42 baptisms at one Mass

Today I was supposed to facilitate the last of the second series of trainings for catechists. in the village of Agua Buena, Concepción. For some strange reason the message never got out and only thee people showed up.

But as I passed through San Isidro La Cueva I saw Padre German and a crowd gathering for Mass.  One of the catechists from there told me there were 42 baptisms.

This is a result of the new process for baptism of children under seven. There are five pre-baptism sessions and a retreat. This enabled many who wanted to have their children baptized but for various reasons hadn’t. Some were single mothers, some were parents not yet married in the church, others hadn’t been in base communities (which was a pre-requisite until Padre German arrived.) The fruits of the change in policy and the introduction of new materials are evident - probably close to one thousand baptisms of children under seven in the next few months and some parents asking about marriage.

I wanted to see what was happening in Sna Isidro. Since there was no training session I decided to stay for the Mass – which lasted almost three hours, with forty-two children under 7 being baptized.

It was a delightful Mass - even though Padre German spoke too long.

Here are some photos:

The provisional chapel in San Isidro La Cueva

Padre German blessing Erasmo and Delmin, the catechists

Signing with the cross

Renouncing Satan

Baptism

Father, what are you going to do to me?

A willing baptism of an infant

Share the light of Christ.

Sharing the light of Christ

More photos can be found in my San Isidro set on Flickr here.

Pray and fast for peace 2: putting lives on line

In 1965 I had the chance to participate in a program on inter-racial relations run by Friendship House on the south side of Chicago. It was a very mind opening experience – seeing urban poverty and racism up close.

I especially remember a meeting we had with Bernard Lafayette, a civil rights activist and proponent of nonviolence who had put his life on the line many times. . He spoke about the civil rights struggle, including talking about the use of active nonviolence. I was impressed.

At one point he started talking about the Viet Nam War. This was years before the major mobilizations of 1968, 1969, and 1970. The war was hardly an issue in my mind and in the mind of most people in the US.

I remember that he specifically suggested that religious leaders, including the Pope, should go to Viet Nam, putting their lives on the line to stop the war. That struck my imagination, Sadly nothing like this happened, though several religious leaders did go to Hani and lived for a few days under US bombs. The Viet Nam war lasted another ten years.

I wonder what would happen if Pope Francis something like that now.

The Grand Mufti of Damascus, Ahmad Badreddin Hassou, wants to come to Rome to pray with Pope Francis this Saturday.

What would happen if Pope Francis decided to go to Damascus.

If he did, Pope Francis would be following in the footsteps of his namesake Saint Francis of Assisi.

In 1219 in the midst of a Crusade, Francis went to Damietta in Egypt where the Crusaders were encamped. With another friar he walked through the lines and sought to visit the Sultan of Egypt, Malek-al-Kamil. For some reason, the guard let them through and they spent some time speaking with the Sultan. The meeting was amicable. The sultan offered Francis many precious gifts, but Francis would only accept an ivory horn.

Paul Moses discusses this story in depth in The Saint and the Sultan: the Crusades, Islam and Francis of Assisi's Mission of Peace. I read the book several years ago and have lent it to friends. It might be good reading for these days - a reminder of the possibilities of nonviolent love.

This bold action of St. Francis did not end the war. The Crusades continued their bloody course.

But Sultan al-Kamil subsequently treated Christians with compassion. When he took over the city of Damietta in 1221 after it surrendered, he spared the lives of the Christians and treated them with respect.

But just imagine – Pope Francis, the Grand Mufti of Damascus, the Archbishop of Canterbury, religious leaders from throughout the world, praying in Damascus and other cities of Syria. What a witness of a loving God, what power.

In the meantime, let’s all pray and fast this Saturday for peace in Syria – and throughout the world.

It’s a start.

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After I had started writing this entry I came across this article by Tobias Winright, "The Grace of Doing Something in Syria."

Undermining class

Honduras is very much a classist society. People are often defined by their place, their fortunes, and their school degrees. There is all too much "deference to authority" for my taste.

How often someone has been introduced to me as “Profe Raúl” – professor or school teacher.

People refer to lawyers as “Abogado Luis,” to engineers as “Ingeniero Carlos,” to other university graduates as “Licenciada María.” They even use the titles when talking between themselves. 

When I was assisting in campus ministry at the Catholic University here in Santa Rosa, a professor I got to know fairly well usually called me “Juan.” But after he learned I had a doctorate, he called me “Doctor Juan.” I quickly told him to call me by my name – and he still does.

I usually introduce myself as Juancito, because that’s what the kids called me in 1992 when I was volunteering in the parish of Suchitoto. El Salvador. They actually called me “Hermano Juancito” – Brother Jack – probably since I was working with the parish.

Here some people do call me Don Juancito, probably because of my grey hair. “Don” usually being a mark of respect for elders.

But I usually insist on Juancito.

But it is not only titles that enforce classism. The people in the countryside – the campesinos – are looked down upon and treated as inferior.

The most obvious example is what I heard the first year here. The president of the National  Congress referred to people from this region who were opposing the mining law with a very derogatory phrase – “gente del monte.”  Perhaps the closest idiomatic translation would be “hill-billies.” But it’s even worse. They are “people of the weeds.”

That’s what people face here.

Yesterday I facilitated a training session with catechists in one of the zones of the parish. In the introductions I have been asking the people to share their name, their village, and an animal – preferably one which had the same initial sound as their name.

In a previous workshop I had introduced myself as Juancito Jaugar – John Jaguar. But thinking about this a few days ago I realized there is another animal with the  Spanish “j” sound – jolote. Jolote is one of the words used here for turkeys – as well as  pavo, chumpipe. But  jolote  has different overtones, very much like the way we might call someone “You turkey.”

And so I was Jack the turkey.

The participants laughed heartily when I began the presentations this way. They proceeded to introduce themselves with an animal – sometimes reluctantly, sometimes with zest.

But I’m the turkey – and proud of it!

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This blog entry was inspired by an entry, "A Humble Proposal," by David Swatz, in "The Anxious Bench, which can be found here.

Pray and fast for peace 1: Do not kill.

The harvest of justice is sown in peace

for those who work for peace.

James 3: 18

As Pope Francis calls for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria nad throughout the world, I would like to offer the words of a hymn that I wish were more widely known and sung.

“¡No matarás!” is a hymn from El Salvador, inspired by the words of the martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero, which offers a vision of peace, based on justice, and recognizes that peace demands justice.

Blessed are the peacemakers– but “cursed” are those who kill.

Here’s my loose translation, followed by the Spanish.

Thou shalt not kill!

Do not kill!
For God and for the people,
I order you:
Do not kill. 

1. Cursed it the person who orders
people to be killed.
God is the God of life
and not of death. 

2. Cursed is the person who
denies the workers their rights.
The human is the new people
who will make the earth new. 

3. Cursed is the person
who joins plantation with plantation.
The harvest is for everyone:
let justice be done. 

 4. Cursed is the person
who makes laws and decrees
which oppress the humble
and defend the rich. 

 5. Blessed us the person who struggles
tirelessly for life,
to put death to death
and bring light to the nation.

¡NO MATARÁS!

  No matarás
  No matarás
  Por Dios, por el pueblo:
  te ordeno: 

  no matarás.

1. Maldito el hombre que ordena

    matar a los pobres.

    Dios es un Dios de la vida

    y no de la muerte.

2. Maldito el hombre que niega
    al obrero sus derechos.

    El hombre es el pueblo nuevo
    que hará nueva la tierra.

3. Maldito el hombre que junta
    hacienda con hacienda.

    Para todos la cosecha,

    hágase justicia.

4. Maldito el hombre que hace

    leyes y decretos

    que oprime al humilde

    y al rico lo defienden.

5. Bendito el hombre que lucha

    incansable por la vida

    para dar muerte a la muerte    y luz a la patria.

A "needed" break

Despite the continuing violence here in Honduras and the threat of attacks on Syria, this blog is personal and “chatty.”

Saturday I decided to visit three of the sites for Maestro en Casa classes. Maestro en Casa is a distance learning program that helps students study high school and junior high by listening to the radio, doing work in their homes, and coming to a few hours of classes on the weekends.

In the parish of Dulce Nombre there are seven centers, with several hundred students. St. Thomas Aquinas church in Ames, Dulce Nombre’s sister parish, is providing partial scholarships for 105 students this year.

I visited the most remote centers – in El Zapote de Santa Rosa, Quebraditas, y Bañaderos, just to see what is happening, to take a few photos, and to talk to the directors about future scholarships. It was great to see the students. Although the level of teaching may not be the best, they are at the very least getting a chance to go to middle school and high school, which is otherwise difficult and expensive. In the whole parish of Dulce Nombre there is only one high school and only four middle schools.

I spoke to the students in several classes, mostly trying to motivate them to continue their studies.

Here are a few photos:

Ninth grade English class in El Zapote

Seventh Grade English Class in Quebraditas

Seventh grade Spanish class in Bañaderos

The furthest village, Bañaderos, is only about 10 minutes from the highway to Copán Ruinas.

So I had decided to take a break and go to the town of Copán Ruinas. I contacted two Canadian volunteers whose blogs I read and scheduled a time to meet together for dinner.

All went well. I got to Copán Ruinas early in the afternoon and went to a new archeological site – Rastrofán – just outside of town. It’s in a beautiful site, and there is one fantastic sculpture.

Yet except for that sculpture and a few semi-intact buildings, it’s just piles of stones. (Sorry to insult any of my archeology or anthropology friends.

A pile of stones

I had a great talk at dinner. I got to Mass in the morning and headed back.

I took the back road and got to Santa Rosa in about two hours.

A good change of pace.

I must have needed it because I took a two hour siesta soon after getting to the house.

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The blogs of the Canadians I met are Jody Paterson's here and Paul Willcocks here.