Mission in Morelia

Guanajuato

2010-08-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

As for the places I've been, so far in Mexico, the State of Guanajuato has got to be the most beautiful of all the States of Mexico. The first images are taken from Cubilete, which is the geographical center of Mexico. It is two hours (which I was told it was only 45 minutes out of) the capital city of Guanajuato. Barely made my bus! The terrain is beautiful as are the people. During the Cristo Rey revolution, the statue of our Lord, Christ the King, was destroyed, but was rebuilt in the 1930-60s to what we see today. The chapel at the top, underneath the statue, was breath taking, when I walked in, what a treasure.

The city of Guanajuato is absolutely beautiful. The city folks thought so as well and with the advent of cars, the folks decided to build tunnels to preserve the style of the city. Additionally, the folks also preserved the culture of following musicians through the streets (as you see in the first photo). While I was in Guanajuato, they were having their international film festival, oops, missed that memo! At least I was able to secure a hotel room (one of the last hotel rooms left, from what I could gather, in downtown Guanajuato). In this photo, it is still early, so the older folks are dancing, in about another hour, the music changes from Mexican Polka to American/Mexican Pop/Rock and many of the young folks emerge from the bars, coffee shops to dance.
The legendary "callejon del beso" or alleyway of the kiss - it's worth a quick read at:
http://www.guanajuatocapital.com/ingles/Nleyen.htm
This is just a quick shot of the colors, right before nightfall, of the houses. Plaza practically litter the town, but how I have come to truly enjoy those plazas. One of the interesting things concerning the town of Guanajuato, supposedly, when the folks want/need to paint/renovate the exterior of their houses, they need to secure a permit...so as to maintain the color and style of colonial Guanajuato.
The Cathedral of St Ignatius of Loyola, on the feast day of St Ignatius (July 31). The Cathedral marks the center of the city with a small plaza in the center.

I had a layover in one of the towns, Irapuato...thought this would be a great thing to add to a parish picnic!

A big calendar...and early Mexico City

2010-07-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

Pues, yo estuve delante del infamoso calendario aztecas. Este calendario es muy grande. La historia del calendario es muy interesante. En realidad, hace 500 años, el calendario fue parte de un piso para peleas. La razon este calendario no fue terminado es porque detras el frente, dos grand grietas.
Yo de pie frente de la réplica del vestido de la cabeza de Moctezuma. El real cosa hay en Bélgica.
La ciudad de México en el año de 1600. La antiguo ciudad como esta la ciudad hoy de Vienna.
El centro de México en 1600. La catedral esta hoy arriba de los gran piramides.
Un altar para los sacrificios...el canal es para la sangre de la cabeza!

Templo de la Cruz

2010-07-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

Presbíteros cambian parroquias cerca el tiempo en Estados Unidos, en 1 de Julio. Arriba están P. Sergio y yo en su ultima día en Morelia. Me él cae bien.
Una madre me preguntó "por favor, padre, hablas con mi hijo en inglés". Diferente veces, la gente se ha practicado inglés conmigo, pero, usualmente, les prefieran hablar en español les ayudarme.
Arriba, P. Sergio aceptó la gracia de la comunidad y la gracia de la nueva pastor, P. Gerardo.
P. Sergio habló con la comunidad por la ultima tiempo son les pastor.
Yo pienso un buena foto debajo la cruz. Me sentí allí durante la ultima mensaje de P. Sergio.

Saints Peter and Paul celebrated in a local parish

2010-07-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

The day of days, for me (outside of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and the conversion of St Paul (January 25nd), is June 29th, the feast day of the martyrdom of Sts Peter and Paul. The local parish, which is a stone throw from my new house, is called San Pedro. Every year the parish has a Mass (with the bishop) and this year a person donated the Crystal chandelier that is pictured in the above photo.
The parish paid for the mariachis...here you can see they're just warming up for the folks just getting out of Mass.
The chairs set out for tacos, enchiladas, etc and drinks (though I didn't see any beer, otherwise I probably would have stayed longer!).
A view of the tents from the end of the street. In attendance for Mass (which the church was plugged) around 500 people. Not bad for a Mass in the middle of the week!

México...Again!

2010-07-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

So we arrived downtown Mexico city...and what did we find...a gay rights parade!

A couple frescos in the national palace by Diego Rivera...he never did finish the project, a little thing called death happened to him!

A view from the Latin American Tower in Mexico City overlooking the national palace (straight ahead) and the Cathedral (to the left). The Cathedral has sunk some 15-20 feet over the past couple centuries...the Mexican government and the archdiocese are trying to reinforce the foundations of the Cathedral (as well as other churches). Our guide on this trip said that the ground is kind-of like chewing gum...When the earthquake of 1985 struck MC, the cathedral sunk some 5 - 10 feet, it raised up an old holy site for the Aztecs that was lost to being built over some 500 years prior...this site is now viewable next to the cathedral only about 200 yards away.

Teotihuacan

2010-07-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

A look at the temple of the moon (a la izquierda) and the temple of the sun (a la derecha)
Alfredo habló con "Jeff" "yo pienso tú morirás en esta pyrimada!"

El seminarista "Jeff" de Sacramento pie delante del pyramida de "Sol"

El grupo del seminaristas (la mujer embrazada y yo no fuemos seminaristas) escalamos la pyramida de sol.
La vista de la techa del "Sol". Para nosotros (un gordo y un mujer embrazada) - escalamos la pyramida en 10 minutos...nada más! Nosotros fuimos fuerte!
El grupo se me perdió - yo encontré ellos arriba del "luna"!
Para la pyramida de luna...solomente una persona lo escala a media punta...porque el servicio del parque tiene un excavación arriba de esta punta.

Una mapa de Teotihuacan:
http://www.advantagemexico.com/mexico_city/images/teotihuacan_map.gif

Para estudiantes en la escuela, se llama "Baden-Powell Institute" - estudiantes pueden ir a diferente lugares por $50 (USD) - $150 (USD). Hace un fin de semana, diferente estudiantes de BPI y yo ibamos a la ciudad de México for $150 (USD) con un noche en un buen hotel cerca del centro. Nosotros visitamos La Basilica de Guadalupe, el centro, fuimos a Bellas de Artes y también un lugar muchas lejos de la ciudad se llama Teotihuacan. Muy interesante lugar viejo. Esta ciudad no es parte de Maya o Aztecas. La gente construyeron la ciudad no existieron cuando las Aztecas construyeron la ciudad de México en 1500s. Un interesante cosa, cuando las Aztecas construyeron la ciudad de México, esta punto como Vienna, Italia! Un ciudad en un lago y las calles fueron agua! Ahorita, las calles de México son concreto.

My new "family"

2010-06-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

My hope, while here in México, is to find positive culture experiences. After 5 weeks with one family, I asked for a change. Though I do live further away (my walk time from school, since I ride to school with Rocí [pictured on left] is 35 "Fr Ben" minutes...which is a good clip in the streets), the environment is quite engaging. The family is a blast to be with...their attitudes about life and culture are great...Rocío (the woman in the middle...i.e. the mom) is a fantastic cook! Carlos (the father) is an ENT doctor and quite the runner...one day I'd love to run as much as he does...especially since he turns 70 this Novemeber and the son (Gabriel) who is great in conversation and loves fútbol. Not pictured are two other children of Rocío and Carlos and their families.

I live, now, about a 15 minutes from the mall "Las Americas" and the local cinema. The one theater is called the VIP cinema...apparently they have lounge chairs in the theater and the folks wait on you. You pay double for this "luxury"...which is about 90 pesos or about $9 American!

They are a great family...and I'm happy to be a part of their lives.

A trip to the old center of Michoacan

2010-06-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

The local church...which the natives built (1530s) near Pátzcuaro
The local bishop (who at one time was the judge till the locals wanted a fair bishop so, at that time, the 82 year old man was ordained priest, then bishop...quick like Anselm! This bishop believed that there was an importance to preserving the culture of the people...and not "evangelizing"it away, as if the people's history was not important. After his death, the center of Michoacan...and the building of the Cathedral, happened in Morelia...some short distance away.

On the front of the doors, the natives carved small icons on the faith, then painted the icons...the paint is long gone, but he carvings still exist.

The inside of the church...beams cut from the forests (now all but extinct here...red cedar trees). The wood didn't have time to dry, so the posts began to twist. At the time, the locals didn't know how to build a large building with a stone roof, thus the red cedar ceiling.
An early confessional...Jackie in "the box"but no priest is present on the other side to hear her confession...however there was a priest taking the picture!Inside the monastery next to church. The rooms are built on the west side to make the most of the afternoon light so the monks could read or grade the students work...benches were built into the walls near the windows as seats for this purpose. The east side has the kitchen and classrooms for early morning light.

For a quick way to get people to attend Mass and because building churches took so long, the local priests built "open air" churches. The faithful would gather in the courtyards for Mass. Though you are not able to see in this photo, above the two center columns are a sun (on the left side) and a moon (on the right side). These were symbols of gods to the locals...this was an evangelization tool used for the locals as a way to say..."it's okay to worship and enter here...your past gods are present to adore the one God."

Visit to Mexico City...part 2

2010-06-14T20:28:00.001-07:00

On the outside of the old basilica.
Inside of the new basilica.
A picture from behind the cathedra.
The view from my seat during the ordination at the basilica.
The Cardinal waiting for the ordinand to step forward for a promise of obedience.

Fr Antonio and I concelebrated the ordination Mass of 23 men to the permanent diaconate at the Bascilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I wasn't all that close, during the Mass, to the image of Our Lady, but after Mass, I walked up behind the cathedra (the bishop's chair) to take some time to pray close up with the image of Our Lady and take a few pictures (I figured I'd be escorted by the security guards after a few minutes...I was!) - but they just smiled and said "bueno padre. No más." The other picture of the church in the distance is the former basilica, but is now condemned, but the city and diocese are trying to save it.

Visit to Mexico City...part 1

2010-06-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

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.

One more thing while I was in Boise

2010-06-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

Well, Sam Anger, a parishioner of Risen Christ, has been trying ever so hard to get me to go biking with him - but I'm totally out of shape, he's like in amazing shape - no need to get embarrassed! At anyrate, I met he and his buddies coming up the hill while I was thanking God continuously that I was headed down the hill. We took a photo op, then Sam pushed his cronies on...way to go Sam! One more thing - you may notice I don't have my helmet...I forgot it in my pickup - I was politely reminded not to do that again! Thanks Sam! Until this Fall - keep up your biking, Sam!

Back to Mexico

2010-06-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Well, some have been wondering why I haven't been blogging...well, I needed to visit a friend back in Idaho for some time...as it turned out, that "time" was a month away from studies. Still, I managed to practice some Spanish and did as was asked of me while in Idaho, to keep a low profile. While I was up in Idaho, visiting my friend (who by the way is now doing super duper), I was able to take a trip to home with Monsignor Joseph daSilva. We hiked to the Lucile caves (see the picture with Msgr pulling himself up to the mouth of the cave). I returned to Mexico City to meet my former spiritual director from Mt Angel, Fr Antonio. More on him in my next blog - which will be interesting since I was about as close to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe as anyone could get!

My classes resume tomorrow...

Birthday party

2010-05-05T13:28:00.001-07:00

I attend my first Mexican birthday party. You could say little Alfredo (2 years old) was ready to "head into" the fiesta (note:picture with face plant in b-day cake!). His cousin (with the major lip protruding) was not as happy!

The picture of the couple is of my friend's parents: Alfredo & Anna Marie

Hitting the old piñata...the kids and me

2010-05-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

While I was staying with my Missionary of the Holy Spirit amigo in Guadalajara...they had a birthday party for his two year sobrino...Alfredo. You might notice in the second picture that not only did the piñata split in two...but so did the stick I was using... Aren't I tough!!

The song for the piñata:

Dale, dale, dale,
no pierdas el tino,
por que si lo pierdes
pierdes el camino.

The culture significance of the piñata: The original piñata was shaped like a star with seven points. The points represented the seven deadly sins, and the bright colors of the piñata symbolize temptation. The blindfold represents faith and the stick is virtue or the will to overcome sin. The candies and other goodies inside the piñata are the riches of the kingdom of heaven. Thus teaching that with faith and virtue one could overcome sin and receive all the rewards of heaven.

Real Street Sweepers in Morelia & Guadalajara

2010-05-05T12:49:00.001-07:00

Well...the first week, I was noticing people in front of their houses and tiendas sweeping...but they were the owners...these folks are the city employed sweepers. Different than what we in the States are used to.

The trip to Guadalajara

2010-05-02T21:19:00.001-07:00

I had a great opportunity this weekend to travel with a Missionary of the Holy Spirit (Chuy...though I sometimes call him Chubacca) to his home town of Guadalajara. Great guy, big city and interesting surroundings.

The streets are rock and dirt. The outsides of the buildings are almost all have graffiti and yet you walk into the local parish church...it's gorgeous inside!

I asked the father of Chuy (Alfredo) when we were leaving...of course all of this is in Spanish because nobody on this trip, nor at Chuy's house, could speak English, if the local area was safe to walk around alone. He said no, never. Lot's of stealing, breakins and murders, but he said there was no prostitution, that was an interesting point.

One of the pictures above, you'll see what the poor of the city live in...cardboard or tin "houses". This area of poorer folks was not far (about a 1/2 mile) from where we were staying.

The last picture was of me doing a little clowning around in downtown Guadalajara. I told the clowns, once in again only in Spanish, that I didn't know Spanish...they said they didn't know English...we both were in trouble!

The Basicilica of Zapopan

2010-05-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

One of the places the brothers of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit and I went to while I was in Guadalajara this weekend (May 1-May 2) was the Basilica of Zapopan, which Pope John Paul II visited in January of 1979 (the year I was born). There wasn't a lot of pews for folks to sit during the 12pm Mass...so we stood. The place was packed!

A couple interesting points...a collage of sorts about the first canonized Mexican...San Felipe de Jesus you can read a bit about him here: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12006b.htm

Also...a chapel devoted to confessions...with tons of penalty boxes and plenty of people waiting to get in...actually, it seems to me that I find the Sacrament of Penance a high priority for the Mexicans.

Eating out on the Town

2010-04-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

Last night I went out with a group of students at Baden-Powell Institute who were all English speakers, save for one. We all went to a local dining restuarant. The food was super and inexpensive (as usual for American standards). I ordered a combination plate that I thought would give me a broader range of what Mexican cuisine was like...it definately did. I had a tostada, enchiladas, and pigs feet! Yeah, they gave me two, I only ate part of one. Yikes!! It wasn't half bad, though, it was just the thought of what I was eating!!

Anoche, los estudiantes de Baden-Powell y yo visitamos una restaurante de Lapita. La comida en esta restaurante es muy bien y mas o menos barato. Para la comida, yo pensé que mas local es muy bien. Entonces, yo come enchiladas, tostada y jamón de pavo. No me gusta esta jamón de pavo. !Yo come un jamón de pavón no dos!

My goddaughter Faith

2010-04-23T16:43:00.001-07:00

I ask you all to please take a moment to pray for my godchild Faith. She is currently in the hospital for the next several days. She has been losing weight the last couple weeks (she`s 10 and thin to start with) and the doctors have confirmed that she has type 1 diabetes. It sounds as if everything is under control, but please do keep them in your prayers. Thanks.

me reflejo

2010-04-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I did some work in the local oratory/chapel of the Cross. I concelebrated two Masses in Spanish last week with the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. I did celebrate one Mass in Spanish last week - people at all three Masses said they understood me...I guess there is progress!

I usually practice my spanish with my neighbors or with the folks in the stores, asking questions about articles in the store or about the city. Last week I visited the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit and had lunch with them. I love the Missionaries - what a great bunch of servants!

During a typical day, I get up around 6:30, shower and eat. My classes start at 9 and end at 1pm. I return home, eat lunch, take a nap for about an hour and then start studying more Spanish. I walk the streets for about an hour to an hour and a half. I attend Mass after the walk at a chapel ran by the Missionaries about a mile and a half from my house. I then return home, eat, study and sleep. My daily prayer time is usually in the morning (I pray my prayers in Spanish) and before Mass starts!

Hace una semana que yo hago mucho en el Templo de la Cruz. Yo concelebré la misa por dos días y yo celebré la misa una día. Yo empecé conocer mis vecinos y tenimos más poco conversaciones, en total probablemente en cuatro dias, 8 horas. Un ejemplo, cuando yo caminé en las calles a las siete en la tarde, yo detenia en las tiendas y pedí una pregunta o un otro ejemplo, martes, yo visité los Missionarios del Espiritu Santo y nosotros comimos el lunche (la comida) y hablamos para una hora y media. Durante mis todas dias, yo tenia la comida con mi asistente "Rosalinda" y nosotros tenimos un conversación en español por una hora.

Entonces, durante una dia tipico, me levanté a las 6:30 y me bañé y almuercé y salí a la escuela por 4 horas. Mis clases empiezen a las 9. Despúes mi ultima clase, yo regresé a mi casa para la comida y conversación y despúes tenia una siesta por una hora. Despúes, yo estudié por una hora y recordé mis oraciones en español. Entonces, yo caminé las calles cerca mi casa por una hora y media y asistí o concelebré en la misa. Despúes la misa, yo regresé a mi casa para la cena y escribí 10 a 20 oraciones en español y dormí por la noche.

A little more information

2010-04-19T16:48:00.001-07:00

A few notes about the pictures:

1) Carlos is my teacher - who is very patient and was a seminarian (about 40 years ago) until he met this young woman, who is now his wife. Carlos knows several languages and is a super clear teacher.

2) The figure of Jesus on the Cross was made by the Mexicans around the year construction on the Cathedral began (1540). It is quite remarkable the talent of those early Christians. On Good Friday, there is a procession with the figure around the inside of the Cathedral.

3) A photo of the Cathedral at night. I attended Mass at 8pm this past Saturday so I could watch the lighting of the Cathedral and the fireworks, but Mass went a bit long...as did the homily, especially when you can't understand it all! Anyways, I was pretty excited when Mass began, I thought, "oh cool, a Sunday Mass with a wedding, something like Fr Henry told me was a reality in Columbia!" It wasn't a Sunday Mass - it was a Nuptial Mass - not a Sunday Mass with a wedding included. Although I sort of figured this out right around the collect prayer, I thought, well, I'll stay, this should be educational. It was - as was the fellow sitting next to me, but that's a different story!

4) The organ you see in the photo was made in the 1900s in Germany - 4600 pipes - they still play it for Mass!

5) At one time, before the revolution in the 1900s - the altar was made of 20 different shades of gold and silver. Since there was such a strong push to seperate church and state - different military officials tore down the altar and melted the gold and silver. The only thing that is left from the old altar is the Monstrance (more like the stand for the monstrance) which is under the baldacino in the photograph.

El Templo de Fatima

2010-04-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Cerca de mi casa es un Templo se llama Fatima. Entonces, esta Domingo pasado, yo asiste la Misa a las doce. Despues la Misa, yo tenia un conversación con dos senoras sobre la parroquia. Ellas hablarme sobre los acontecimiento en la parroquia. Yo voy a asistir 2 clases en la tarde durante esta semana. Los clases son 5 a 7 y el sujeto es la biblia. Entonces, yo voy a asistir a la clase, viernes, por los padres. El sujeto es bautismo.

Tiene Hambre?

2010-04-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

Ayer, yo camine en los calles, yo visite "restaurante". Por 2 pesos una persona tiene un taco al pastor con pina. Es muy bien. Entonces, cuando yo regrese a mi casa, yo busce un poster...yo me pregunte, "yo come un puerco o perro?" !Es un chiste para mi!

Fútbol con el equipo Morelia Monarcas

2010-04-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Miércoles, yo asiste un partida de fútbol. Yo asistimos esta partida con otro estudiante aquí con el nombre "Ben."

My Host Family!

2010-04-17T11:39:00.001-07:00

My living setup is this: I have a house assistant (mother - Rosalinda) and her son, Louis, who live in the house (he started living in the house after his father died five years ago). I have my own bathroom and bedroom. The nights are pretty warm (probably ~70), but the mornings are refreshingly cool (around 50 in the morning). Senora Rosalinda cooks all three meals for me daily and cleans my room daily. My only job is to make sure the room is ordered...which I can do!

Finally Here!

2010-04-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

Finally landed in the great colonial city of Morelia! On the first day (Wednesday, April 14), I started with a Spanish test - I could have told the school that there wasn't much to test, but nonetheless that took an hour, then I had four hour of classes, then an hour of orientation to the school, city and how the home stay works. I then returned to the house I was staying at for lunch, then back to the school for a walking tour of the city (which was about 2.5 hours). Afterwords, I returned to my home for another meal then about an hour of homework before going to my first professional soccer game. I returned home around 12 midnight.

The next day, Thursday, I had four more hours of classes, which whizzed by, then off to lunch then about 2 hours of homework - writing sentences and reviewing my grammar with my house assistant (mother).

Friday brought a tough morning - the grammar in my sentences was a bit off - I was missing accents or prepositions - small details, but apparently important! The afternoon I had a big lunch then walked around the city for about 2 hours practicing my Spanish. Found many beautiful churches - I'll post the pictures later. Started learning my prayers in Spanish. As you can see, I also went out on Friday with some other students. One of the fellows showed us his bugle he uses in the marching band he instructs at a local school. A couple of the students tried to play it...with little success. After eating, the 5 of us went up in las colinas (the hills) to see the city at night.

So far, all in all, I have enjoyed these past four days.