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.

Recent Events

Hello everyone. Sorry it has been such a long time since my last blog but I was in Guatemala for a week for Maryknoll's Latin American Region Assembly and then things have been very busy since I returned to Cochabamba. The meeting was held in Antigua, Guatemala, a colonial city with a rich history. I enjoyed the meeting for 2 main reasons: it was a chance to meet the other Maryknollers in the region that I did not know and it also gave me a deeper sense of the priorities and the issues that face Maryknoll in the future. The meeting was characterized by a wonderful spirit as we were able to look at the future with both realism and hope. Everyone went forth with a renewed spirit as they returned to their missions.
Since I arrived back home in Coch things have been very busy. I arrived home on Friday of the Feast of Santa Vera Cruz. That is the parish that our chapel is a part of as well as the feast of our own barrio of Nueva Vera Cruz. We had 5 guests for the weekend since we wanted to share the fullness of the fiesta with them. This serves as a major gathering of the indiginous in the area since there is a Pre Incan festival of the planting that precedes the arrivial of the first missioners here. Several thousands gathered at the Church for the fiesta which offered the opportunity of offering prayers for the success of the agricultural life here. It is also an opportunity to gather for fun, games and the occassional picking of pockets ( which I experienced Sunday afternoon).
It was a good time to see the inculturation of the gospel with the indiginous beliefs of the people here and to see the way people try to live their lives of faith.
Soon we will be hosting the summer rush of short term missioners and volunteers many of whom are coming for the summer (North American summer, it is winter here). Several will be working with us here in our barrio. I will update you soon on how they enjoy their time here.
Again thanks for all your prayers and support. It is always wonderful to hear news from home so please keep in touch.

Holy Thursday in Bolivia, Jueves Santo en Bolivia

Sorry it has been so long since the last post but things have been busy and I take off for the Maryknoll Latin America Assembly in Guatemala this morning. I want to take some time to share with you the experience of Holy Week here in Nueva Vera Cruz. I celebrated the Triduum at La Rivefra and Costanera, two small barrios I serve in. We held Holy Thursday in the house of one of the catechists. The night before we had shown a video of the life of Jesus to prepare people for the Triduum. I was able to celebrate most of the mass in Quechua which the language most common in that barrio. When it came time for the washing of the feet I was able to wash the feet of everyone present since we were a small gathering. I had my first experience of washing the feet of people who hadn't been prepared beforehand so it was the actual washing of feet that had seen the work of the day. What an honor it was to symbolically show my desire to serve the needs of the people. I explained that the washing was a simple rendering of where our hearts are supposed to be in the service of others. It was a wonderful continuation of the Holy Week which which is so different than what I am used to but also so in touch with the simple people that the Lord dealt with every day in his ministry.

Domingo de Ramos, Palm Sunday in Bolivia

I just celebrated my first Palm Sunday here in Cochabamba. We started with a procession from each of our centers and then continued with Mass at the chapel. We had a small but hearty crowd for the procession down the mountain from La Rivera. We also had a number of older people and mothers with newborns who had trouble keeping up. About 1/2 way through the procession I turned around and saw a good number of people missing. My question was answered a minute later when a number of truffis (taxis) past us by carrying half the procession!Processing at 9,000 feet isn't easy. We had a Penance Service for Holy Week last night and I told the people it was a wonderful opportunity for 2 reasons: it is an experince of God's love and if they went to Confession in Quechua I would have no idea what their sins were. I trust that they were satisfied although I hardly understood anything that they said. As I said, I don't understand them but God forgives them any way. May this Holy Week be a great blessing for all of us as we follow in the footsteps of the Lord.

Ronald Jardin

Yesterday morning one of our neighbors came to the chapel before mass because their 2 day old child was dying and they wanted him baptized. Since it was right before mass we baptized Ronald Jardin during the liturgy. What struck me immediately was the lack of emotion in the family. Even in the opening dialogue before the beginning of mass where we make the sign of the cross on the child I realized that the mother was not holding the baby but the child was on her back. There seemed to be little connection between the dying baby and his parents and family. After the baptism we tried to convince the family to bring the child to the doctor or a clinic but I doubt that they did. The child looked premature and was not nursing so it seems the family was convinced that he was dying and simply accepted the inevitable. So is life here among the poor. The greatest goal is simple survival - to get through each day. As we continue on the journey to Holy Week I see that the message of the gospel for us this year is the power of hope. Hope may never change the circumstances of life but it can deeply touch and transform the human heart. Pray for us as we minister the power of the gospel to the poor. Pray that babies do not have to die needlessly and that somehow the love of the cross touches the lives who carry their heavy crosses every day.

Mennonites in Bolivia.

Greetings everyone from Nueva Vera Cruz. We continue on living through the rainy season with promises of mud being replaced by dust. Actually all is well as we continue with Lent and prepare for Holy week which apparently is a big celebration here.
For Palm Sunday we will have Mass at the Main Chapel in Nueva Vera Cruz but processions from three of the other barrios that we cover. When we announced it at our Liturgy at La Rivera last night they were enthused about having the Procession go down to the mountain to Nueva Vera Cruz. I told the people that it would be a wonderful procession and that I would be driving very slowly behind them in the truck. No reason for all of us to get dirty and tired before Mass.
We received a call before Mass this morning that a group of Mennonites from the US, Canada and Zimbabwe would like to come to Mass and then have a presentation on our work in the barrio. They arrived at Mass (only 1/2 an hour late which isn't bad for Bolivia) and then I gave an overview of our work in the barrio. It was good to share with them all the good things going on in the barrio and it was a good opportunity for me to try to share what we see the Lord doing in out midst.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. Please feel free to contact me - it is always good to hear from friends at home.