Relief for Chontal

Hello! http://www.gofundme.com/Relief-for-Chontal

People have generously asked how they can know more about or participate in what is happening here in Ecuador. Here is a great opportunity, and a chance to help transform a tragedy into something beautiful! I've put together a gofundme account to help with disaster relief for the community San Miguel del Chontal, a community very special to me here in Ecuador, where a church has been built in my mother's memory. Landslides detroyed homes and have put this poor community in crisis. Your prayers and/or your donation would be a big help! Whatever you give financially, I'll match 10%. And please share this with others. You have my gratitude and wishes for many blessings - whatever you do for them, you do for me too!

Jerome

PS, the Youtube video from the gofundme site can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snmVIbzAJEA

Landslides in Chontal

Saturday night in El Chontal, incredibly strong rains produced landslides that crushed and flooded a lot of homes, cut off the roads in and out of the village, and cutoff electricity and water (and there´s no cellphone signal). It was a harrowing experience for the whole village as the mountains on both sides literally shook like thunder with landslides in the pitch darkness and torrential rain. Thanks be to God no one was hurt and I´m fine, but the whole village is still in danger of more heavy landslides if it rains hard again, and everyone is anxious about what will happen long-term too. We were mostly trapped for a day and a half until the military and red cross arrived yesterday and started an evacuation plan. I left yesterday and am safe in Puerto Quito now. I´ll share more soon, but wanted to get the general note out after being incomunicado, and ask for prayers for everyone involved ... http://www.elcomercio.com/pais/lluvias-cifras-superaron-mayo-invierno-ecuador-alexa_0_1137486332.html

Return to Ecuador

HI, it's been a little while, and the last two weeks have been very busy. I thought I'd have had time to post, but I was so busy finishing my time in Boston, that I ran out of it. On May 6 I came back to Ecuador to continue in a new parish: Julio Moreno Espinosa. Here is where it is on Google Maps:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Julio+Moreno/@-0.3135638,-79.1704166,11z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x91d5386eae3ae9ef:0x78cc85588c461bdb

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The priest here, Padre David, was a roommate in the last parish I was in, in Puerto Quito. He was a transitional deacon then, and was ordained a priest, then was sent to Julio Moreno. We are good friends and I'm looking forward to sharing in the ministry to the people here. It is much smaller than Puerto Quito, but very similar in a lot of ways. There is a town center, with various villages - or recintos - surrounding it. It has a remarkable natural diversity that makes it a growing and hopeful tourist attraction. And, most importantly, the people are similar as well. It's mostly a rural, poor lifestyle compared to the US.

Another important aspect of coming here as well is the desire of the local bishop and Padre David to bring the devotion to the Divine Mercy here. That is dear to my heart, and I've sought a way that a door like that might open here in Ecuador. So, I've begun to collaborate with the Marians of the Immaculate Conception - who were entrusted by St John Paul II with the Divine Mercy mission - through their lay apostolate, Eucharistic Apostles of Divine Mercy. The Boston house of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy - which is the congregation of St Faustina - have also agreed to support the effort through prayer and donation of devotional items. Please join in prayer and any support you feel called to, that together we may, each in our own unique and authentic way, mysteriously fulfill Jesus' request to St Faustina:

"Tell the whole world about My inconceivable Mercy."

(Diary # 699)

vilnius7xq

Witness of the Encounter

A great commentary from Pope Francis on witness, from CNS, 4/4/14, that gets to the core of mission:

"The person who is sick or has a disability, precisely because of his or her fragility and limits, can become a witness of the encounter: the encounter with Christ who opens one to life and to faith; and the encounter with others, with the community," Pope Francis said.

"Only one who recognizes his own fragility, his own limits, can construct relationships that are fraternal and marked by solidarity in the church and in society," he said.

The key to being a trustworthy, effective witness to Jesus, he said, is first having had the experience of meeting Jesus.

"A witness to the Gospel is one who has encountered Jesus Christ, who knows him or, better, feels known by him, recognized, respected, loved and forgiven. This encounter has touched him deeply, has filled him with new joy and given his life new meaning," the pope said.

The Spirit of Mission

A great scene from a great movie. It captures the spirit of mission. What is your Instrument?

I got to share a presentation - and play my Instrument - with a group from the Catholic Daughters on Wednesday, and with friends locally on Sunday. I'm always very grateful to share!

Be Bridges

An excerpt from an article in ZENIT on Monday, where a new cardinal in Chile shares his thoughts on the current call in the Church:

Let Us Be Bridges Between Jesus and the People, Says Chile's Cardinal Ezzati

[Chile] is a country, as are all the countries of Latin America, that is experiencing a very profound, epochal change, a cultural change which calls, therefore, for an intelligent, generous and sometimes very sacrificial evangelization. Because, as in Jesus’ time, the proclamation of the Gospel isn’t easy. However, one who receives it, receives also the new life, the generosity of the new life. What is important is that we pastors be pontiffs in the sense of being bridges, so that Jesus will encounter all the people and people can encounter Jesus.

The Best Treats Come From Our Disabilities

I've been stopping by friends' places to make some chocolate with the chocolate paste from Ecuador.

The paste is made with the cooperation of several people with disabilities on the farm at Amigos del Arca Ecuador, the project for the disabled. It comes from some of the best cocoa trees that exist on the planet, so you've probably never tasted chocolate quite like this before.

Here are a few pictures from the cacao (cocoa) processing in Amigos del Arca. The cacao seeds are being dried in the first picture and baked in the second. Cesar, a very friendly young guy who has a physical disability that leaves him very thin and with distortion in some of his limbs, oversees the cacao processing.

For making the chocolate here, I use a very simple recipe, melting the paste (which is essentially unsweetened baking chocolate) and mixing with a "secret" ingredient:

It's in the fridge within 25 minutes, ready to eat in an hour.

More proof that, with faith in God, the best treats in the world come from our disabilities!

"Power is perfected in weakness." (2 Cor 12:9)

The Church Needs the Poor to Set Its Direction

A good article in the Boston Globe yesterday, on the selections of Cardinals by Pope Francis, and, really, its relation to mission. Here are a few excerpts:

Cardinal picks embody principles of ‘Pope of the Poor’, By John L. Allen Jr.

In Haiti, the pope bypassed the leaders of the country’s two archdioceses, who according to the usual logic would have had better claim to the honor, in order to tap the bishop of a small diocese in the country’s southwest, a man who was himself born into a poor family.

In effect, Francis seemed to want his first consistory to embrace the “periphery” in every possible sense.

“It’s the pope’s prerogative to make whoever he wants a cardinal, but it’s fair to say that I was an unusual choice,” Chibly Langlois said in an interview Friday with the Globe.

“I think it’s rooted in the Gospel,” Langlois said, “symbolizing the pope’s determination to leave no stone unturned in reaching out to the poor.”

He said that giving the country a cardinal has stirred the hopes of Haitians of all stripes.

“It’s created tremendous joy, independently of someone’s religion, whether they’re Catholic or Protestant or whatever,” he said. “Haitians feel a craving for somebody to finally notice them, which is why this means so much to the whole country.” ...

Yet Langlois argued that Francis wasn’t just talking to Haitians in this consistory — he was delivering a message to the rest of the church.

“[Pope Francis] chose a small diocese . . . to express that the church needs the poor to set its direction,” he said. “The future of the universal church under this pope runs through the poor.”

...

Asked what affluent believers in countries such as the United State can do to help Haiti, for instance, Langlois said the solution doesn’t begin with opening their wallets but with “opening their eyes and ears.” “You need to take a good look around, and try to understand what’s really happening,” Langlois said.

While expressing gratitude for assistance that’s reached Haiti from the United States and other donor nations, Langlois said that the last thing Haitians need is another foreign power riding in, even with the best of intentions, and dictating to them how to move forward.

“The Haitians are a people who need to be helped, maybe, but we don’t need to be ‘assisted,’ ” Langlois said. “More than anything, Haitians need to be heard. What’s needed is a dialogue, so Haitians can take their future in their own hands.”

In the New Testament, Jesus asserts that in the Kingdom of God “the last shall be first.” If personnel is policy, then judging by his first crop of new cardinals it seems that Pope Francis has gotten the memo.

Sharing at Mass

The Sunday before last, I had the opportunity to speak after the Sunday Mass in Spanish at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Milford, Mass. The parochial vicar there, Fr Dario Acevedo, is a friend from my seminary days who invited me to come and share about the mission in Ecuador because there is an Ecuadorian community there. Fr Dario is from Colombia, and he and I spent a lot of time in the seminary helping each other with language - he even had the idea of translating the book I wrote into Spanish, though that never got too far! But, to be able to speak to the people pretty fluently in Spanish was a sort of a full-circle coming of events when I remember our meetings together practicing pronunciation and whatnot. It was really a gift for me to share some of what I am doing in Ecuador with the community there. Ecuadorians have a variety of cultures, and the locals there at St Mary's would have some differences with the people who I've lived with. They are from the Sierra region in the south, where I've been mostly in the Costa region in the north. But they are still bonded obviously - Fr Dario took up a collection and the people gave over $250 to be used for the mission. For people who are struggling to fit in in Milford, it was very generous. I'm very grateful.

In the Air, On the Road

On the way from Quito to Boston. A few good views over the Carribean and Cuba, arriving in Miami. I'm hoping to share more of the mission along with home-made chocolate making, using the chocolate paste made in the Fundacion Amigos del Arca, and sharing the video made by the students in the high school..... Looking forward to being in Boston!

Presentation of the ... Presentation

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This past weekend in Santa Cecilia, as part of the liturgical prayer service, we did a little dramatization of the story of the Presentation in the Gospel (Lk 2:22-40). Here are Mary (holding the baby Jesus), Joseph, Simeon, and Anna. (Maria, Carlos, Byron, and Kelly)

And a photo of more of the whole group, too:

IMG1857

Dynamics like these are a way of making the story more concrete and real. They help to "enter into the Gospel," and help to develop an approach for praying and living life in the same way!

School Videos Are Done

We finished updating a video for Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton, and they put together another one for us. Check 'em out: http://youtu.be/Zy-lFXAHUnY

http://youtu.be/0vZ_8gKw-5Y

Rest Awhile

I went with a few of the Franciscan sisters from Puerto Quito for a day off in Mindo yesterday. Mindo is a well-known tourist/vacation area with a lot of biodiversity and tourism activities. It's a cloudforest region that is about a 2-hr drive from Puerto Quito, and it's a very beautiful place. We stopped first at a quiet chapel in a religious community that is located in the greenery there, sharing in the day prayer with a priest and their seminarians. Afterwards, we went to eat. We have gotten to know Luis and Susan who own Caskaffesu, a restaurant and hosteria (small hotel). Susan is originally from Arizona, and is active in the local parish and in the Mindo community, as well as assisting seminarians. We've gotten to be good friends. Their place is a great place for lunch and coffee, and the rooms are great too if you stay overnight. To give you a feel for costs, one night in a nice room with a nice private bathroom in this beautiful place is ... $19 per person! After eating, we did our own journey in the day after eating, and we got to see not just the beautiful cloudforest and greenery, but a lot of different animals. A horse, two ostriches, a few baby cattle, cattle that we got to feed by hand, and a lot of tropical birds. It was a great and relaxing day in nature, just what you need regularly when you are giving yourself in service... "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while." (Mk 6:31) Enjoy the photos!

Building Bridges Instead of Walls

From Zenit News Agency, the Pope on building bridges through humility and meekness: ******************

Building Bridges Instead of Walls

Pontiff Reflects on the Fruits of Meekness and Humility During Morning Mass

VATICAN CITY, January 24, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Meekness and humility are crucial to fostering dialogue. This was the central theme of Pope Francis’ homily this morning. Through these virtues, the Pope said, one follows the example left by Christ who humbled himself until the end.

The first reading today recalled King Saul’s persecution of David. Although David had an opportunity to kill David, he chose the path that leads to dialogue and makes peace.

“Meekness is necessary in order to dialogue, without shouting,” the Pope said. “It is also necessary to think of the other person has something more than me, and David thought of this: ‘He is the anointed one of the Lord, and is more important than me.’ Humility, meekness. In order to dialogue, it is necessary to do that which we ask for today in prayer, at the beginning of Mass: to do everything for everyone.”

Even though dialogue is difficult, the Holy Father said that it is worse to “create a bridge” with an adversary while holding a growing anger in one’s heart. A Christian, however, has the example of David and Jesus who through an act of humility, conquers hate.

“Jesus has done it: he humbled himself until the end, he has shown us the way,” the Pope said. “And it is necessary that too much time doesn’t pass. When there is a problem, as soon as possible, in the moment in which it can be done, after the storm has passed, come together to dialogue, because time makes the wall grow, the weeds grow and impede the growth of the grain. And when the walls grow, reconciliation is very difficult. It is very difficult!”

Echoing sentiments he expressed several times, the 77 year old Pontiff said that there is no problem if “a few plates fly”, whether in the family or in a community. The important thing is to look for peace as soon as possible. The Holy Father also emphasized that it is better to build a bridge rather than a wall, like the Berlin Wall that divided Germany for so many years. “Even in our hearts, it is possible to become like Berlin and build up a wall against others.”

“I am afraid of these walls, the walls that grow everyday and encourage resentments and hate,” the Pope said.

Concluding his homily, Pope Francis called on the faithful to follow the example of David who chose the path of dialogue with humility, meekness, and sweetness.

“Today”, he said, “we can ask Saint Francis de Sales, doctor of sweetness, that he give all of us the grace to build bridges with the other. No more walls.” (J.A.E.)

Pope Francis on Baptism and Mission

Pope Francis today: VATICAN CITY, January 15, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Continuing his catechesis on the Sacrament of Baptism, Pope Francis reminded the faithful that our Baptism calls us to become “missionary disciples” within the Church.

The Pope drew on his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, saying that through our Baptism, we are called to be “agents of evangelization.” As such, “the new evangelization calls for the personal involvement” of all who are baptized. Through this calling, the People of God are both disciples and missionaries.

“All of us in the Church are disciples, and we are so always, for our whole life; and we are all missionaries, each one in the place the Lord has assigned to him,” he said.

The Holy Father went on to explain the mystical and missionary dimension of the Christian vocation which are rooted in Baptism. As a community of believers, we are called to share the experience of the love of God to others. “No one,” the Pope said, “is saved on their own.”

Source: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-francis-no-one-is-saved-on-their-own