Nice Views in Bolivia

On Friday I just came back from a short trip to La Paz with 2 of our short term volunteers. We wanted to visit Tiahuanaco, one of the best sites in Bolvia for ruins and archaeology. We then spent a few days in Copacabana, a colonial city right on Lake Titicacca, which is part of the border between Bolviia and Peru. We spent a day on the Isla del Sol, which is a beautiful island in the middle of the lake. As well as the important part it plays in Andean spiritual history it also some of the best natural beauty that I have experienced here. Hiking around the island was a challenge but also very beautiful. I found at 49 it is hard to keep up with a 19 and 20 year old when one is a tri-athelete and the other a distance runner. Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few weeks when I get up for vacation. please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Off To La Paz

Tonight I am off to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, with 2 of our volunteers, Holly and Ryan. We take the overnight bus to La Paz (7 hours) then go directly to Tiahuacu to see some ancient Amayra ruins then return to La Paz for the night. On Tuesday we will go to the colonial city of Copacabana and then onto the Isla del Sol in Lake Titicacca for a day. We will return to Cochabamba by overnight bus arriving home on Friday morning. I am looking forward to seeing another part of Bolivia and getting away for a few days as well.

The Jesuit Missions

Last weekend a group of 14, some short term volunteers and some language school students went to the Jesuit Missions outside of Santa Cruz. Those who are familiar with the movie "The Mission" are familair with the story of the work of the Jesuits in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although the film is set in Paraguay there is a similar history with the work of the Jesuits here in Bolvia. I was very interested in the history of the missions as well as the Baroque Music which was part of the training of the Jesuits for the Chiquito people. After arriving in Santa Cruz we traveled 5 hours to the first mission of San Xavier and then traveled onto the second mission of Conception. There are both fine examples of the work of the Jesuits and both were restored in the mid 1980's by the artisan Hans Roth. He not only restored the churches but trained many of the local people as artisans who still work in wood up to today. The local Vicaria still has a school that trains about 150 local men a year in the crafts/ We had a very good visit and some of the Jesuit students who were with us continued on to visit 3 other missions over the next few days. It was a good experience and a chance to grow in my understanding of the Jesuit reductions and their place in the Mission history of Bolivia. This coming week I will be taking a few of ourt short term volunteers up to La Paz to explore that area of the country for a few days. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. i am looking forward to coming back to New York and New Jersey the last 2 weeks of August and catching up with as many people as possible.

Continuing On With The Mission

Greetings to all on this 4th of July weekend. The celebration here is not the same as in the States but I will be going away for the weekend. A group of students from the Language School, some of the short term volunteers and myself will be visiting the Jesuit Missions this weekend. Those who have seen the film "The Mission" will have a sense of the visit. The film is set in Paraguay but similar missions were set at the same time in Bolivia and other countries. Several of the missions in Bolivia, near Santa Cruz, were restored in the 1980's and have become a place of pilgrimmage for many who want to have a sense of the history of the missions here in Bolivia. we leave Saturday morning and return on Monday night.
The mission continues to go well here. With the arrival of several short term volunteers here there has been a change of focus in my ministry and time here. Much more time in taken up in working with the volunteers and providing hospitality for our many guests. My culinary skills are growing by leaps and bounds. It is good to be able to show others what we do here and allows me to appreciate all that is going on here.
I had a meeting last night with the leaders of the barrio association of La Costanera, one of the barrios where I serve. We are trying to see what the needs of the various barrios are and how the chapel can serve them. I was very impressed by the 2 priorities that they have: the formation of a Mother's Club to work with the women of the area and also the need to provide health care for their children. The area we are working in now has about 1,000 people and will grown to about 2,000 over the next few years as the barrios continue to grow with the internal migration in the area. It looks as though we need to build a center of some sort for the barrios which is the one thing I did not want to do in my time here. However, we try to meet the needs that we encounter every day.
Please continue to keep us in prayer as we try to serve the poor and introduce others into mission.

Touching The Body of Christ

One of the great insights that Madre Teresa gave to the Church was the deep undertanding that she had of the Body of Christ. She saw and taught others to see the presence of Christ in others - especially in the poor. She saw that as she served others she was serving the Lord. She knew that she touched the Body of Christ every day.
It is my own spiritual insight as well here that I am privledged to touch the Body of Christ each day. In loving the abused children of our school, stunbling through a conversation in broken languages or being with the poorest of the poor I see the presence of the Lord. It is within the poor that the Lord reveals Himself in a truly profound but mysterious way. It reveals to us each day the power and the glory of the Incarnation.
Please pray that each day I am able to keep in mind the presence and the glory of the Lord in others. By being present to them may I see and recognize the presence of the Lord.

Full House in Bolivia

No, I am not in a poker tournament here, the full house refers to the fact that we have 3 short term missioners living with us in Nueva Vera Cruz. Last week Holly, Ryan and Rocio arrived to work and live with us in the barrio. Holly is a 19 year old student from Notre Dame who is here to learn about the formation of barrios and communities and to practice her Quechua here in our barrios. Ryan is taking a year off from the Coast Guard Academy and will be here for 6 months and will be working with the kids in the school and in the barrio. Rocio is a friend of Pancho's from Spain who will be reconnecting with old friends in Bolivia and working with our Mother's Clubs. It certainly changes the dynamics of the house and the chapel with so many people around. The young people give us a lot of life and I enjoy it very much. I have always enjoyed working with the young and having them here makes me appreciate all that is happening here in our barrios.
Yesterday, after Mass we stopped by at a community meeting at La Liberdad, a new barrio we are trying to get in contact with. Holly and I were talking to one of men at the meeting and he asked us if we were married. Holly was very quick to say that we were not. I guess I need to say that I am the local priest a little quicker in the conversation.
Thanks for all your support and prayers over these months. Work is going well as I get a bit more into the lives of the barrios. The next big project looks like the building of a chapel up the hill for our barrios there. It should be interesting getting the land, donations for the constructione etc..
Please continue to keep my sister-in-law Judy in your prayers. She has a cyberknife operation this week for the remainder of the tumor in her brain and will continue with chemotherapy next week.
I will be back up north the last 2 weeks of August and the 1st week in September and hope to catch up with people then.
Thanks again for all your love and support.

Typical Sunday in Bolivia

Greetings from Cochabamba.
We had the joy of hosting John Reis this weekend. He is a theology professor at Carroll College in Montana and was exploring the possibility of bringing down students for an immersion experience here in the barrio. Since we are a likely place for folks to come visit we invited him out for the weekend. He came out on Saturday afternoon and we took a tour of the barrio of C'ara C'ara with Maryknoll Fr. Ken Moody. It is a barrio built around the city garbage dump which has been a source of great controversry here in the area because of the conflict of what it does to the environment and the financial stability that it gives to the barrios. Afterwards we had a quick dinner and then went to Santa Vera Cruz for a Marian fiesta with live music and dancing.
This morning we went up the hill to the barrios of La Rivera and Costa Nera for Mass which was followed by an OTB meeting. The OTB is the local barrio association which is a combo of Town Hall meeting and Town Council meeting. We have been asked to build a chapel in the barrios and are trying to get land donated to build it and are working with the OTBs to facilitate the process. With the changes in the Constitution and other local issues this may be quite the challenge but we hope that it works out.
Afterwards we went over the mountain to a place that has a wonderful overlook of the barrio. There was another OTB meeting going on and we went behind them to get a few photos for John to show his students back home. As we were there several young men came over to ask us who we were and what we were doing there since it was a closed meeting. While not exactly threatening it was clear they did not want us there. I explained we were just there for a photo but they were not impressed. After I said I was the priest from the barrio their attitude changed quickly and they welcomed us and introduced us to the President who invited us from front and asked me to address the folks and let them know what was going on with the Church. Afterwards the leaders asked us about the possibility of catechism classes for the kids and they asked me to come to an OTB meeting next week where we will discuss other possibiliites for work in their barrio of El Liberdad.
Just another typical Sunday morning in Bolivia.
Thanks again for all your prayers and support for our work here in Bolivia.