake the body – an all-night vigil, in the family home. The road was slippery from the rain and so they carried the body down the hill. 

I had visited the parents last year before the pandemic, bringing them communion, but I hardly recognized the father who had had a stroke and couldn’t speak. But when he saw me, he came up to me and I put my arm around him. We stood there for quite some time. I did not know how to comfort him – a few words, but most of all he rested his head on my shoulder.

Before I left, we had a short prayer around the casket, commending Carlos Arturo to God. The pastor is away, and I couldn’t return for the burial Wednesday morning since I had a catechists meeting. With a sad heart, I left. I’m hoping that the pastor can get to Las Pavas for a Mass at the end of the novenario. 

Wednesday I rested after the catechists meeting here in Plan Grande. Two of the catechists arrived early and so I showed them my garden, where they insisted on taking a few photos.

Today, Thursday, I intended to go to Santa Rosa for some supplies but I got a call from the parish secretary asking if I could preside at a funeral service at 1 pm this afternoon. Tomorrow, I have two couples who will be coming to the parish for the final pre-marriage interview. Life goes on and there are new beginnings, even in the face of death. And there are the surprises of flowering roses from bushes that seemed dead.

Accompany those who mourn

It’s Easter Monday. I had intended to take a day for relaxing, reading, and praying. But God has other plans.

About 10:30 am, I got a call from someone in San Marcos Pavas asking me if there were some provisions to help a family whose son had died since they didn’t have enough for the food for the vigil. (The custom is to have food for the all-night vigil.) 

I went to the parish and got some stuff and arrived at the village about 2 pm. 

But it wasn’t a normal death.

This morning, about 8 am, a body was found in the coffee field across from the church. Carlos Arturo, a 36 year old man with epilepsy had been killed.

When I arrived the police were there investigating, taking pictures and talking with family members.

I brought the provisions to the family who were gathered just outside the church. The mother was there as well as at least one brother, Gennaro, who is a delegate of the Word in the community. 

I spoke with the mother and we prayed.

Later I went to look where the body was, covered with a plastic tablecloth, and blessed the body. 

I decided to stay and be present. 

 After a while the Fiscalía [the public prosecutor’s office] and the medical examiner arrived. They moved the body out of the field and laid in on the road in front of the church. A crowd gathered.

It was gruesome to watch as they examined the body – but I tried to be close to the mother and brother. We prayed a few times and before they took the body to Santa Rosa I blessed the body again. 

People spoke well of Carlos Arturo and have no idea why he was killed or who did it. But the body showed signs of three or four slashes with a machete. 

Such wanton violence.

What can one do? At this point, all I could do was be there. 

I will go tomorrow morning to take the brother and two others to Santa Rosa to get the body for the vigil and funeral in the village. (It’s about two hours from the village to Santa Rosa.) I hope the pastor can come for a funeral Mass, but I’ll be available if he can’t. 

It’s the Easter season – but Good Friday continues to touch the lives of the poor.

After Easter Sunday

Today, Easter Monday, I’m trying to recoup my energies after a good, but busy, Paschal Triduum – Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday.

Saturday we started the Easter Vigil at 5:30 pm about three blocks from the church. Padre German had asked me to give a short reflection on the theme inscribed on the Paschal Candle. Then we lit the Paschal Candle from the New Fire.

After we walked to the church we gathered outside in the park. I began by singing the Exultet, the Easter Proclamation. I didn’t do too badly, but I don’t think too many noticed it my errors. Then we had all the readings with sung psalm responses.

After the homily we had the baptisms of about forty, mostly young, people. It was a bit of a mob scene since they were baptized in the midst of the crowd (to avoid water flowing on the wires of the sound system). I had the job of transporting water from the font to the place of baptism.

What impressed me was the large number of young men – from sixteen to the early twenties – who were baptized. I had met a number of them, mostly when I went for the Scrutinies in three villages during Lent. I felt very hopeful seeing so many young men.

The Vigil ended about 10:30 pm, followed with tamales for everyone. 

I got home way after 11 pm and didn’t get to sleep until after midnight. Then up about 5 (to bak bread to take with me to lunch in the afternoon.)

Sunday morning I went to Debajiados, a poor remote village, for a 9 am Celebration of the Word with Communion. I have a deep place in my heart for this village. It was a most appropriate place to celebrate Easter.

Until about seven years ago they had no pastoral presence. Suddenly one woman was experienced what she described as visits of the Virgin Mary with requests for people to come together and pray. Padre Efraín, the pastor at that time, sent me to talk with the woman. I found her a very simple, honest woman, without pretensions; though some aspects of what she told me seemed a bit odd, I could not deny her experience. Whether it was an apparition of Mary or a projection of this woman's desire for a presence of the church in the village is beyond me. But the results tell a story of grace.

Soon after we began to visit the village regularly, the visits of the Virgin stopped. Since then the life of faith has grown. They have several catechists and regular Sunday Celebrations of the Word led by a local Delegate of the Word. The life of faith has experienced a resurrection there. It was a great place to celebrate the Risen Lord. 

I’ve gone there for Good Friday twice before and I was there for a Mass on their feast day, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, last July – the day after my ordination as a permanent deacon.

While there in July I and a visitor, Phil, went with Juan Ángel, a thirty-one-year old catechist, and his oldest son, Ever, to bring communion to his parents who lived quite a distance away from the church. It was a great way to celebrate being a deacon.

Juan Ángel, who was also preparing to become an extraordinary minister of Communion, died of pneumonia in September. The community came together to help the widow and her four children, including arranging to get them rights to the land where their house was.

In my homily on Easter, I spoke of the mystery of Easter, where the apparent failure of Good Friday is transformed into the victory of love of the risen Jesus.

I mentioned several ways how, in the midst of pain and suffering, we can find the victory of love of the Risen Jesus. I started to mention Juan Ángel and I filled up with tears and couldn’t speak. I finally was able to say, in the presence of his widow and children, how even though he has died his life is bearing fruit in the community.

After the Celebration, I stood around for a few minutes as several musicians sang two songs of the resurrection in a very popular, traditional style. You can find one of them here on You Tube

Then I visited and brought communion to a lucid, but weak, ninety-five-year old man.

Then I was off to Gracias, Lempira, to have lunch with the Dubuque Franciscan sisters. I arrived late, as they were finishing dessert – with the local pastor and a neighbor. What a way to refresh my body (with great food) and my spirit (with great conversation.)

I got home about 6:30 pm – tired from too little sleep and lots of driving in the past week. A little to eat, prayer, a glass of wine, and bed.

A real vigil to celebrate Easter

Holy Saturday morning the church in Dulce Nombre was busy.

Some were preparing more than 1,000 tamales for those who would come to the Easter Vigil.

Others prepared the church and the Paschal Candle.

Our Easter vigil in Dulce Nombre began in a soccer field at least two kilometers from the church in Dulce Nombre.

The firewood arrived late, but the Easter fire was lit about 6:30 pm. After a few words (from me), lots of singing, the blessing of the fire and the Paschal candle preceded the procession to the church.

There are often fierce winds during Holy Week – and so most of our candles were snuffed out as we walked to the church. My guess it that there more than 800 of us - maybe as many as 1,000.

We got to the church at about 8:00 pm and waited until the Paschal candle entered the church.

Then chaos ensued. Despite having put string where the catechumens and their godparents were to sit, I found myself policing the seats and asking people to leave so that the catechumens could have seats. Despite my efforts about 15 catechumens stood or sat on the floor for most of the vigil.

The vigil proceeded with the Exultet. the Easter Proclamation, and all the readings. The singing of the Gloria was “glorious” with the ringing of the church bells and joyful singing.

About 10:00 the baptisms began and continued until midnight – all 102 or so of them. During that time tamales were shared.

I was pleased to see the work of so many catechists in preparing these mostly young people. But I was also very pleased to see a good number of special needs people being baptized and receiving their first communion.

Those baptized also received their first communion and so the Vigil Mass ended about 1:30 am – 7 hours after the Fire was blessed.

I returned to Plan Grande with a car full of people, arriving about 2:30 am.

As we turned into Plan Grande, we noticed that about 15 people from La Torrera had been dropped off there and were starting to walk three hours to their village.

When I left off the people in Plan Grande, I asked if someone would accompany me to take the people to the turn off to their village, thus cutting off about two hours of walking. Isaías gladly joined me – what a good young man.

The people were surprised and quite happy when I pulled up behind them and honked the horn.

I let them off at the junction and they started walking home – arriving at 4:30 instead of 6:30 am.

What dedication of people to live their faith.

I got to bed at 3:30 am – and will spend the day with the Dubuque Franciscan sisters in Gracias Lempira.

The Easter Vigil was long – but another sign of light in the midst of the darkness that often surrounds the life of people here in rural Honduras.

Christ is risen, indeed – in the lives of so many here in the parish of Dulce Nombre.

Photos from Holy Week in the Dulce Nombre parish can be found here.