More glimpses of hope in Honduras

Advent is a time for hope – a time to recall a God who makes rough ways smooth and opens a path in the wilderness.

On the first Sunday of Advent this year, Honduras held elections for president, congress, and mayors.

There were concerns and there were even rumors that there would be a toque de queda – a curfew – on Monday or even for a week or two. Even last night, after the polls were closed, there was a rumor that the electricity would be shut off nationwide at 8:30 pm. These notices seem to have been part of a campaign to sow fear among the people.

But things went surprisingly well and peaceful. Yes, there were irregularities throughout the country, including closing voting stations when there were people waiting to vote. I have heard reports of a candidate offering voters 3 thousand lempiras (about $130) for their ids so they wouldn’t vote.

But I observed something different. 

The voting place here in Plan Grande was in the school right next to the church and close to my house.

I left in the morning for a celebration in a nearby mountain village and there were crowds waiting to vote. 

When I returned later in the morning there were still people waiting to vote. 

I left for a 2 pm Mass in San Agustín and when I got back about 5 pm, all was calm since voting had finished. Then they began counting the ballots.

I went out a few times to see what was happening.

The ballots were being counted in two classrooms – since there were two voting places – urnas - in the school. People were outside the classrooms looking in.

All was calm, with kids running around (and some stopping by my house asking for candy.) One kid and his friends even planted a flower that had been left by my door. 

The results began to come in. The four municipalities in our parish area have been controlled by the National Party, which has also controlled the presidency for twelve years. And so I was surprised when they told me that Xiomara Castor, the LIBRE party candidate had won the presidential vote– not only here but in most of the municipality. 

Though an alternative candidate for the mayor's race won by a slim majority in Plan Grande, the National Party candidate won in the municipality of Concepción, where I live. But he had defeated the incumbent mayor (whose family had controlled the city hall for years).

What surprised me, and a few people I talked with, is that here and in other parts of the parish and the country many people did not vote a straight ticket. They voted for persons, not parties. (in some places, however, people did vote “straight ticket – called “votar en plancha”- but for LIBRE, the opposition party that arose after the 2009 presidential coup. This is extremely significant for Honduras, where party loyalty has ruled for over a century, resulting in what was a closed two-party system. Locally, the majority voted for the LIBRE candidate for president and the National Party candidate for mayor.

Another surprise is that some towns very tied in the past to the National Party went for Xiomara Castro, the LIBRE presidential candidate.

But a very big surprise is that a young man I know and who had been active in the church was elected mayor of the municipality of Dolores, overthrowing the incumbent mayor, a member of the National Party  who had held city hall there for several terms. 

I haven’t seen the full results but Xiomara Castor is the present-elect, the Congress will probably have a LIBRE majority.

The two largest cities, the capital Tegucigalpa and the industrial center San Pedro Sula, have elected mayors from the LIBRE party. 

The people are fed up with the incompetence and the corruption they have seen in the rule of the National Party or other entrenched candidates, especially at the national level. 

The voters also showed a political savvy and political maturity that I was glad to see. 

What will happen next is critical. There is need for national reconciliation – which means looking for the good of all the people of Honduras but also bringing to justice those who have violated the trust of the people with corruption, incompetence, bribes, and connections with drug-trafficking and organized crime.

But last night’s speech by the president-elect was hopeful and offers a challenge. She began saying that she has no enemies. In fact, she called for dialogue with the opposition. But her priorities are clear:

We are going to build a new era, we are going to build together a new history for the Honduran people. Out with war, out with the hatred, out with the death squads, out with corruption, out with drug trafficking and organized crime, out with the zedes. No more poverty.

The path ahead will not be easy – but I have hope, since it appears that many people are beginning to think and act differently. The task may be to help people realize democracy in their lives and in the country – recognizing that though elections are important, they are, as Salvador Monsignor Ricardo Urioste used to say, only a note in the symphony of democracy.

Perhaps part of our social ministry is to help people mature and recognize how they can contribute to the common good. As Pope Francis wrote in Fratelli Tutti, 162:

“…political systems must keep working to structure society in such a way that everyone has a chance to contribute his or her own talents and efforts.”

Perhaps this is the time to carefully study that encyclical and its call for justice, political love, and reconciliation.

To close with what may seem rather far-fetched, I would suggest this is the moment for tenderness, meditating on these words of Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti, 94:

“Politics too must make room for a tender love of others. ‘What is tenderness? It is love that draws near and becomes real. A movement that starts from our heart and reaches the eyes, the ears and the hands… Tenderness is the path of choice for the strongest, most courageous men and women.’ Amid the daily concerns of political life, ‘the smallest, the weakest, the poorest should touch our hearts: indeed, they have a “right” to appeal to our heart and soul. They are our brothers and sisters, and as such we must love and care for them’.”

That would be a way to make hope real.

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.

Ruminating on Isaiah 65

Today’s first reading, Isaiah 65: 17-21, is a challenge.

“I create Jerusalem to be a joy.”

How can we react to such a joyful message – stuck at home, insecurity in terms of the health situation in the country, and reading Albert Camus’s The Plague?

“No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there, or the sound of crying…”

God, you’ve got to be mocking us? Though there are few cases of corona virus 19 here in Honduras, we’re confined to our houses. Some towns are letting people out for 3 hours – but from where I am it’s not really possible to get to Dulce Nombre (and they are saying that they’ll confiscate vehicles.)

But there are people who have little or no food – who are hungry. How get food for them?

Is this just a taste of what the people in the time of Isaiah were experiencing in exile? How can he say such words of hope?

“They shall live in the houses they build, and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.”

But my neighbor is working on his house. And two guys are working on the local church meeting hall. I am concerned that they are putting themselves at risk. But…

Yesterday I was rather upset that more than twenty people were in the local church. Though they had cancelled the Celebration of the Word, people were gathered – without much sense of a distance between them. And the mayor was not far away from where they were gathering. When I shared my concern, someone said that was fear. No, I insisted.

I may be wrong but the idea of a social distancing has little sense for the culture here.

In the meantime, I keep a distance – wash clothes and dishes, do some reading and writing, pray, and whatever. I also am keeping myself ready if I am called for anything.

But Isaiah shares these words of the Lord:

“I am about to create new heav­ens and a new earth…”

Will we let God create of us a new heaven and a new earth?

Will our social isolation open us to a new vision or will we return to the same old social isolation that is part of an individualistic culture?

Will we learn anything from this? Will be learn to be a people? Will we learn that we are in this together? This is not a way to make the concern less, as it seems to be for Cottard in The Plague. This may be a way to help us learn that we belong and thus stay in the struggle as Rambert does. Though he has a chance to escape in a few hours, he decides to stay and shares these thoughts with Dr. Rieux:

“Until now I always felt a stranger in this town, and that I’d no concern with you people. But now that I’ve seen what I’ve seen, I know that I belong here whether I want it or not. This business is everybody’s business.’

Make of us, Lord, a people who truly share in the joys and sorrows of others.

Providentially, today’s New Testament reading for Vigils in Benedictine Daily Prayer is 2 Corinthians 1:1-7, one of my favorite passages from Saint Paul, especially verse 7:

“Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so too also you share in our consolation.”

Have hope.

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- Albert Camus, The Plague, pp. 209-210. (Vintage International)

- Photo of Jerusalem from the church Dominus Flevit - The Lord Wept.

- Print of Kathe Kollwitz from a museum in Köln, Germany 

The hope of Christ the King

“¿Se emocionó?” Padre German asked me after today’s celebration of the feast of Christ the King in the parish. “Did you get emotional, while carrying the monstrance through the crowd after the Mass for Christ the King in Dolores, Copán.

I didn’t answer, but he was right. I was touched deeply.

A custom here is to have a procession of the Eucharist in a monstrance on some occasions, especially here in our parish after the Mass for the feast of Christ the King. During the procession, people approach and touch the monstrance, seeking a physical connection with Christ.

I must admit that I have often been a bit skeptical about this aspect of the popular piety here, but today change that for me.

Toward the end of Mass, Padre German asked me if I wanted to carry the monstrance. I said that he should go first and then I would relieve him.

He started the procession through the crowd and I followed. At one point a little kid stood on a chair and reached out and touched the monstrance. He then turned around and gave me a hug. Emerson reached out a second time and I caught it in a photo.

I followed the monstrance, at time trying to open up a space for people who wanted to approach the monstrance but, because of the crowd or because they were a little timid, had a hard time getting close.

Padre then passed the monstrance to me and I continued the procession.

As they pressed on the monstrance, I could feel a deep longing for God. I also felt that they were bringing their suffering to Christ and sought his comfort and courage. I saw little kids reaching out – sometimes without the urging of their parents. I saw one short older woman approaching and bent down so she could be close to the luna where the host is placed. I sensed a deep desire to connect and so brought it closer to her and she kissed it.

I was floored, at times close to tears. So many, suffering so much, seek to touch God.

It was humbling, seeing their faith – babies in arms, older women and men, kids, adolescents, and young people.

As I think back this evening, I see this as a call to deepen my diaconal presence among them. How can I share in their pain and suffering, as well as their joys? How can I help them recognize the presence of a loving and tender God among them? How can I accompany them, opening them (and me) to the dignity we have and our mission to show forth the reign of Christ in a world full of all too much pain, suffering, poverty, injustice?

As if to ratify this, as I sat at home at the computer, I heard it raining, but I looked out and the sun was shining to the south of the house. I went upstairs and looked east – to see a rainbow which started in a nearby valley.

There is hope – the Eucharist, the people suffering, and a rainbow make that clear.

Don't let them steal your hope.

As I prepared for my Christmas homily, these words came from the depths of my heart: “Don’t let them steal your hope.”

It is easy to get discouraged here – especially in light of the recent elections and the follow up.

Poverty still abounds here in Honduras. The poverty rate has increased by almost 3 % this past year to 68.8%, with extreme poverty at 44%.

Most people are worried, uncertain of the future.

Many people are confused, in the midst of credible reports of fraud and manipulation of the vote counting process.

Some people are angry, feeling that the election was stolen from their candidate.

Some of the opposition are disheartened with their candidate who, though still contesting the election, has virtually withdrawn, I believe because he sees how difficult it is when the US government has acknowledged Juan Orlando Hernández as the winner.

And so, some of us are saddened, angered, and ashamed at the behavior of the US government and its whitewash of the elections. The US government which acknowledges what I believe are manipulated elections results, with hardly a glance at the “irregularities identified by the OAS and the EU election observation missions.”

And so it is easy to feel hopeless.

But the situation is more serious than this. St. Paul (Ephesians 6:1) noted that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers of this world.

What are these? I would suggest they are the systems of power and domination, of wealth and greed, of consumerism and impoverishment; they include the war establishment and the empires that seek to dominate peoples and markets.

These powers deny the human condition – desiring control, power, absolute security, and domination, a sort of godly self-sufficiency (which may have been the temptation of Adam and Eve: “you shall be as gods.”)

But at Christmas we celebrate the birth of one who assumed the human condition. Jesus, God made flesh, assumed the poverty, the vulnerability, the

We are not saved by might and power, nor by arms or money.

And the message of the God made flesh is first revealed to people on the margins, the shepherds. The angels end their message with a great chorus

“Glory to God in the highest and peace to people of good will.”

And what is the glory of God?

According to Saint Irenaeus, “The glory of God is the human person fully alive.”

And, according to Blessed Oscar Romero, “The glory of God is the poor person fully alive.”

This gives me hope and courage for the continuing struggle to be present with the People of God and to make present in our lives and in our country signs of the Reign of God that is first seen in a dark stable in an occupied land.


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The photo of the nacimiento in the church in Concepción, Copán, Honduras, is from last year.

Dread and hope

This past week I was attending the Santa Rosa diocese annual pastoral assembly with more than 100 priests and lay people of the diocese to evaluate what we have done and to plan for the future.

Tuesday, at our evening prayer, we prayed the rosary. As I prayed, I felt a deep sense of dread about the US elections. I asked Mary, who under the title of the Immaculate Conception, is patroness of the US, to guide and care for the nation.

The feeling was not of fear or anger – but a sense that something was not right.

I had been hearing all day questions about the election and a concern from many – not all – that Trump would be elected. This was in part a reaction to his statements about deporting undocumented migrants.

But my dread was not centered on a possible Trump victory. I had a sense that whoever won, the result might not necessarily be good for the poor of the world. And so I also prayed that God would have mercy on the US.

When I woke up in the middle of the night I checked the results on the internet and found that Trump had won the electoral vote. I did not feel angry or indignant but I felt sad more than anything else. (To be clear, I would not have necessarily felt happy if Hilary had won.)

When I got up and sat down to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, I found myself comforted by the last verses of Psalm 82.

Arise, O God, judge the earth
for you rule the nations.

God is the ruler of the world, no matter who is president of the United States. May God’s Reign rule. May that Reign inspire each of us to seek to make a world open to the poor, to the Other, to all those marginalized – in our own lives and in our communities.

I was soon to see a sign of that Reign.

Today, Saturday, I went to three zones to talk to their zonal councils about some up-coming events in the parish.

At the first, I saw a young man from the village of Debajiados. I asked him about the widow of Juan Ángel López who died last September, leaving her with four kids between five months and eight years old. The smallest child is in the hospital, but the community has gathered around the family to help. The landowner is arranging the papers for the land where the house of the widow is and there may even be the gift of some land for them. Such generosity in one of the poorest villages in the parish.

But then he told me something that gives me hope. The community has decided to set up a separate fund to be available in cases of emergency. They are asking everyone who goes out to harvest coffee to give one lempira each day they work.

You have to realize that the coffee harvest is almost the only source of cash income for many people in our parish and so this is significant. Right now the coffee harvesters get 30 lempiras (about $1.36) for every five-gallon bucket picked. Usually people can fill between 3 and 5 buckets a day.

This may not seem to be much but it so impressed me that I recommended it to the three zonal councils I visited. (I couldn’t find the fourth one in time to get there.)

What impressed me is that this initiative comes from a very poor community. This sign of the presence of God’s Kingdom give me hope.

On the urging of our pastor I had begun talking with some communion ministers and the zonal coordinators of social ministry about responding to widows and others in need. We will also, God willing try to set up a fund, administered by members of the parish, to help respond to emergencies in a way that doesn’t create dependency but which tries to help the efforts of the persons affected and their communities to respond to basic needs, usually related to health.

But something has started without me, by the pure grace of God touching the hearts of the poor so that they can respond to each other.

I am filled with a quiet hope.

In the darkness, lights

Preparing to celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi tomorrow, I spent most of the day in domestic pursuits – washing clothes, some leaning around the house, dealing with trash, and baking bread.

Tomorrow I plan on going to Mass in the morning in Dolores, Copán. After Mass, I’ll head to Gracias to spend the evening with the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Family (the Dubuque Franciscans) – sharing the feast of St. Francis with a part of my Franciscan family. One of the loaves of bread is for our meal together.

There has been much darkness here, as I noted in my previous post. But there are also many lights.

On the day of my ordination the rector of the country’s major seminary, located in Tegucigalpa, invited me to come and speak with the seminarians about my vocational discernment and the diaconate.

On Tuesday, September 20, I arrived at the seminary, after spending the night before in Gracias with the sisters. I preached at the evening Mass and then gave a talk at 8 pm. I have posted it in Spanish here but I haven’t yet translated it into English! I was also asked to preach at the morning Mass for those studying philosophy. I stuck to the readings and didn’t philosophize!

I left early which was good since I had a flat tire way up in the mountains of Intibucá – about 17 kilometers from the nearest town with a llantera, a tire repair garage. But, before the flat, I had the chance to see the rice fields near Jesús de Otoro, incredibly green. I also stopped just outside of the town of Intibucá to buy two pounds of strawberries! 

Friday, October 23, to Sunday, October 25, I spent in San Pedro Sula at a workshop on analysis of reality, sponsored by the Social Ministry of the northern and western dioceses. Padre Ismael Moreno, SJ, popularly known as Padre Melo, led the workshop. I need to review my notes, especially his analysis of the last fifty years on Latin America.

 

Padre Melo

There were five others from the dioceses of Santa Rosa and it was a delight to talk with them during the workshop. I gave a ride to the workshop to Rigo who is the Social Ministry coordinator in his village and in the diocese. On the ride, he shared a bit of his story. What impressed me is how he had little formal education but finished three grades through an alternative program.

The representatives of the diocese of Sant aRosa de Copán

I also met a young man whom I had met before here in the parish of Dulce Nombre. Walter is now living in the diocese of Trujillo on the northeast coast, doing a lot of youth work on the parish and diocesan level. He’s from a difficult and conflictive area here in the department of Copán. He returned with me to see his grandmother and some other relatives. He too impressed me. He only studied in grade school but he reads a lot and I found him very thoughtful.

There are good people who do marvelous things despite limitations. They reaffirm my long held belief that formal education is not the real standard for determining the effectiveness and worth of so many people here (and throughout the world.)

Last Thursday I had a delightful workshop with catechists in El Zapote del Santa Rosa. They had asked me to help them think through the Eucharist. I pulled together a few thoughts but also incorporated some insights from Bishop Robert Barron’s Eucharist, a work from 2008 which I found very helpful – personally and for my ministry.

Friday and Saturday we had our second training for members of the parish who will go on mission to other villages from October 9 to 16. Padre German has told them to go without money and without their cellphone. They will depend on the people in the village where they will go.  It sounds like Jesus sending out the disciples!

Seventy-three came and agreed to go on mission. Two of the sisters, Oblatas al Divino Amor, Padre German, and I led the workshop. I need to write some more on what we are doing. But it was impressive to find so many willing to spend a whole week in mission. I was really impressed by one young man whose mother died last week. He is active as a catechist and with the youth group in his village and is willing to take the risk of going on mission – even as he mourns his mother who endured a struggle with cancer before her death.

Sunday, I had a meeting with the youth leaders. There were only six of us, but it was a very fruitful meeting. Two of the groups wanted to plan events for the youth of the parish – one at the end of October, another in November. They finally agreed to a date for one at the end of this month, October 30, in Delicias, Concepción. Since this falls within the week of my visit to Ames, Iowa, I won’t be there, but I trust these young people who took the initiative. Padre German will be able to come in the afternoon for a Mass. I wish I could be there.

These are some of the signs of hope here in Honduras. There are more which I hope I can share in the coming weeks and months.

And the heliconia is blooming!