This morning started with Mass celebrated by Fr. Mark at 7am. Fr. Mark is the chaplain at St. Pius and is an associate pastor at St. Therese. It also just so happens to be his birthday today! The Gospel today was so perfect to kick off our mission this week. Jesus talks about how we are called to be salt to the earth and light to the nations, that our light should shine before all so that our good deeds may be seen and in turn glorify God! Additionally we celebrated the feast of St. Barnabas and Father reminded us that St. Barnabas’s name means “son of encouragement” and that while we are here we should be sons and daughters of encouragement, faith and hope. As a side note, the sisters go all out when it comes to decorating their chapel and it is currently decorated for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

After Mass we went to breakfast which consisted of coffee (yay!), cereal, eggs, tortillas, and black beans. After breakfast we had a few minutes to gather up some of our donations before we went via tuk tuk to Valle del Duranzo school. This is a school for children with special needs. Normally there are around 40 children but because of all of the rain it is hard for some of them to get there, so today there were only around 15 of them. At the school we put on a little carnival for them. There were four stations: (1) beauty salon (which is where dad and I were) where we braided hair for the girls, painted nails and used gel to spike the boys’ hair up (2) a bracelet making station (3) a painting station and (4) a station to play marbles and jacks. After all of the groups made it through each of the stations we sang happy birthday to all of the June birthdays at the school and had two piñatas for the kids to break open followed by a dance party. Dad made friends with a little boy named Marco who was the life of the party! They then gave us a snack which consisted of a tamale, jello, cake and a juice box. We brought some clothes that we thought would fit the kids so we lined them up by size and made sure that each kid got a few new shirts, pants or jacket. We then walked back to the convent and on the way stopped in the city center to pop into the local Catholic Church and get some ice cream! We then had a bit of free time before lunch.

For lunch today we had pasta and salad with one of the sweetest watermelon I have ever tasted! After lunch we gathered donations bags to take with us for the afternoon. We drove to the town of Paramos (about 20 minutes from where we are staying) where we divided up into six group. Each group visited five different homes to visit with families who are sick or elderly. We had a lay minister with us who knows the families well and a translator. This is the part of the trip that always tugs at your heart strings the most because we are invited into the homes of the people and have a chance to get to know them and hear their stories. My group today consisted of most of the boys on the trip (a couple of who are involved in the youth group at St. Andrew’s so I know them pretty well).

When we get to the homes we first learn about each of the people that we are there to visit and pray with. We have a chance to introduce ourselves and then ask them questions about their lives. We pray with each family and then give them the donations. This year we were able to provide each family with a dozen eggs, pasta, oatmeal, rice, sugar, salt, coffee, oil, honey, soap and laundry detergent. Additionally we brought clothes and shoes with us for each family – since we don’t know who we will be going to visit it is hard to know what sizes and gender of clothes to bring with us. We had a lot of women’s clothes today and unfortunately didn’t have much to provide the men we encountered. A little bit about each of the families we visited with today:

Eberta was our first stop, she is 90 years old and has dementia. She had 10 children but 7 of them have already passed away. She lives with her daughter and her husband and their two kids.

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Maximus was our second stop, he is 98 years old, has arthritis and can’t hear well. He lives with his son (who had an accident at some point and sustained a head injury so he also isn’t able to work due to memory issues) and his daughter-in-law.

Philippe is 87 years old and is deaf and blind. He lives with his wife (who is 75 and his main caregiver) and his son and daughter-in-law.

Carlos and his family were our fourth stop and by far the hardest. Carlos is only 12 years old and has cerebral palsy making him non-verbal and unable to stand or walk. He lives with his parents, three sisters and aunt and uncle all in a room that was about 20 feet by 15 feet. After we prayed with the family the mother and uncle both spoke and their words just resonated so deeply. They both were so extremely grateful for the food that we were able to provide them. They spoke about how it may not seem like a lot to us, but for them, it is massive. They prayed for us that God would bless us ten fold for all that we are giving to them.

Oscar was our last stop, he is 28 years old and was in a motorcycle accident that paralyzed him from the waist down. He lives with his father and spoke about how before his accident he was a soccer coach and player. In his room he had all of his trophies and he said his favorite team is Real Madrid and Lionel Messi is his favorite player.

While these visits are so beautiful, they are also extremely hard. To be honest, is hard not to feel like we are putting on a show. A bunch of Americans come traipsing into your home and bring (what to us) seems like these meager offerings, meanwhile we all have our brand new iPhones, Apple Watches, heck shoes that fit and don’t have holes in them are a luxury to some of these people. It really makes you think about how we live in America and how extremely blessed we are. And yet in return they shower us with gratitude and in some cases, much like the woman who gave her last two coins in the Gospel (Mark 12:42-44), they give us crackers and coke. It is just crazy to me that in the world we live in, with all of the advances in technology and how interconnected we are as a society, that third world countries still exist. I don’t have many pictures from the afternoon because I just don’t feel like it is the right time to be taking pictures most of the time while we are in their homes visiting.

After our visits we all met up at Maynor’s house where we had a chance to sit for a few minutes and use the restroom before walking over to the Women’s Center that Maynor and Yeimy run. The women’s program currently serves around 250 women. They break them up into smaller groups that each meet twice a month and they provide them with education on various topics like government, nutrition, finances, etc. There is also an even smaller group within the larger population that are being taught how to sew and tailor clothes. They also make various handmade goods like bags, coin purses, aprons, etc. A few of the women from the program, as well as Maynor and Yeimy spoke for a few minutes to explain the program a bit and share their passion and vision for the program. It always strikes me how beautiful it is to hear about their desire to help encourage the people of Guatemala to better themselves. They believe that while it is great to provide them with material goods, more than anything they need spiritual support and to be taught a trade. When they can learn something that can help provide for their families it inspires them to want to keep going and gives them a sense of fulfillment. Additionally, they know that if they can empower the women, the women will pass that along to their children and they will be able to create generational change. Talk about vision to see that the children are the future! They also shared that they added a new educational segment to their ministry this year. Many of the women have not been able to get very far in school and most end up dropping out before 8th grade in order to help provide for their families or help take care of siblings, grandparents, etc. In order to help advance these women they were able to receive funding from the Ministry of Education (the government) to teach and certify the women. (Kind of like their version of a GED.) This year they had two women graduate and next year they will have TEN women going through that program!! Another thing that really struck me was when one of the women who is part of the program was speaking. She talked about how little by little (poco a poco) they are bettering their lives and the lives of everyone in Guatemala. To jump forward a bit, during our evening pow wow, one of the other Chaperones (Nick) who has been here two other times shared how much just this city has changed in the three years since he has been coming. He shared how the main road we take to get to the convent was a dirt road a few years ago, and now is completely paved. It is just a testament to the work that Maynor, Yeimy and so many other people are doing here in Guatemala, and to say that we are a very small part of that is pretty cool! After they shared about the program the women had a lot of their handmade goods available for sale. It was pretty crowded and claustrophobic in the room as we were all shopping so I failed to get any pictures (sorry!) but I did get a cute little toiletry bag and a drawstring bag. It’s too dark in my room to get a good picture tonight. But I’ll try to remember to take one tomorrow during the day.

We then made our way back to the convent where we had time for prayer and adoration, a great way to end the day thanking God for the abundant blessings that he has given us and praying even more for the people we met today. As I was praying I was drawn to the Psalms, specifically Psalm 1 verse 3 really stood out to me today, it says:

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. -Psalm 1:3

It spoke so beautifully to the mission that Maynor and Yeimy shared. That by planting the seeds with these women and ensuring they are being “watered” and nurtured properly, they will bear fruit, they will not wither and they will prosper. Most especially what struck me was the phrase “in its season” – we are only here for a short time and while we will get to see some of the tangible effects of the work we are doing here, the real and long lasting fruits won’t come until after we are gone and for some of us, we may never get to see that happen, but when the time is right, when the tree is in the “right season” there will be fruit and it will be abundant!

After adoration we had dinner which was sausages, salsa, black beans and an asparagus soup. Additionally, the sisters decorated the dining room for Fr. Mark’s birthday and had a cake for him to celebrate! It was quite festive and a wonderful evening!

Finally, we all gathered together for a pow wow (St. Pius’s mascot is the Warriors, hence the nod to Native American culture) where we were able to share where we saw Christ today. Many of the teens and chaperones shared their experiences during the sick visits. Stories about how a man who lost his leg to diabetes said that he just wanted all of us to leave with a smile on our faces, about how a single mother was caring for her young daughter who had special needs and was so joyful and happy, about how while at the school seeing some of the older children caring for the younger ones, making sure they were all included and they all got candy from the piñatas was an image of Christ.

As I sit in bed writing this, I hear the rain falling outside on the metal roofs and I can’t help but think back to the Psalm – the Lord is watering the seeds that have been planted today and in the right season, the trees will bear fruit.

Buenas noches from Guatemala!

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Biography from the Vatican website

St Peter de Betancurt 
(1626-1667)

St Peter de Betancurt was born on 19 March 1626 at Chasna de Vilaflor on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. He died on 25 April 1667 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. His life, marked by a heroic holiness, is a shining testimony of faithfulness to the Gospel. Peter was a descendant of Juan de Betancurt, one of the Norman conquerors of the Canary Islands. His immediate family, however, was very poor and he started work as the shepherd of the small family flock. His parents raised him soundly in the faith, and his contact with nature nurtured his deeply contemplative soul. As a young boy, Peter learned to see God in everything around him.

When Peter heard about the miserable living conditions of the people of the “West Indies” (present-day America), he felt called to take the Christian message to this land. In 1650 when he was 23 years old, he left for Guatemala where a relative had already gone to become secretary of the Governor General. His funds ran out in Havana so Peter had to pay for his passage from that point by working on a ship which docked at Honduras from where he walked to Guatemala City.

Peter was now so poor that he had to stand in line for his daily bread at the Franciscan friary, and it was here that he met Friar Fernando Espino, a famous missionary, who befriended him and remained his lifelong counsellor. He found Peter a job in a local textile factory. In 1653 Peter realized his ambition to enter the local Jesuit college in the hope of becoming a priest. He showed little aptitude for study which led him to withdraw. Here Providence once again helped him as he met Fr Manuel Lobo, S.J., who became his confessor.

Friar Fernando invited Peter to join the Franciscan Order as a lay brother, but Peter felt that God wanted him to remain in the world; and in 1655, he joined the Third Order of St Francis. From then on, Peter dedicated his time to alleviating the sufferings of the less fortunate in the midst of inexpressible toil and difficulty. He became the apostle to African-American slaves, the Indios subjected to inhuman labour, the emigrants, and abandoned children, with ever-expanding generousity and deep humility in total abandonment to God’s will. Inspired by the charity of Christ, he became everything to everyone. In 1658 Peter was given a hut which he converted into a hospital for the poor who had been discharged from the city hospital but still needed to convalesce.

It was called “Our Lady of Bethlehem”. He also founded a hostel for the homeless, a school for poor and abandoned children, and an oratory. Peter received help for these foundations from both the civil and religious authorities. He begged for alms to endow the Masses celebrated by poor priests and also endowed Masses to be celebrated in the early hours so that the poor might not miss Mass. He had small chapels erected in the poor sectors where instruction was also given to children. Every year, on 18 August, he would gather the children and sing the Seven Joys of the Franciscan Rosary in honour of the Blessed Mother, a custom still continued today in Guatemala.

He was joined by men and women, who became the Bethlehemite Brothers and the Bethlehemite Sisters, and formulated a Rule that included the active apostolate of working with the poor, the sick, and the less fortunate, based on a life rich in prayer, fasting and penance. The Bethlehemite Congregation was thus established. Peter died on 25 April 1667, at 41 years of age. Throughout his life, the Child of Bethlehem was the focus of Peter’s spiritual meditation. He was always able to see in the poor the face of “the Child Jesus”, and to serve them devoutly. He is known as the “St Francis of the Americas”.