ROMERO, SCRUTINIES, AND MORE

I am in San Pedro Sula today, preparing for my third round of chemotherapy treatments. But the last four days have been adventuresome.

MONSEÑOR ROMERO 

Friday was the feast of Saint Óscar Romero, bishop and martyr of El Salvador. This year there was a major celebration in the aldea of El Zapote Santa Rosa in our parish.

A young man in the community, Darling, is a grand devotee of Monseñor Romero and arranged the Mass with people in their village.

The church was packed. Darling and his brother Ronal provided the music.

We sang the Misa Popular Salvadoreña, a quite intense Mass composed by Guillermo Cuellar. We even sang the grand Gloria which Romero mentioned in his last Sunday homily, with these intense verses.

Pero los dioses del poder y del dinero 

se oponen a que haya transfiguración. 

Por eso ahora vos, Señor, sos el primero 

en levantar tu brazo contra la opresión. 

But the gods of power and wealth 

oppose the Transfiguration. 

Therefore, you, Lord, are now the first  

to lift up your arm against oppression.

This Gloria reflects the central role of the Transfiguration of the Lord in El Salvador, whose national feast day is August 6, the feast of the Transfiguration. 

I think that there is also a subtle – or not so subtle – reference to the statue of the Divine Savior in the Plaza El Salvador del Mundo in San Salvador...

... and perhaps a hint of the revolutionary raising of the fist against oppression. Note this image of Mary of the Magnificat.

It was a good afternoon and I even had the privilege to preach at the Mass.

PREGNANT WOMEN 

Saturday, Padre German had a Mass for pregnant women in Dulce Nombre. I had forgotten about this and so didn’t attend. This was probably for the best since Sunday was busy. In addition, I had to work on the material for our parish stations of the cross.

CATECHUMENS AND SCRUTINIES

Sunday was busy – but in a very positive way.

At 9 am I found myself in Vertientes, a mountain aldea.

They have nine young people preparing to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. It’s the largest group from a single village. Of these, five are eighteen or older.

This year we have permission from the bishop for the pastor to confirm those catechumens who are 18 or older at the Vigil. This is the tradition in most of the world, but until this year the catechumens only received the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist at the Vigil. Of the 38 or so catechumens, about 12 will be confirmed at the Vigil this year.

Since we have the catechumens in scattered villages, we try to do the major rites in the main church but we celebrate the scrutinies in the villages. It was with great joy that I could do it in Vertientes. 

But there was another special reason to be there.

One of the catechumens had missed the rite of inscription (or election) in Dulce Nombre on the first Sunday of Lent. This young man and his brother are both preparing for their baptism. Both have some intellectual deficiencies and the younger one sometimes has difficulty focusing. With great affection, I call him our lost sheep.

He came with the group from Vertientes for the rite of election, but he got lost and didn’t arrive at the church until the end of Mass.

When I went to Vertientes the next Sunday, I met him on his way to Dulce Nombre; he seems to have had no sense that I would be there for the rite. In fact, the next day he showed up in Dulce Nombre for a meeting that had nothing to do with the catechumens.

This Sunday, though, he was there. His presence, and the efforts made to include him make real for me Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep.

After the Celebration, I headed home for a few hours before heading out to San Agustín for Mass. 

There also I celebrated the rite of election with a young man who had also missed the rite in Dulce Nombre. (Some liturgists might not approve of all this, but we have to respond to the pastoral needs of people of all types in all types of situations.) 

When I arrived, I found that Padre German was hearing confessions. He is trying to visit all the communities to offer them opportunities for confession during Lent. The lines are often long, as they were in San Agustín.

Mass was supposed to start at 2 o’clock and he was still hearing confessions at 3 pm. 

So, he started Mass, handed over the Liturgy of the Word and the Scrutinies to me, and returned to hear confessions.

It was a great privilege to be able to pray the scrutinies another time – after leading the San Agustín community in the Celebration of the Word and sharing a homily with them. 

I was moved as I prayed, laying my hands on the heads of the three catechumens there in San Agustín.

Padre German emerged at the Offertory (even though there were still a few people waiting for confessions) and he finished the Mass. He’ll return to San Agustín on the morning of Wednesday in Holy Week for confessions for the sick and others.

After Mass, he had a Mass in Plan Grande in thanksgiving for someone’s safe return from abroad. I opted out since I was rather tired. I also had to prepare the texts for our parish Stations of the Cross this coming Friday.

LAB TESTS AND EXPERIENCING VULNERABILITY

Monday morning, I had to get lab tests in Santa Rosa to prepare for another chemotherapy session on Wednesday. I got there late – fasting.

After the test I went to a café to have breakfast. Even after eating I felt a little off and, as I put my computer in my backpack, I fainted. I recovered a bit with two large glasses of water and then decided just to sit and rest. 

All of a sudden, Padre Elias, a priest of the dioceses and director of the radio station, dropped in. The owner of the café had called him to tell him of my fainting. I am moved by her concern and the effort of Padre Elias to accompany me. 

So life goes on with many surprise blessings. 

HOLY WEEK BEGINS

Our parish stations of the cross in the streets of Dulce Nombre is Friday. Next week is full of Holy Week activities. 

I have to evaluate carefully with the pastor what I can do. I don’t want to do either too much or too little.

I have a retreat with the catechumens and their sponsors on Tuesday of Holy Week, but I am already working to involve two other persons in the retreat. (I’m finally learning to share responsibility.) 

There are lots of processions during Holy Week. I won’t be walking in them, though I will probably ride in the car that has the sound equipment and participate in the Masses after the Stations on Friday and on Palm Sunday and the Easter Vigil. 

It’s a great temptation to try to do too much – but learning to recognize my fragility is one of the most important lessons for me this Lent.

Pray for us, especially for the catechumens who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil. May we be signs of hope and resurrection for our parish, our nation, and the world.

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Note: I refer to those who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil as "catechumens," even though they are, at this point really the "elect" - after the rite of election on the First Sunday of Lent. 

Honduras coffee in Iowa

In January 2014, the pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas church in Ames, Iowa, came to visit the parish of Dulce Nombre de María, with two young men. One was very interested in trying to get something started with importing local coffee to the US.

We met with a few coffee producers. I proposed that this not be simply buying coffee but investing in a group of small coffee producers, importing their coffee but also making an investment to help them improve their production as well as the quality of the coffee.

In the aldea of El Zapote Santa Rosa, José Garcia got about fifteen producers together and they began to work forming an association, which they named “Café hacia el futuro” – Coffee toward the future. At first a group at St. Thomas Aquinas imported the coffee but later they formed into “Café El Zapote.” 

It’s been quite the journey – first finding ways to get small quantities sent as samples, then finding ways to export and transport coffee. There have been ups and downs – but the association has grown, has gotten help to improve their fields, as well as production processes.

They have even managed to build a “centro de acopio” – a place where the coffee will be collected and processed.

Marco Antonio pruning one plant

A few days ago, the head of Café El Zapote asked me to interview one of the producers whose high quality coffee had been purchased by a café in Tama, Iowa. They wanted some background for their customers as they market his coffee as "single source."

Here are some notes from time spent with the producer, Marco Antonio García; we were accompanied by Moisés García, the president of the association.

Marco Antonio and Moisés

Marco Antonio García Henríquez, Tonio, is 35 years old, married with three kids, one son who is 14 years old who helps and is also studying in the equivalent of junior high in an alternative program in El Zapote. There are two daughters, one who is ten years old and who accompanied us out to his fields. 

Marco Antonio's daughter finding some fruit to eat

Tonio was born in El Zapote Santa Rosa and has lived here all his life. His father also grows coffee and he worked with his father many years. He started helping in the coffee harvests when he was five years old – not uncommon here. He worked for years with his father but be began working on his own fields when he turned 18 years.

He has worked with the Asociación Hacia El Futuro for only two years. The association currently has 19 members (2 of whom are women). They are hoping to incorporate up to 7 more women, mostly spouses of the members) in the coming year. 

Tonio has three manzanas. (A manzana is about 1.7 acres.) The elevation of his fields is about 1350 meters.

When I asked him how he got such high-quality coffee, he said that he does all in the name of God and with passion and love, selecting the best coffee beans.

It is clear that he and his family live with a deep faith and with a passion for their work. He proudly showed me the flower garden at the side of his house which his wife and he tend to have flowers for the Catholic church in the village.

The association has worked with several organizations, including a Spanish foundation which worked through Caritas and Heifer International. With their help, as well as the help of El Zapote Coffee in Ames, they have been able to improve their farming, harvesting, and processing procedures. They also have been able to have solar coffee dryers. 

They are working toward a much more ecological approach to coffee production. The centro de acopio (collection and processing center) that the association is completing will have procedures to deal with the pulp from the coffee as well as the water used in washing and soaking the beans to avoid contamination of the water systems.

Centro de acopio of the association

Tonio does not use herbicides to deal with the weeds in the coffee fields (fincas, in Spanish). Instead, they clear out the weeds manually, with machetes.

However, one of the problems in the past few years, and one which has had a resurgence last year, is what is called roya, a type of leaf rot. They are working with developing natural fungicides for control of the roya.

Up to this point, Tonio has dried the coffee in the solar dryer by his home. He has stored the coffee in his house to avoid contamination by any odors.

Tonio and his son beside his small solar dryer

The harvests in this area are between November and April, because of the elevation. Producers will harvest several times during the harvest season, since the beans mature at different times. (There are several flowerings earlier in the year.) Tonio harvests up to six times in the harvest season. (Editors’ note: the first and last harvests do not usually bring in a good quality coffee, since they may have beans that are overripe or underripe.)

We went to see Tonio’s fields which are in two different locations.

He has been very careful to have a good number of trees in his fields – pine trees, guamos, fruit trees (including oranges and mandarins), avocado trees, bananas, and more. (I came home with a load of mandarins.) When he plants new coffee trees, he tries to avoid cutting down trees.

In at least one part of his fields, he has planted zacate (a type of tall grass) between the coffee rows – to cut down the erosion as well as to lower the temperature of the soil.

Tall grass between the rows of coffee

Tonio is not a man of many words and so when I asked if he had any message for those who will drink his coffee he was at a loss – just drink, enjoy, and buy more. As I left, he thanked all those who are helping him and the other coffee farmers in El Zapote.

Information on ordering Café El Zapote can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/cafeelzapote

UPDATE - October 10, 2021: 

 Here's an image from the Facebook page of Ross Street Roasting Co.

The benefits of a coffee association

Wednesday I had visitors and decided to have them hear about the work of the coffee association in El Zapote Santa Rosa.

This group of thirteen men and one woman are small coffee farmers who have joined together, learned best practice to produce, harvest, and process coffee. As a result, they are exporting coffee to the parish of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Ames, Iowa. This year they exported 4,500 pounds.

José, the president of the association, talked with us, showed us his solar dryer, shared some of his coffee with us at his home, and then showed us parts of his coffee fields, his finca, as well as where he washed much of his coffee.

As we drank a cup of coffee in his home, he proudly told us how he now drinks good quality coffee and not the dregs, which his family used to drink. He noted that the good quality coffee doesn’t upset his stomach as the other coffee did.

One of the visitors, a Canadian, had previously asked me why the Honduran coffee he drank in Toronto coffee shops was good but most of what he had tasted here was awful. I told him exactly what José later told us. I also noted that when we visited Aldea Development’s project in La Unión, Lempira, the director Patrick Hughes had advised the producers to begin to drink good coffee.

José has taken that advice to heart.

I pressed him on other benefits. He did not talk much about his own family, though it appears that they are doing better. But he did mention that they paid the coffee harvesters more for the selective picking they did for export coffee. He also noted how the family or some persons are hired to go through the coffee to take out defective beans before the coffee is sent to the processing company here in Honduras.

The project is not only helping the producers but seasonal coffee workers, many of whom do not have their own coffee land – or have very little land.

But as we came back from his fields, he shared what in many ways is one of the most significant benefits of this association and their ability to export coffee and get a higher price for quality coffee.

José showing off his coffee fields

As we drove into El Zapote he mentioned, “I no longer have the desire to go to the United States.”

He had tried a few years ago, was captured by the Border Patrol soon after crossing the border, and held in a detention center for several months. But I guess that the dream of the golden north remained.

Yet now, he has purpose in his life here in Honduras; he has experienced the success of helping to organize others for the good of the community; he has helped improve the quality of life for him and his family. He is at home in his home country, in his aldea.

But José is but one of many who have the dream of a good and meaningful life for his family and his village. (He is very active in promoting education in El Zapote even though he has had limited education).

But he is a minority since real development is beyond the reach of many – even the educated. I recall a very sharp young man whom I tried to dissuade from going to the United States. At one point he told me, “What does Honduras offer me?”

He had much to offer Honduras but his hopes and dreams were stilted, his gifts not recognized, his capacities not given a place to grow.

So what about the future of Honduras?

Politicians offer dreams of success, but often at a price – selling your soul to the party. Jobs are offered, but with poor salaries. Individual efforts are lauded, but not always rewarded. The efforts of people working together are not often encouraged.

Small efforts – and larger ones – need to be made. I feel very glad that this one small effort has made a difference in the lives of some people I know. I hope there are more.

And if you want to help people like José, buy more coffee from direct market sources. El Zapote Coffee, the fruit of this small association, is available at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Catholic Student Center, Ames, Iowa. Buy some – and then, if you like it, get some friends to buy some more. That might make it easier for people to stay here in Honduras.

St. Francis and the violin of sticks

Yesterday I went to El Zapote Santa Rosa. I was planning to go to their Mass for the vigil of the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, their patron. When I got there I found out that Mass wouldn’t start until 6:00 PM. I decided I’d stay until the procession began, since I was planning on going to two Masses on Sunday, his feast day.

Despite being an introvert, I sometimes find myself being rather overflowing with energy, interacting with a lot of folks. Last night was one of those times.

I talked to scores of the people waiting for the procession to begin – kidding around with the kids, talking with the young men who are almost always at the edge of church meetings, scaring a few infants but entertaining many kids.

There was a marching band of percussion from Dulce Nombre who had come out for the procession. 

While they were drumming, I remembered the Philadelphia Mummers Day parades on January 1. I began to strut and “dance” to the rhythm. I invited others to join – but no one did. In fact, I think I scared one older woman!

Then, while near the truck with the statue of St. Francis, I remember the story of St. Francis picking up two sticks and playing his “violin.” I even got two kids to play two sticks.

I was having a lot of fun and full of joy and wonder.

The procession began after Padre German arrived with the sound system. The truck with the statue of St. Francis was followed by kids and others with saplings which they were going to distribute Sunday to be planted.

I left a little sad because I wouldn’t be joining them for Mass, since that would mean getting home about 8:30 PM. But I watched as they walked to the church.

When I got home I looked for the tale of Francis and the stick violin. I found several but the one I like is from Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel Saint Francis:

      One morning he sat up in bed and clapped his hands with elation. “Do you know what I’ve been thinking all night long, Brother Leo?” he shouted to me. “That every piece of wood is a lute or violin; that it has a voice and glorifies the Lord. . . . If you want my blessing, Brother Leo, bring me two pieces of wood.”
      I brought them. He placed the first on his shoulder and slid the other over it with rapid bowlike motions. Seated on his mattress, he played and sang endlessly, beside himself with joy. His eyes were closed, his head thrown back: he was in ecstasy.          “Do you hear the pieces of wood, do you hear them singing?” he asked me. “Listen!”
      At first I heard nothing but the two sticks rubbing and grating against each other. But gradually my ear became attuned, my soul awoke, and I began to hear an infinitely sweet melody coming from the two dry branches. In Francis’s hands the mute wood had become a viol.
      “Do you hear, Brother Leo? Do you hear? Cast aside your mind and leave your heart free to listen. When a person believes in God there is no such thing as a mute piece of wood, or pain unaccompanied by exultation, or ordinary everyday life without miracles!”

All creation speaks and sings in praise of God, even the piece of wood that appears mute.