Going where you don't expect

Saint Anthony found himself in places he never dreamed of. A Portuguese Augustinian, he joined the Franciscans and found himself in Morocco. But he got sick and they sent him back to Portugal, but the ship didn’t make it there. Anthony arrived in Italy just in time to join the Franciscan friars at a chapter in Assisi, meeting Saint Francis. He was sent to a remote friary. But one day he was asked to preach at an ordination and astounded the Dominicans and Franciscans present. He was then sent to preach. He ended up dying in Padua.

Eleven years ago, on June 13, 2007, the feast of Saint Anthony, I found myself in Honduras, beginning my missionary adventure. Met at the airport by my friend, a Dubuque Franciscan sister, Nancy Meyerhofer, we went to Santa Rosa de Copán where I ended up staying for a few weeks in the bishop’s large residence.

I never expected to be a lay missionary in Honduras.

I never expected that I’d be ordained the diocese’s first permanent deacon on July 14, 2016, the feast of Saint Bonaventure.

I never expected to be living in the countryside.

I did come here not expecting to return to the United States. When people asked me how long I would be in Honduras, I always answered, “until God calls me somewhere else” – and I consider dying here one way of being called somewhere else.

I do not regret bring here. It has brought me great joy, even though it has not always been easy. Accompanying the poor who suffer from injustice and impoverishment is not easy.

But I feel that I have been able to see the blessing of God in all that is here. Even in the midst of poverty and injustice, in the face of violence and civil strife,, I have found the presence of God  — at the side of people who are dying with a peace-filled faith I do not have, at the celebrations of baptisms, confirmations, first communions, and marriages, and even at funerals, at the joys of receiving small gifts of fruit from the poor.

God is good.

Yesterday, I came across this quote of Saint Anthony which helps me see more clearly what I am called to be here in Honduras:

“The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant.”

May I always listen to the poor and learn from them. 

Updates: birthday, Corpus Christi, prison

As some of you may have noticed, I’m writing less on my blogs this year. Part may be due to the noonday devil (sloth), part may be due to busyness, and in part I may not want to burden readers with lots of little details.

By the way, sloth and busyness are not incompatible. But that’s an extended theological discussion.

Last Friday was my birthday. I got lots of greetings through Facebook, Messenger, e-mail, phone calls, and hugs. Two celebrations were especially moving.

I’ve been trying to find a time to invite the Dubuque Franciscan here to my house for a meal and time to share. Finally, we arranged a meal on May 31, the day before my birthday and a few days before the birthday of Erika, the Honduran member of their congregation.

It was a delightful visit – conversation and food galore. I made lentil soup (one of my specialties), baked whole wheat bread and cornbread, and made a bean salad. Nancy brought one of her incredible chocolate desserts. It was a great time.

After the meal, I left to get to Delicias, Concepción, to expose the Eucharist to initiate their Forty Hours of adoration.

My birthday was filled. In the morning I went to Dulce Nombre to speak with Padre German. Since it was the First Friday, a devotion to the Sacred heart which is very strong in the parish, there was Mass, where I served as a deacon and preached. During the prayer of the faithful, Padre German made a moving prayer for my parents, on my birthday. Then, at the end of Mass, there was the traditional birthday blessing and drenching with water.

In the afternoon I went to Oromilaca for the exposition of the Eucharist for their Forty Hours which began at 5 pm. I hurried back to Plan Grande where we initiated Forty Hours at 7 pm.

Saturday, I got up early to get to Delicias for a 6:30 am ending of the Forty Hours there with a Celebration of the Word with Communion. Before I left I stopped in at the church in Plan Grande to see four young people there for adoration.

I got to Delicias late, because I was confused (too little sleep?) and started out to Oromilaca. I got there at 6:45 am.

I had to hurry back to Dulce Nombre for a 9:00 am interview with a young couple getting married in a few months.

In the afternoon I ended up going to El Zapote to see the coffee association. I brought the device to measure humidity in coffee that I had gotten for them and we also talked about the upcoming shipment to Ames. I also stopped by the church where they too were celebrating the Forty Hours devotion.

Sunday, I went to Oromilaca for a 9:00 am Procession and Celebration of the Word with Communion. The church was filled and I carried the Eucharist in procession to two nearby altars.

At the second altar, as we started our prayer, kneeling in the road, I heard some people singing a hymn that I’ve often heard at Eucharistic adoration, “Dios está aquí” – “God is here.” I asked where the singing was coming from. From a group of evangelicals, I was told. I then invited the community gathered in front of the Eucharist to sing the same hymn. This suggestion probably confounded not only the evangelicals (when they heard the Catholics singing the same hymn) but also the Catholics, who are not accustomed to much openness to evangelicals.

After the Celebration, in which many received Communion, I left Oromilaca for Plan Grande, where we ended Forty Hours at 11 am.

Padre German came for Mass and procession in Plan Grande late in the afternoon. We started the procession but had to end it quickly because of a downpour. Mass proceeded, with the noise of the torrential rains on the tin roof of the church. There were sixteen first communicants – 14 children and three young people. A meal followed for those involved.

Monday, I stopped at the church and then went to Santa Rosa for a  few errands.

Tuesday, the parish visited the Santa Rosa prison. Thirty of us went to the prison. A group of women had started at 1:00 am to cook a meal – rice, beans, chicken and veggies – for the prisoners. And so we had to fit thirty people, 16 large water jugs of juice, and four large pans of food in three pickups! We got to the prison and after a number of delays – bureaucracy at its finest – we got in and served lunch. We ended up feeding about 840 male prisoners and the 39 women there.

The kitchen and the food distribution were well-staffed and so I went around and talked with people. Surprisingly, when I entered the prison I was immediately met by someone from one of the villages in the parish who is imprisoned there. Like many others, he has not yet been brought to trial and he’s been there probably close to a year!

I ended up talking with a number of people, including a few young men – one of them named Jesús. Now I can say that I met Jesus in prison. They talked about the conditions; because of overcrowding some men sleep on the floor, without mattresses.

After lunch, we had Mass which was well attended. My guess is over fifty of those incarcerated participated with another twenty or thirty looking on from a distance. After Communion was distributed to the men, I went and took Communion to the women prisoners who wanted to receive Communion.

We left shortly after in the midst of a major rainstorm and got back to Dulce Nombre about 3:30 pm.

Today, I had planned to go visit the sick in San Agustín, but speaking with the Communion minister there, she suggested that tomorrow would be better. So tomorrow I’m off to visit the sick in the morning and then go with Padre German to Granadillal for their feast day Mass in the afternoon. (It’s the feast of the Sacred Heart.)

                                                              

Saturday I have another pre-marriage interview as well as meeting with the Extraordinary ministers of Communion. Next Monday, there’s a meeting with the youth leaders in the parish.

On June 13, next Wednesday, we celebrate Saint Anthony of Padua, who is the patron of more than four communities in the parish. Padre German will have a load of Masses and I’ll accompany him for at least one of them, because I want to celebrate. June 13 this year is the anniversary of my arrival here in the diocese in 2007 – eleven years.

God is good.

Celebrating Sister Water

May 30 is Arbor Day here in Honduras and many schools have their students plant trees. But today I went to the community of San Isidro La Cueva to bless their water source and to pray with them.

Some people had come to plant trees. Other came to help do some cleaning out the forest around the water source. But our reason for gathering was to bless the water source.

The community had asked our pastor to come but he was going to the nearby community of Agua Buena to pray at the inauguration of their water project. Yes, Agua Buena, Good Water, has not had a good water source until yesterday!

I met Luciano, the president of the Water Board (Junta de Agua) at the church and we walked to the watershed where the spring is. 

The watershed is four manzanas, almost 7 acres and the spring serves the eighty or so households in the village. This year they had sufficient water during the dry season in contrast to last year.

Before we had a small celebration, they took me up to the spring. As we entered the forest, it was significantly cooler, full of vegetation. It was a bit slippery and people gave me a hand trying to negotiate the path.

Halfway up the hill there was a pool that collected the water from the rock that is the source of water. We gathered at the pool and I talked for a while with the people there.

A few people took the opportunity to drink from the source, using a “cup” made by folding a large leaf!

I concluded our time there with a short blessing of the water source. I also commended them for their care of the source and the need to continue caring so that the grandchildren of the children around us could enjoy it.

We then went down to a lower pool that gathers the water from above.

Finally, we gathered below, just outside the forested watershed and prayed.

I had found a few prayers that I used, including this one from Franciscans International.

Creator God, whose Spirit moved over the face of the waters, who gathers the seas into their places and directs the courses of the rivers, who sends rain upon the earth that it should bring forth life: we praise you for the gift of water. Create in us such a sense of wonder and delight in this and all your gifts, that we might receive them with gratitude, care for them with love, and generously share them with all your creatures, to the honor and glory of your holy name.

 Then we prayed parts of psalm 65: 10-14:

You visit the earth and water it… God’s stream is filled with water; you supply their grain. You prepare the earth: you water its plowed furrows, and break up the clods. With the rains you soften the earth, blessing its plants…. The meadows of the desert turn green; the hills are robed with joy.

I also shared a legend I had recently read about Saint Isidore, the patron of this community. The saint was with the owner of the land he worked one hot summer day. Don Ivan de Vargas noted that he was thirsty. Saint Isidore knelt down, put his staff in the ground, and said, “When God wants it, here there will be water.”  Fresh water bubbled up and they drank.

I then spoke briefly about how impressed I was with the care they are giving for their water source. I also urged them to continue their care for God’s gift of water and to develop a sense of awe before this gift.

Several men also shared their concern for the water and their desire to have a larger celebration next year. We walked down the hill for a small snack.

I left filled with a deep joy, an appreciation of the labor of this community, and deep gratitude to God and to the people that I had a chance to celebrate with them the gift of water.