Stealing the Baby Jesus

I just came across two reports of the capture of the baby Jesus figure from Nativity scenes. 

A topless Ukrainian feminist stole the infant from the Vatican Christmas crib in St. Peter’s square but didn’t get far. A report and video are here. 

It also appears that a woman stole the infant Jesus from the manger outside Resurrection Church in Dubuque.

But at least in one parish here in Honduras stealing the baby Jesus is an annual event.

I don’t know the whole story, but here are snippets I've heard.

In Gracias, Lempira, the baby Jesus is often kidnapped soon after Christmas and sometimes held for ransom.

The kidnappers send regular messages from the Baby Jesus telling the church – or the owners of the manger scene – that He is doing well and is well-treated.

Sometimes the people are apprehended and a trial is held – complete with prosecuting and defense attorneys.

Sometimes the kidnappers, in defense, note that Jesus was left abandoned in the manger scene and they wanted to treat him better.

If anyone has heard about this tradition in other parts of Honduras or the world, please let me know. I’d love to pass the word around and let people know that we needn’t worry if the statue of the infant Jesus is stolen – or kidnapped.

Jesus is still here  and will return, if you can't see Him.

Nacimiento in Gracias - before the Christmas Eve Mass

First week in Plan Grande

I’ve now been living in a new house in Plan Grande  - if you don’t count the two days I spent over Christmas with the Dubuque Franciscan Sisters in nearby Gracias, Lempira.

It’s been a good experience. I find I’m a lot more centered than I was in Santa Rosa. The view helps; the quiet is amazing; my prayer/study room is comfortable and welcoming.

I’m reading more, praying a bit more, and using the internet less. (I thought I had no access until the other night. Now I have access, even though it’s slow.)

I’ve washed clothes by hand and hung them out to dry - several times. 

I've used the kitchen - making soup and I even baked cinnamon rolls for Christmas with the sisters (and shared a few with a neighbor before I left for Gracias.)

But the real joy has been to be here with the people.

I know that I am not living as they live. – I’m still a middle class gringo in Honduras.

But I’m finding myself a bit connected with people. 

I went to three of the Posadas – the pre-Christmas re-enactments of Mary and Joseph seeking lodging (posada) in Bethlehem.  I went to Sunday Mass here last week and to the Sunday celebration this morning.

I went to the local church council meeting Saturday night and afterwards invited the members to see the house.

I have kids – and adults – stopping by to see the crazy gringo and his house.

I hope to have curtains later this week as well as a living room sofa.

But I’ll soon have everything out of the house I rented in Santa Rosa and will hand over the keys to the owner. Then, this will really be the place where I am.

The access to other parts of the parish is much easier than when I lived in Santa Rosa. Friday I went to a meeting of a small coffee cooperative in formation – only 15 minutes away by car. Today I’ll go out to Mass in the same village.

All this is a blessing. I look forward to more involvement in the life of the parish, God willing.

Christmas 2014 letter

A blessed Advent and Christmas

Christmas crib (Nacimiento) in Plan Grande

This has been a year of many transitions.

                                                                

Since last year I have been working more in the parish of Dulce Nombre de María – and loving it. Pastoral work in the countryside is what I feel called to.

                                                                

Padre German giving me more responsibility and I’ve continued training catechists and preparing materials. I’ve also assisted in the training of delegates of the Word and base communities. There is more work next year; Padre has asked me to work with delegates of the Word (who lead Sunday celebrations in their villages) and youth leaders, as well as my continuing work with catechists.

                                                                

To do this, I am withdrawing from work with the diocesan office of Caritas; I believe I can do more concentrating on ministry in the parish

                                                                

I’ve also decided to move out of Santa Rosa de Copán. It’s comfortable living here – with easy access to restaurants and grocery stores. But I’ve been going out to the parish at least three days a week – which means more than an hour of driving each day.

I’ve slept in the house in Plan Grande since Friday, December 19. I’ve been to two Posadas as well as Mass on Sunday in the village church. It’s already beginning to feel like home.

                                                                

So decided to move out to the countryside and chose Plan Grande, a good community which I’ve often visited. With the permission of the village church council I’m living there in a house I’ve had built – which will belong to the church after I leave or die (whichever comes first).  This enables me to be closer to the people and to visit the distant villages more easily. Plan Grande is almost in the center of the parish with almost all the towns and villages less than 45 minutes away.

                                                                

I am very glad to move out there later this week and begin a new phase of my ministry.

                                                                

This year I made two trips to the US – one in June for the ordination of two young men I knew when they were students at Iowa State; the other to Ames in later October to connect once more with St. Thomas Aquinas.

                                                                

I sadly didn’t get a chance to get to the East Coast to visit friends and relatives; I haven’t been there for almost two years. If all goes well, I hope to visit after Easter.

                                                                

I ask you to continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Visitors are welcome; just let me know in time. There are two guest rooms in the house in Plan Grande.

                                                                 

Almost moved in

The year is winding down.

I am spending my last hours in the diocesan Caritas office, helping with evaluations and signing checks.

But I am mostly transporting things to the new house in Plan Grande.

Yesterday I went out in the afternoon with a load. I wanted to take advantage of the sunny weather.

But the roads in the countryside were still a mess, including slippery muddy areas and potholes which were about a foot deep (and muddy). Thank God (and some engineer) for four wheel drive. The municipalities were trying to fill in some of the holes with crushed rock. Who knows how long before they have to do it again.

I encountered more trucks than usual on the road, since it’s coffee harvesting season and many trucks are transporting coffee. One large truck was stopped with its load of coffee sacks precariously held onto the flat bed with rope. I passed with great trepidation.

The house is almost completely finished and I am moving things there, a pickup load a day. Later this week I’ll hire a few guys from Plan Grande to help me transport some bigger items.

I hope to be living there by Friday or Saturday. That way I’ll be able to get to Sunday Mass in the village (which they have once a month) and begin planning more for next year.

I will spend Christmas with the Dubuque Franciscan sisters in Gracias, Lempira – continuing a tradition I began in 2007.

The day after Christmas I will go to the meeting of the small coffee producers’ cooperative in El Zapote de Santa Rosa.

But I’ll probably spend much of my time preparing materials for next year – especially for catechists and the base communities of young people.

In the meantime, I'll be setting up the house - awaiting visitors.

Negligence corrected

I’ve been negligent for the past two weeks.  But then it has been Advent and I’m waiting.

The coffee season has begun in earnest. That means there’s not a lot of pastoral work for me. Many people in the Dulce Nombre parish are out harvesting coffee – and getting a fairly decent pay for the coffee picked. But unless someone is a master picker, most gain less than $10 a day.

It’s been cold and rainy and so that makes it even worse for them. But it’s almost the only source of cash for the people in this area.

The rain has also made the roads muddy and, at times, treacherous. Yesterday I went with Padre German and a visitor to El Bálsamo – a really distant village I first visited in June 2007, a few weeks after getting here. It was my first time back.

We could reach the village in Father’s pickup and so we dropped the car in a nearby village and walked the 4 kilometers to El Bálsamo – through deep mud! It was a good visit, even though my shoes and pants were covered with mud. It was also good exercise.

We did have a two day evaluation and planning meeting for the parish on December 5 and 6.

The achievements of the year are rather amazing:

This year there were about 80 received into the church in the catechumenate, hundreds of baptisms of infants and children, and more than 500 confirmations.

More than 100 catechists took part in workshops, as well as more than 100 delegates of the Word (who lead Sunday celebrations in their villages). There were also training sessions for leaders of base communities. Assistance from St. Thomas helped meet the costs of these workshops.

More than 176 young people received partial scholarships for the Maestro en Casa alternative education program for study beyond grammar school.

There are now more than 100 preparing for baptism at the Eater Vigil plus more than 500 kids between 7 and 13 preparing for baptism.

A special gift enabled Padre German Navarro the possibility of make some improvements in the parish infrastructure.

A Dulce Nombre parishioner donated 1.68 acres of coffee land to the parish; a gift from St. Thomas enabled the parish to buy an adjoining other 1.68 acres. In about two years the yield from these fields will help the parish become a little self-sustaining.

The coming year will continue to be full.

There will be four training sessions for catechists, a two day training session for delegates of the word (who lead the Sunday celebrations of the Word in their villages), a two day workshop for those in liturgical ministry, base community leaders will have workshops of Catholic Social Teaching and Social ministry, new Communion ministers will be selected and go through a training process, base communities of youths will be formed and their leaders trained.

And Padre German will continue to visit the 50 some villages and towns about every two months – in rain, mud, dust, mud, heat, mud, and floods.

With the assistance of St. Thomas Aquinas in Ames, for the third year there will be scholarships for students in the alternative education program called Maestro en Casa. There is also the chance that a small coop of small coffee farmers will be able to send high quality coffee to Ames and a few other places. More on that later.

I will continue to be involved in the parish and in formation and other projects. Thanks be to God (and my retirement savings) I will be living in the countryside in the village of Plan Grande in a house which I had constructed.

The house is larger than I thought – but, since it will go to the church when I die or leave (whichever comes first), it should be an asset to the parish.

I’m also offering it to some friends here (as well as friends from abroad) as a place of retreat. There are two guest rooms which I hope to see filled at last once a month.

The move to the countryside will put me in the middle of the parish and so better able to serve. It will also cut down driving time from Santa Rosa (a half hour each way) and cut out rent.

It is a new phase for my ministry and though I have a few regrets – I wont’ be able to get to Weekend’s Pizza so easily – I feel that it is another step on the road to better serve God and the poor here.