Visit to Mexico City...part 1

In the above picture, Fr Antonio, our weekend chofer Nacho, and I are headed to the basilica...not exactly what I had pictured in my mind!
The last minute...literally, with Fr Antonio. My cabbie was waiting for me outside the walls.
This is the first Mass I ever was able to concelebrate with Fr Antonio, of course he was nice enough to ask if I would like to celebrate this Mass in English or Spanish - I said, whatever is easiest for you...so it was in Spanish!


What a great gift Fr Antonio has been in my life. A priest of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, he has to be one of the most hard working spiritual priests I know. I had the opportunity this past weekend to visit with him for 3 days. We had some great laughs, conversations, and time for prayer. We were able to celebrate three Masses together: one for the La Salle brothers, another with the Cardinal in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the last one in the mother house of the Missionaries. As you can see, Fr Antonio is quite a bit smaller than me, but he makes up for it in character and spirituality. Fr Antonio's principle work now, in Mexico, is to give retreats and spiritual direction to priests. He teaches in the local university and will be receiving his doctorate in Divinity this December. Thank you Fr Antonio for the gift you are to the world, to the Church and especially to us priests.