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Well I'm home from Peru, so I suppose the website has finished it's purpose (for now). I'm sorry if I didn't write frequently enough, and several people have told me I didn't. However, I hope that those of you who read this got some use out of the posts. I had an amazing summer in Peru, and I will surely be back next year, at least for the medical mission. For all those who this and prayed for me, I thank God.

Here is a view of the ladder setup that was used to get the first few Peruvian guys to the top. As you can see, the ladders are resting on three benches stacked on top of each other. This is definately the Peruvian way. 

The bell starts it's long journey to the top. Luckily the rope and pulley were testing by raising me to the top, so if anything broke the bell wouldn't get damaged. 

This is the bell almost at the top, resting on a ladder while we re-rig the pulley so we can get the bell into position. That's me looking out from the top. 

This is the final product...the bell is hung and we have it all rigged up to be rung from the bottom with the new red rope. Now all we have left to do is get down! 

Here I am in clinic with Dr. Archer and Dr. Salmeron. 

This picture is from the cathedral in Ecuador. I had to post it because it is the same Benedictine motto that I selected as the name of my website! 

The Bell

Both the groups from Christ the King have now come and gone, and we have about five days now with no missionary groups from the States. The next group arrives next Tuesday from St. John's, and I fly home with them in about two weeks. It's pretty incredible how fast the time here has flown by. The first half of today has been set aside for rest, but I've been told that after lunch we'll be working hard again. Yesterday was quite an adventure. Our job for the day was to hang a bell in the bell tower at the new Christo Rey church. So here's the story...
The church was built with no access to the towers, so we all stood at the bottom looking up for awhile trying to figure out how this was going to work, but the answer was ever so simple: use the Peruvian way. So we put up a couple ladders and a man from the village (who the villagers call Tarzan) shimmyed up and dissappeared through a small hole in the roof, only to reappear at the top of the tower. One more Peruvian went up, and those two attached a pulley to the top of the tower. The staff was joking around with me about me tying myself to the rope and going to the top, and I played along and tied into the rope. Before I knew it, they had hoisted me up to the top of the tower! One more American and one more Peruvian came up and we had our crew at the top. After the bell was painted, we hoisted it up to the top using the same pulley and after many adjustments, we attached the bell to the tower. We set up a rope system for ringing the bell, and I was given the honor of first person to ring the bell! When the bell started ringing, all the children in the school ran out of their classrooms cheering, and people from the village all came running to the church to see their new bell. (I'll post pictures of the adventure later) It was quite an adventure, and another lesson for me in things we take for granted that people here are so thankful for. Thank God.

What is Catholic?

Yesterday, the Archbishop of Piura, Archbishop Oscar Cantuarius Pastor, said the dedication mass for the new church Christo de Rey (Christ the King), and in his homily, he discussed what it means to really be Catholic and Christian. Many people here wear rosaries around their necks, but that, he said, does not make you Christian. Many people put up pictures of The Sacred Heart of Jesus or The Immaculate Heart of Mary in their homes, but again, that does not make you Christian. People also make long pilgrimmages to other cities as a sign of devotion, but even that does not make one Christian.

The Archbishop said that what should really define Christians is their desire to be with God in the celebration of the Eucharist, and their giving spirit. He told a story in which he was in Las Angeles saying mass, and before mass he saw a man near the altar and began to speak with him. The man explained that he was very sick and could find no work, and the Bishop asked if he had enough money for food and the man pulled out five dollars and said this is all I have. The bishop ended the conversation only to say mass, but he said that when the collection basket went around he saw the man put his five dollars in the basket. That, he said, is Christian.

The prospect of giving so much that it hurts scares most, if not all of us. Then again, most of us don´t even consider giving until it hurts, and usually stop at giving just so much that we can maintain our pleasant lifestyles. But wait, why should we even consider giving SO much, and sacrificing SO much? We give out of love already, even if it is just a little, so with that good intention, why isn´t our current giving enough? When we think about love, we should, invariably, use Christ as our model of perfect love. So, ask the question, did Christ love to the point of pain? The obvious answer is, yes, more than any other person in history, because solely out of love for us, his wayward children, Christ bore the weight of the world´s sin during his death on the cross.

Now, don´t get me wrong, I´m not asking you to sell everything and live in poverty to prove you have love in your heart. I´m only asking you to remember, that, to whom much is given, much is expected in return. But this does not mean just monetary giving. We are all able to give of ourselves in different ways, and with our different talents. As Pope Benedict reminds us, giving should, in fact, never mean primarily giving money, but rather we must give of ourselves. So what´s the point of all this? I just think you would benefit so much for yourself, your family, and all those around you if you gave serious consideration to what you have to give. Maybe you´ve thought about volunteering but you´re just so busy, but that little bit of giving could make all the difference in world for someone else. Maybe you´re in the Family to Family program and you just haven´t been able to find that five minutes to write a letter or send a picture to your family, but doing that can spread hope! Maybe you´ve just been trying to make time to pray more often, and you just keep forgetting, but that extra prayer will make differences in your life you can´t even anticipate.

The Gospel reading today tells us to take up our Cross and follow Jesus, and it is for each of us to decide what that means. Maybe it does mean giving more money, but maybe it means writing that letter, maybe it means going to church more often, maybe it just means taking a few seconds to pray, and remind God that you´re still with him. He is waiting for you to take up your cross, and if I can´t be sure of anything else, I am sure that in the end I do not want have to explain to Him why I was too busy to take up my cross. What´s your reason for not taking up yours?

Fresh Eyes

Today was very busy, because the group from St Patrick's in Chicago moved to the retreat house in San Jacinto, and the group of 27 from Christ the King arrived and moved into the church! It is great to have more familiar faces here. The groups have offered me some wonderful experiences, two in particular today.

First, a man from St. Pat's named Phillip decided on this trip to adopt a family, and he adopted one that he had met during his trip. Today was one of the girl's birthdays in his family, and he wanted to do something special for her, so after some discussion, we decided it would be fun to take the family to the mall and buy them some clothes, and a little something special for the girl's (thirteenth) birthday. Phillip asked me to come along as translator, and we went to Saga Fallabella, a store in the mall here, where Phillip bought the three children and the mother each and outfit of clothing, and a nice pair of shoes as a birthday present for the oldest girl. It was incredible to see the family in the store (which by US standards is fairly inexpesive) because, as the young girl told me, they had never ever been inside Saga because they could never hope to buy anything there. The children walked around with their hands over their mouths, or smiling, or giggling with excitement. What a fun experience. Thank God.

Also, tonight, the groups split into an adult group and a youth group for reflection and prayer time, and I served as the youth leader. After prayer and introductions, we all shared with each other our impressions of Peru, and I gave the youth group some things to think about during their time here. They were all so excited to be here, and making jokes and laughing, but at the same time, when someone else started talking about their experiences, everyone else was very supportive and respectful. It was such a treat to hear the impressions of the young(er) people on what I have become accustomed to. It was a great reminder of how much their is to see here, and the attitudes that are so benificial for a missionary. The youth are fun and vibrant, but also very intune with their spirituality and their mission here. I hope I can continue to hold meetings with them while they are here, because their reflection time is valuable for me just as much as it is for them, and it is wonderful and hubling to hear their impressions of the world they have entered into. Thank God.

Here I am at the border, about to cross into Ecuador. 

This is another of the churches in Cuenca, which was full of incredible artwork, as they all were. 

This is the statue of Pope John Paul II in the cathedral in Ecuador that he visited. This statue is about 14 feet tall. 

Home in Piura

We are back from our trip to Ecuador, and I must say, I love Piura. It was good to see Ecuador and to move around a little bit, but I much prefer Peru, and I think I´ll stick around here from now on. On a positive note for Ecuador, while we were there, we saw some amazing chuches in Cuenca, where we were staying. One of the cathedrals was visited by Pope John Paul II in the 90s, and they now have a huge statue of him in the church. We saw about 5 amazing churches while we were there, built from the 16th to the 20th century.

Another cool thing happened Friday in Ecuador, when they celebrated the coming on the Virgen of Carmen. There were fireworks going off all day, and from about 7 to 10 at night, there were tons of fireworks and a large festival near our hotel. They were launching huge paper baloons into the sky, there was a mariachi band, floats, street vendors, and two guys walking around in suits laced with fireworks that would occasionally shoot off into the crowd. At 10, there was a large float that they lit on fire, and everyone was singing songs and celebrating. It may have felt like a festival you would find in the States, but the mariachis were playing religious songs (that everybody knew), the floats had religious images on them, the street vendors sold food and, no not alcohol, but rosaries, and everyone was having a great time. What a great example of people coming together prayerfully and in peace, and still having great fun. Thank God.

Vacation

I just wanted to let my faithful readers know that I will be away from the computer until Saturday, because I am going to Ecuador for the rest of this week. You can expect a post on Sunday, though! Please pray that this trip to Ecuador goes well, and we are able to travel safely.