The Missions: San Francisco and San José

2008-07-17T11:31:00.003-04:00

the new web page for the banica mission is fr. o'hare's well written blog which he is keeping up to date.

five and a quarter years ago i began the blog and today i end it.

obviously the last five years have been filled with excitement and today i find myself packing a single carry-on bag for my return trip home (it's going to be close) with mixed emotions. i'm certainly happy to be doing God's Will by returning to the states. at the same time, leaving banica and the people here generates a certain sorrow that is natural and good. i trust God will take care of all of us, as Christ promised in today's gospel. so, having said that, let's check out a couple of stats:

over 3,000 Masses celebrated
almost 1,000 baptisms
over 60,000 kilometers of off-road motorcycling (without a single crash, just a couple of stop-falls)
1000's of nails hammered into roofs and walls
too many chicken dinners to count
rice and beans for 1915 consecutive days

i leave knowing that the people in banica come to Mass every morning at 0700 and the people in the campos have been receiving Mass monthly.

the school should reach record enrollment this year.

the tractor has plowed thousands of acres.

we have all said lots of prayers.

i would like to thank all of you who have been reading this blog over the years for your prayers and support. i know that i wouldn't be here still without them.

i'd also like to thank fr o'hara, fr murphy, annie, zack, tara, julia, veronica, joey, máire, the kirby family, michelle, and bebhinn for being down here and taking care of me over the years.

may God bless you all.

signing off for good,
frgee

2008-07-15T17:05:00.003-04:00

okay, lots going on here and i don't have my camera (don't ask). however, maria is doing a fine job of documenting the various events.

she hasn't posted on the big fiesta yet, but i suspect she will. it went very well. as a matter of fact, i can't, in my 5 years here, remember such a fine not-so-little party. there were plenty of people and some nice little remembrances of things we've done over the last 5 years.

a couple of days left. we're blessing the new grotto in the center tomorrow morning that mrs kirby had built.

happy feast of our Lady of Mt. Carmel (a day early).

2008-07-12T11:58:00.002-04:00

tonight is the big fiesta.

they're busing people in and even buying ice, so there you have it.

it should be fun, but only if people decide to show up; i have had many people tell me that they can't stand going away parties so they won't come. we'll see.

2008-06-19T13:11:00.000-04:00

here's a shot of fr o'hare and i after holy hour last night.

i really don't have anything else to say about it:

2008-06-16T16:17:00.003-04:00

the invasion is about to begin. starting tomorrow evening we will have the following americans here in banica:

three priests (frs. gee, murphy, o'hare)
two volunteers (maria and michelle)
9 christendom students in banica (24 may-19 july)
1 bebhinn (maria's sister) in banica (20 may-19 july)
10 christendom students in pedro santana (24 may-19 july)
20 students/chaperones from our lady of angels (17 june-30 june)
plus ron is coming tomorrow, a photo journalist on friday, dr. morch, and matthew shufflebarger who is going to work with dave in the center for a couple of months.

we also have two more groups coming in july, plus my departure and the addition of the kirby family replacement in september. overall it's a pretty big turnover this summer with lots of work.

it'll make for a overloaded holy hour on wednesday nights...

2008-06-14T14:02:00.002-04:00

God is good:

i've been transferred to Christendom College. it's more than i deserve, but that's nothing new.

my official report date is aug 4th, but i'm leaving bánica on july 18th and heading straight out to the school to make sure the transition is smooth.

so, the last ever blog on this site will be july 17th and then she'll close down for good.

thanks for all who were praying for a great assignment, God heard your prayers and then told the bishop...

2008-06-07T14:34:00.002-04:00

after 5 years and 1 month the Lord has recalled me to the diocese of Arlington.

that's correct folks, i'm heading back to the states sometime this summer. i don't know where i'm headed as yet, i should find out next week.

fr o'hare from our lady of angels will be replacing me - he arrives june 17th.

more reminiscing to follow, including the statistical breakdown of my 5 years here...

2008-06-04T15:57:00.004-04:00

it's been a while, i apologize, but things have been busy:

the kirby's took off on vacation.

20 students from christendom college arrived and will be spending the summer here doing work projects for two weeks and catechism/art/sport camps for 5 weeks. they might learn some spanish as well.

i had my 13th anniversary as a priest.

michelle went on vacation and returned.

my motorcycle broke down and i had to do a roadside carburetor removal and repair. missed Mass for the second time in 5 years.

i administered oral final exams to the 75 or so students that maria has been teaching for the last year. only 5 or so failed. not too bad.

we had to get rid of one of the dogs because the idiot started biting people without reason or warning. he's now living with someone else tied up. very sad.

i celebrated first communion in two different places. for pictures and details please visit maria's blog.

the rains have begun in earnest and everything is green and lush.

hurricane season is officially here.

that's all the news that's fit to print.

2008-05-17T08:05:00.003-04:00

the elections passed without too much trouble. leonel fernandez won another 4 years, so we will avoid the standard complete changeover of jobs, which means that progress on current projects in the country should not be halted.

however, the next two days will be filled with lots of noise created by loud music, motorcycles speeding through the streets with the mufflers removed, and the obligatory "drag sheets of tin roofing behind your car and motorbike". so, sleep will be fleeting until monday, since the president has ordered his people to party until monday, when they should "all return to work".

all this notwithstanding, the best news i have for you is that virtudes, our ex-secretary and laundress, who married hecfrates, our current school principal, had a baby yesterday. yep, married aug 16th and gave birth may 16th. no vital stats yet except that it's a boy. (she had to give birth in san juan, so we won't know until tomorrow or monday). that's just the way it's meant to be done.

2008-05-01T21:04:00.000-04:00

well, it's been five years to the day since i arrived in banica.

hard to believe that it's been that long - but it's been a great 5 years, we'll see what God has in store for the future.

thanks for all the prayers, and please keep them up.

2008-04-26T16:04:00.000-04:00

the Easter season is almost over.

i'm three days away from celebrating my 5 year anniversary down here.

the rains have begun.

the garden is growing.

the puppy ate all 3 kittens.

that's all for now.

2008-04-18T13:27:00.001-04:00

hey hey hey, look who appeared on the wall outside my office (She's about 4 feet tall):

2008-04-07T10:20:00.003-04:00

someone sent me a pic of the pavilion before it burned to a crisp. by the way, my best guess as to the cause of the fire is that either the wire you cannot see (it is on the opposite side) running from the dorm to the top of the roof or the one you can see was blown back and forth by the wind and the tin cap on the roof cut into it causing a short and therefore some serious sparking:

2008-04-05T14:27:00.002-04:00

i don't have a before picture, just a during and after:

2008-04-01T17:09:00.002-04:00

bad news folks:

the huge covered enramada (big cement floored, open walled patio like structure) in the center burnt down today.

thankfully, no one was injured in the blaze and about 100 people helped move all the boxes, wood, and other items that were underneath the roof. looks like it was a short circuit that caused the inferno, and we can only thank God that all are safe and sound, although we'll be hacking up smoke for the next day or so.

i'll see if i can get some pics to post.

update on the replacement costs forthcoming as well...

2008-03-31T09:28:00.000-04:00

5 straight days of rain in the evenings.

it's time to get planting.

2008-03-24T17:31:00.002-04:00

okay, time for a post-Triduum update:

i hope you all have followed the proceedings on maria's blog.

i spoke with a few people today and all agree that this was the finest Triduum in recent memory. we had great weather, great participation, and there was a sense (at least in part) that the Triduum is all about God.

the town has calmed down and the visitors have all departed, leaving us with a serenity that can only be found during the Easter Octave in a small town.

now, if the rain would just start falling...

2008-03-22T05:23:00.002-04:00

for some solid reporting of the week's events, including lots of pictures, please head over to maria's blog. she's done a fine job of summing things up so far.

okay, it's Holy Saturday and i just have to say that yesterday, Good Friday, was the quietest on record. so maybe those 7 weeks preaching about Christ's Death and the importance of keeping a solemn Good Friday actually convinced a few people.

2008-03-12T15:45:00.003-04:00

so we're driving to Mass today and maría, not to be confused with the other maría (from front royal, who was in the truck as well), flagged us down and we stopped to see what she wanted. since the whole town is aware of the unfortunate demise of bernabé, and she knew of our mutual devotion, she felt compelled to offer us this great looking beast (which we have named sixto):

2008-03-10T07:57:00.001-04:00

the king is dead.

bernabe had another accident on sat morning and died this morning sometime between 5:15 (when i saw him alive) and 6:30 (when fr murphy found him dead).

it stinks.

2008-03-07T14:55:00.003-05:00

it's rare that there is a first when discussing the history of the church, but we might just have accomplished it here in banica this morning:

5 american priests concelebrated Mass with me this morning and we used the second Eucharistic Prayer in latin. now, i know taken individually, i.e. 6 total priests, 2nd Eucharistic Prayer, and latin are not anything new, but the combination is almost oxymoronic, so there you have that.

unfortunately, they all had to leave this morning after a nice week long visit with two different groups.

otherwise all is well. it rained again and is a mild 91.2 today.

2008-03-02T07:45:00.003-05:00

to those of you wondering about the status of the marymount and charlottesville groups:

most of them left their homes friday morning around 5:00 am and they arrived in banica saturday night at 10:00 pm. that's the worst travel foul-up i've seen in my almost 5 years.

thankfully, all are well and motivated to get to work tomorrow.

2008-02-29T06:58:00.002-05:00

our first group of the year will be down tonight - marymount university arrives for the third consecutive year. they will be followed by a whole slew of groups beginning in may.

since they will be working in pedro santana, i'll leave it to fr murphy to keep you all posted.

otherwise, all is well. the friday soup dinner after stations had about 100 people last week.

i continue my onslaught about Good Friday (for more info see 2 posts below this one). only a few weeks left of lent, so it'll be interesting to see if this does any good.

that's it, enjoy the 29th of feb.

2008-02-21T07:18:00.000-05:00

Last week, I visited for the second time in my fours years here one of the more remote corners of the world, a town in my parish known as La Llanadita. This is a village of 8 houses, located on a mountaintop of nearly 4,000 feet. I celebrated Mass and baptized a half dozen children. Of those participating, nobody received Holy Communion, and I was conscious of keeping things simple and staying away from the details of the Lenten season that even veteran Catholics find a little confusing. Well, imagine my surprise when upon having lunch with the folks I decline some meat in honor of a Lenten observance and my hostess states that she doesn’t eat meat during Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent. Just when I think a community is completely in the dark about the faith, a beam of light cuts through. (photo pending better satellite connection)

2008-02-18T10:06:00.002-05:00

okay, i don't have much to say other than i am still impressed by the number of people that come to stations of the cross and the soup dinner every friday.

wait, i do have something to say:

an evil tradition has crept into the banica mindset and culture. they choose Good Friday as the number one party day of the year. so, i began on the first sunday of lent and will continue every sunday of lent to preach the importance of silence and meditation and penance on the day of Christ's death. we will see what happens...

2008-02-11T10:10:00.000-05:00

it rained last night - 10 feb. i think that's the first feb rain in 5 years.

it'll be good to get out on the road and not have to breathe in 2 months of dust...

2008-02-06T06:51:00.000-05:00

oddly enough, right now, at 7:53 am on ash wednesday morning, it's 59.3 degrees in bánica and 66.3 in front royal, va.

happy ash wednesday, we had a full church this morning for Mass and i'm heading out to sabana cruz for Mass #2.

2008-02-04T08:02:00.000-05:00

i'm back safe and sound, enjoying the nippy 64.5 degree morning.

it's 81.6 now (high noon).

2008-02-03T16:14:00.000-05:00

Finally, I found a community that wants to celebrate Candlemas. In the prayers that are included for the feast of Presentation in the Roman Missal there is the rite of blessing of candles. This is an ancient tradition that finds its source in Sacred Scripture when blessed Simeon declares our Lord to be the “light for the nations” when the Christ Child is officially presented in the Temple. Now, I found this community in the most unlikely of spots and it wasn’t all ‘according to the book’. La Peña is a three hours drive from the rectory and I arrived for my normally scheduled monthly Mass on February 1. The feast of the Presentation is on the 2nd of February (Ground Hog Day for us Americans), but I found my community, one of the many that time seemingly forgot, in the throws of a great feast. They explained to me that it was the Day of the Candle. Then I began to understand the confused logic. Traditionally, Candlemas is celebrated 40 days after Christmas. For most of our parishioners, one celebrates the day of the Lord’s birth, December 24th with a Christmas Eve dinner. So naturally, it’s a day early. But, that wasn’t the only irregularity.

After Mass, a few of the men who had kept vigil outside of church with their drums and home made rum lead the children from the home of the family throwing the party. The procession began from the family altar of the house that was covered in saints’ images, candles to be blessed and a variety of food placed in bowls. These altars are not unusual, but the food on it was a new for me. These men, with children in tow, walked ceremoniously to the other side of the yard where a stream flowed. I approached to investigate, but my presence seemed to be slowing up the works. So, I stepped back to look from a distance (I didn’t want to miss anything). One of the authentically pious, but simple women of the church, sensed my concern and assured me that this was a harmless plea for a heavenly blessing, but what I witnessed was some type of oblation to a stream. It is a neglected, but still smoldering Christianity that I serve here. It is full of frustrations and surprises.

Speaking of surprises, it has been reported that in the town of Costanza (not in my parish, but I believe in the diocese) this week had snow that stuck to the ground.

2008-02-01T18:23:00.000-05:00

thanks for all the prayers.

retreat went very well and i'm refreshed and ready to tackle lent.

please pray for a safe flight back to banica.

i'll get the lenten schedule together soon and post it.

one note of (perhaps) interest: as you can see, i didn't change the blog layout this year. i wasn't inspired to do so and thus the blog will remain the same for another year, or at least until my summer vacation when i have access to true broadband again.

2008-01-30T07:21:00.000-05:00

There are some of you who might be under the impression that we here in the missions have forgotten what it feels like to be numb in one's extremities due to low temperatures, I can assure you this is not the case. I had a nice motorcycle ride to church this morning in 53ºF weather. This may be a record for us in Bánica during the Fr. Gee/Fr. Murphy era. I can only imagine that my poor mountain communities must have experienced the low 40s. Fortunately, Sr. Gracia along with the Diocese of San Juan had a winter coat project this fall. So, they should be warm and stylin'.

2008-01-18T04:42:00.000-05:00

i'm heading out for my anual retreat tomorrow, so please keep me in your prayers. i'll be back in two weeks.

we've had problems in the past knocking down coconuts from this 50 foot tree in the back yard. we've climbed it, but it's current height and angle of growth have made it too dangerous. so, fr murphy and i tied a hatchet to a rope and threw the hatchet at the coconuts, but with a school in the landing area this became too dangerous as well. so, as we were examining these enormous coconuts yesterday we came up with the idea of setting up a 16 foot ladder and then building a ladder right onto the tree from that point. it's a little scary at the top, but more than sturdy enough to pick the 8 pounders safely.

2008-01-08T07:48:00.000-05:00

sometimes in life one needs to take matters into his own hands. so, when 4:30 rolled around and still no sign of the bishop, i told everyone that i was going to run the meeting. so, we all gathered and held the meeting. at 5:20, a mere 2 hours and 20 minutes late, the bishop arrived and i let him know that we were wrapping up the meeting. so, he only spent the next 45 minutes with them while i prepared the confirmandi and took care of setting things up for Mass. we actually started the Holy Sacrifice 20 minutes late, which isn't too bad.

he has headed off to the mountains with fr murphy, so pray that they have a safe trip. he'll be back on fri and we'll head to sabana cruz on saturday morning. just two more to go...

2008-01-07T15:20:00.000-05:00

okay - it's 4:21 pm and the bishop is now 1 hour 21 minutes tardy. the wind has picked up and a menacing cloud bank is on the horizon. the people have begun to nap. i'm just making the rounds and trying to keep everyone upbeat. i'm doubting that Mass will start on time, since we're 1.5 hours late starting the meeting, but at least this will shorten the meeting time some...

2008-01-07T14:28:00.000-05:00

live blog update:

waiting on a bishop is worse that waiting for a dentist. i mean really, we've got 100 people just sitting around. the beauty of the thing is that people will remain calm for another 30 minutes or so at which time things will start getting a little testy here at the home base...i'll keep you posted.

2008-01-07T11:58:00.000-05:00

it's that time of year again folks: every house in the entire parish has been visited and 20 questions asked and answered. the data is all in and the bishop will be here this afternoon to begin his annual pastoral visit combined with the yearly confirmations. it entails lots of long meetings, so prayers would be greatly appreciated.

2007-12-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

merry Christmas!

the season is progressing well. the town hasn't been too loud and the weather pleasant, if a little warm for Christmas (it's 85.3 currently). we just need to get through jan 6th and then things will return to normal, although the bishop is arriving on the 7th, so there you have that...

i baptized over 100 people in advent. hopefully we'll continue cranking out the sacraments, as la maria has done an excellent job preparing people in the campos. as far as i can tell the bishop will do over 100 confirmations during his visit.

here i am with the latest group from los yareyes:

2007-12-22T09:46:00.000-05:00

one thing i love about life here in the frontier is the way people just help:

today while driving to Mass i got whacked in the neck by a stinging insect. i reached down into my collar and tossed the thing out, but i knew from the pain that it had imbedded something sharp and poisonous. so, i stopped at a house, saw a young lady who i know mopping the floor, yelled over to her, she came out and i asked her to check me for any damage. she yelped and said, "oh yeah, you've got something in there." so, i asked her to remove it and she spent a couple minutes digging her fingernails into my neck until at last she removed the 1/4" stinger.

2007-12-19T12:50:00.000-05:00

i did 69 baptisms yesterday.

today, 2 Masses, one baptism, one confirmation, confessions, and a marriage, so i may run out and find an old lady to anoint to achieve the rare "6 different sacraments in one day" feat. but i doubt it, since it's my 40th birthday and i'm old now...

edit: also, we've acquired some bacon, so it looks like bacon cheeseburgers on the grill with sauteed onions and home made french fries for dinner, topped off with a little chocolate moose (sic) for dessert.

2007-12-13T07:05:00.000-05:00

sub-tropical storm olga has passed us by without any damage here in the southern part of the country. unfortunately, the north side took a bit of a hit, with 8 deaths. otherwise, just the normal flooding, but nothing like with noel - had olga run the southern course things would be different, so we're all thankful that she went north.

2007-12-12T04:39:00.000-05:00

happy feast of our Lady of Guadalupe.

the pig is being butchered as we speak - fresh tortillas, fresh pork (in the form of carnitas), fresh salsa, fresh home made refried beans and hopefully fresh guacamole (avacado season is ending unfortunately), will grace our table tonight.

2007-12-10T10:20:00.000-05:00

it's been a while, as my mother reminded me today, but things have been busy:

advent has begun.

the wall has been knocked down - that's correct folks, the new high school is now open and the 43 year rent-free occupation of the parish buildings has ended. so, we took down part of the wall that separates the back yard from the buildings. we have all sorts of plans for the buildings, including a parish hall, offices, garage, storage buildings, and perhaps a carpentry shop/school. only time will tell how much we get done in the next couple of years, as the roofs and doors are all in bad shape. otherwise, a little spit and polish should get the buildings into presentable shape.

finally, saving the best for last, i have spent the last two sundays preaching on the angelus. on the first sunday of advent we revived the old tradition of saying the angelus three times a day and we now ring the bell (in addition to the morning Mass rings) at noon and 6 pm and the goal is to have everyone in town stop what they are doing and pray the angelus. so far the people have responded very positively and seem excited to say it whenever the bell rings. i have to say, it is something to see people halt their activities and say the angelus together. we are hoping it will have a lasting effect on the town. so far, so good.

that's it for now. we are prepping for a trip from la maria's father and brother and obviously have lots to do to properly prepare for the Christmas season.

2007-11-22T10:44:00.000-05:00

happy thanksgiving.

the bird is on the smoker and things are progressing well for a 15 person dinner.

below you'll see my brother and two nephews on the overlook outside of the cave.

2007-11-19T08:59:00.000-05:00

below you will see the happy couples. their weddings have spurred on the rest of the folk and we have two more scheduled for next month.

we are in full swing for thanksgiving. my brother and two of his boys will be down tomorrow for a couple of days of visiting the campos, hiking, taking in a river trip and a big thanksgiving dinner.

2007-11-17T06:21:00.001-05:00

today i will celebrate 1 baptism, 3 marriages, and 2 Masses. the marriages will take place in rincon grande arriba, with the couples combining for a whopping 110 years together without having been married in the Church. obviously, this marriage prep process has taking a while and after more than 4 years of discussions the happy couples have all decided to finally make a commitment...

2007-11-05T07:16:00.000-05:00

electricity is back. well, it was back and then if left, but at least we had a good 10 hours or so.

the road has been temporarily fixed. just a few slow spots, but everything can know get out here.

we're taking a big yucca and plantain collection on thursday and plan on sending a big truckload to the displaced and homeless.

so, all things being equal, things are just about back to equal.

2007-11-03T14:50:00.000-04:00

time for some good news:

we had electricity for about 10 minutes, that means the main line is fixed.

it appears as if the road is now passable.

we sent, via dave kirby and his 2.5 army truck, 30,000 servings of dry soup to the needest of the suffering.

the real damage will be the impact on agricultural production. some people are claiming destruction rates of 80%, which will make things scare, especially since we're entering the dry season. so, pray that the crops can recover.

2007-11-01T16:07:00.000-04:00

the bad news update continues:

67 dead

62,428 out of their homes

30+ still missing

still no electricity

still no way to get to the capital from our diocese unless you want to take the northern route through the mountains, which requires a serious vehicle and is impassible to the big rigs.

our diocese has been the hardest hit, but we are organized and working. keep up the prayers.

food is becoming short as everyone is hoarding and so much of the local produce was destroyed on the big farms. so, until the road gets fixed things will be in short supply throughout the southern region, including banica. it's a good thing we just received a case of spam light on the latest sea-can...

otherwise, life is rather dull, since the secretary of education cancelled all classes until next week and people are entering the "6 days without electricity" depression that sets in after a while.

i'll keep you informed.

2007-10-30T07:59:00.001-04:00

things took a turn for the worse last night. latest counts in the country:

20 dead.

3500 homeless

48 hours of rain

still no electricity.

small and large bridges down.

we are all just fine out here in the highlands. it's all the rain that landed on the southern side of the mountain range that has flowed down south and the rivers and towns are all flooded. it's still raining, so hopefully it'll stop soon and we can all dry out.

2007-10-29T13:57:00.000-04:00

well, who would have thought that a small tropical storm could do so much damage? they country is currently without electricity and we here in the south are without access to the capital. that's correct, a bridge went out in baní and no one can get out to any other the major cities here in the entire southern region. so, it looks like fuel will be in scarce supply until they find a way around the problem. who knows when electricity will be restored, but it could be a while with over 400 poles down...

2007-10-05T08:02:00.000-04:00

i have been remiss in not introducing our new volunteer, miss michelle peterson from woodbridge, va. she arrived last saturday after having spent 3 weeks in intensive spanish prep in the capital. she begins teaching english class in the school on monday as well as helping out with the youth group and perhaps teaching ballet. pray for her...

2007-09-24T18:41:00.001-04:00

by the way, for those who are interested, bernabé continues to heal and he thanks you for your concern.

2007-09-24T18:34:00.000-04:00

the bell rang at 0520 and we headed out in the yearly procession of st francis at the beginning of the novena. we'll spend the next 9 days in a festive mood here in banica, with noise pollution growing day-by-day.

here's the group on the way up to the base of the cave:

2007-09-21T16:08:00.000-04:00

so i'm sitting in my office on tuesday and stephen kirby walks in and says, "uh, father, your dog got hit by a truck."

"which one?"

"bernabe. you see, he was following me on my bike and was fighting with 3 dogs and then the truck hit him."

"is he alive?"

"i think so."

so, up i ride on my motorcycle to the entrance of town, with people pointing me along the way, and find my dog all beat up and sitting against a wall. i finally got him mounted on my motorcycle and drove him home, all bloody and panting. after various remedies including the application of warm salt water and burnt orange juice and children's aspirin it looks like he'll make it through.

you'd think after having been whacked twice he would have learned by now, but as someone so wisely put it, "well, he's been hit three times now and lived, so he'll never die if he gets hit by another."

in parish news, the school enrollment is at 167 and we are now in immediate preparation for the beginning of the great patronales, which begins bright and early at 0600 on monday morning with the procession of st francis and Holy Mass for Our Lady of Mercedes.

2007-09-15T07:32:00.000-04:00

update time, things are in full swing here at the mission:

the school enrollment is now at 158 and climbing, an all-time high. the local grade school is under construction and none seems to know when it will be finished. looks like we might just fill up this year.

we have a workshop for all our catechists today. we're sending out the fleet this morning to pick up and deliver the 50+ catechists we have scattered throughout the parish. we purchased 1000 small catechisms (baltimore catechism style) and hope to have one in every house by december with accompanying classes.

our volunteer maria has embarked on a pilot program that may become the most effective program we have - we've set her up to teach religion in two public schools in the campos. she goes to each school twice a week and gets to 4 grades twice a week in each place. therefore, the kids will be getting two religion classes per week and from someone who actually believes. it will be very interesting to see the results over the next year, i'll keep you posted.

preparations for the feast of St. Francis are underway, the novena starts on 24 sept.

i'll dig up the camera this week and try and take a picture of two of the goings-on.

2007-08-22T17:23:00.000-04:00

time to publish the weekly calendar, as is tradition:

sunday:
Mass in banica 0700
Mass in sabana cruz 0830

monday:
Mass in banica 0700
bible study in sabana cruz 1700
the teresitas 1800

tuesday:
Mass in banica 0700
bible study in banica 1800

wednesday:
Mass in banica 0700
holy hour/confessions 1800

thursday:
Mass in banica 0700
youth group meeting 1800

friday:
Mass in banica 0700
religious ed 1800

saturday:
the teresitas 1000
Mass in banica 1800

the teresitas are based on the english "little flowers" group for girls. we have two groups that meet and will be working on the virtues.

in addition there will be about 15 other Masses in the campos, plus the catechism in the campos, all the work in the school, hospital, sick visits, and the running of the parish. not to mention the great feast days and the yearly patronales. so, it looks like a solid lineup.

2007-08-19T08:10:00.000-04:00

once again the central mountain range keeps a hurricane from smashing into us. we had a few showers last night and it's drizzling now.

below is a picture of virtudes and her father and me before the wedding yesterday. all went splendidly and fr murphy and fr jack even had to get me to leave the reception, which is definitely a first...

2007-08-16T19:46:00.000-04:00

you just have to love it:

in the biggest wedding in parish history, our school principal is marrying our parish secretary on saturday while hurricane dean bears down on us. it appears that the hurricane will pass well to the south, but it sure makes for some exciting preparations...

2007-08-13T10:39:00.000-04:00

07020516

that's the number we've been seeking for over 3 years - our school has finally been recognized and we've received the governmental approval necessary to ensure that our students here can continue being educated in the Catholic Tradition.

hopefully the secretary of education will begin paying some teachers salaries, allowing us to offer more scholarships and fill up the classrooms!

2007-07-30T18:38:00.000-04:00

finally. we're back online, but alas, there is something wrong with the island. i think it bobbles in the waves, but for whatever reason, the high-speed systems will not hold a stable signal, so it's back to the old, slower direcway. at least it works.

we have had a couple of big weeks here in banica, headlined with the ordination of father pedro, our long-time seminarian. we had about 1,000 people, two bishops, 20-30 priests, and all things being equal it went off without a hitch.

i'm sorry i didn't get any pictures, but i was too involved with the proceedings to carry my camera. there were a couple of visitors down here who took pictures, so i hope they send me some so i can post.

so, there you have it - we're enjoying the dog days of summer and getting ready for the arrival of 50 youth for a week long summer camp - should be loads of fun...

2007-06-28T18:03:00.000-04:00

good news - the new satellite modem has arrived in the capital and the men are working furiously to program it. since this is a new system in the carribean it will take a little while to get things up and running, but if all goes as planned we should have service within the next week or so.

2007-06-21T17:55:00.000-04:00

this is what you want to be doing on your last day of vacation:

2007-06-02T09:08:00.000-04:00

The front page of the paper today in bold type proclaims that the German ambassador says that there is a lack of order in the Dominican Republic. Whoever is teaching us in the United States that stereotypes are erroneous needs to get out of the country more often.

2007-05-29T10:24:00.000-04:00

I celebrated my 11th anniversary as a priest with a few firsts. I trekked into Layamaya solo. This is a village reachable with 3 ½ hours mule ride after a 40 minute motorcycle ride. I don’t think there are many folks using the internet who do such things for a living. Along with my anniversary, I am celebrating that the village was in great attendance at the Mass. They will now be in my regular monthly line up. There, I had the unique experience to drink fresh milk from a cow that morning. It’s hard to believe that a grandson of a dairyman would never have had such an experience till the age of 38. What might even be more unbelievable to you is that this is not a regular occurrence here. Interestingly, it is a rare opportunity. There aren’t many dairy cows and the people seem content with powdered milk. It certainly is easier to transport, store and keep from spoiling. Nevertheless, these were some enjoyable firsts for my first and tenth.

2007-05-22T10:06:00.000-04:00

Just showing off the parish

Ever ignorant of the cultural differences that separate me from the folks God has given me to attend, from our dinner table I handed our cook a small plate with a piece of sliced bread and asked her to toast it for me. She dutifully returned me the bread with a warning that the plate was hot; I guess I didn’t specify which I wanted toasted.

Last month, I was tending to a village reachable via mule. At the beginning of our return journey, my mule was well rested and full of energy and wanted to show the other mule who would be first in line. This started a race. When our exasperated mule driver finally reigned in the frisky beasts, he expressed his frustration by asking the one mounted on the errant mule, “Father, don’t you know how to ride a mule?” It must have seemed the height of irony for the man who cares for the parish mules to realize that the “owner” is completely green in the saddle. When he apologized later for being somewhat vexed he and his friend had a good laugh when I explained to them that nobody where I’m from has an animal for transportation.

2007-05-21T11:44:00.001-04:00

Whoever coined the phrase, “I’m a lover not a fighter,” was an idiot. Interestingly, it is a phrase often employed to justify bestial behavior for the libertine, but in reality it has nothing to do with the animal kingdom. In this realm, those who can’t fight aren’t “making love”. Thus was the fate of our beloved feline Gaebo who expired today. He certainly used up his nine lives, but because he had one of nature’s more gentle spirits he wasn’t very successful in scoring a mate, which apparently, he gave his life trying to do. Simply, he had a wound that needed stitching and there is no veterinarian to be found. I did have the pleasure of picking maggots from his wound in his last days, but lamentably, the medicine applied to kill the worms took him too. I can’t say he’s with the Lord, but he was named after the Archangel because he came to us the day that marks our Lord’s arrival at the Annunciation and he left us on the feast celebrating the Lord’s departure. If not a swallow falls from the sky without our Heavenly Father knowing it, I can only say that divine interest in Gaebo seems apparent.

2007-05-13T12:38:00.000-04:00

The army has been unusually active this week. There are multiple roadblocks between Pedro Santana and Bánica. Beyond just keeping the troops occupied, they seemed to be checking to see that papers are in order: that Haitians are here legally, that vehicles are licensed, etc. Interestingly, when I was asked to stop. The young soldier asked for my vehicle papers. Not that I had them to give. My philosophy is that when they give me a road, I’ll give them the papers. Well, a young passerby excitedly spoke up, “That’s the padre, he’s my jefe!” I didn’t even recognize the young man. But there I was, some exalted figure in his eyes. It is really difficult for my American mind to get a grasp on the Dominican understanding of the Church. They aren’t big in attending church, nor in participating in the sacramental life. But, seemingly, in some patriotic way they consider themselves Catholic. I have experienced cultural Catholicism before, but this has a new dimension then from a Boston Irish or Philly Italian Catholic. Here, the military does not have the right to vote, nor do the police. There is a fear based on history of a coup or of military dictatorships. They see the Church as the third institution. There is the civilian government, the military, and then, the Church. In their minds it’s the Church you can trust. So, while your politician is corrupt (or at least, extremely partisan) and your military could turn on you, at least you have the Church, the voice that might keep the others in check. While this doesn’t do much for promoting a personal relationship with one’s Lord and Savior, and I’m not sure how it’s helping souls be saved, it is the reason why the Cardinal is in the paper everyday. And, it is the reason why I may never see a soul cross the threshold of the church but I’m his padre: a mascot at least and a defender against tyranny ideally. Personally, I’m not ready to follow the footsteps of Pope St. Leo the Great and confront Attila the Hun outside the gates of Rome, but I must admit it’s nice to borrow his social status.

2007-05-12T11:07:00.000-04:00

With our spring rain comes a surge in grass growth. I’m employing a new, yet ancient, method of grass cutting. So far, I’d rather do it the 18th century method and pay a man with a machete to take care of this.

2007-05-12T11:02:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of blogs for those few of you who still might tune in. (I don’t even think my mother reads this.) We are without the internet in the rectory. Thus, there are added complications to making a regular post.

Yesterday, I awoke to a very rare phenomenon in these parts; rain. Not that rain is rare this time of year, but it is the waking up with it that is very unusual. It seemed to have rained the whole nightlong. To add to this remarkable experience I drove to the capital the next day. It was consistently cloudy and rainy the length of the trip. What a comfortable feeling it was. I guess I didn’t realize how tedious bright sunny tropical days can be without the regular full day of rain that we take for granted in Virginia.

2007-04-05T08:41:00.000-04:00

Holy Wednesday is the traditional day for our Caminata Penitencial in the parish of St. Joseph. We march from the church in Pedro Santana for about 3 miles to our chapel in Descubierta. Starting at 6:30am, we sing songs, pray the Rosary, and stop along the way saying the Stations of the Cross, to arrive a little more than 2 hours latter. We made progress this year in promoting the event to two other communities who met us in Descubierta for Holy Wednesday Mass. The only dark clouds overshadowing the event were the Mormons who were beginning a door-to-door campaign as soon as we got back to town. I’m not too worried though, if anything, it might get my people to start asking questions. See, for them, being Catholic is not something they really question. In most people’s minds it is the religion the government trusts, it’s the religion of all Dominicans, it is an institution that gives things to the needy, it’ll be there for you when you die. But, as flattering as this sentiment may be, the reality is, this won’t get them to heaven. At best, may be Protestants can get them to see there is an active choice demanded.

2007-03-30T17:00:00.000-04:00

we decided to hold the living stations today instead of having to piggy-back the Good Friday celebration after them like we usually do. things went very well, we actually prayed the entire stations as if we were in the church. here's a little photo album, click on the link and then on the clide show button for the big pics.

via cruces

2007-03-29T10:46:00.000-04:00

Our cat, Squeaky, gave birth about two weeks ago. This was her third litter with her consistent 3 kittens per litter. For two days now I’ve walk by this box counting kittens and scratching my head wondering, How is it that yesterday, there were four, today, there are five? It seems our worker, Juan Bosco, has been playing Good Samaritan and sneaking some abandoned kittens in the box. Well, in a parish named after the saint of good-report-with-animals, Francis, I can’t take issue with these clandestine adoptions. Everyone seems happy. I’ll see to it that mamacita’s milk rations are upped.

2007-03-29T10:27:00.000-04:00

I don’t think that I’ve explained clearly enough the dimensions of my parish—it’s big! This week we (Sister Gracia and I) planned a Lenten retreat with the intention of visiting our 6 districts in the Loma. It has also been a March without memorable precedent. This is the season that things are normally hot, dry, and dreary with fields and mountainsides burning. As weather is known to do, it changed. There are men in their forties who don’t remember a March this wet since they were young boys. Well, to attend to our retreat in Rincón, our Land Rover used all its British bells and whistles to scale the muddy and ruts passing for a “road”. We were hoping to meet up with two of the parochial mules for the trek to La Peña (a 1000 foot vertical ascent in just a few miles). The mules weren’t coming because the river Joca was swollen with the recent rain, so we made the decision to take the hour hike with just what we needed for the retreat and return that afternoon. We would head into Layamaya the back way after getting some sleep in our own beds. For us to get to this little village we would backtrack 4 hours (1 hiking & 3 driving), drive an hour the next morning and with our packs on the mules we would arrive 3 and half hours later. A total of nearly 8 hours of travel time for a detour that placed us in a village where four people attended Mass (one even communicated) and the rest were our taking advantage of the rain (i.e. planting early). Well, at least the very green scenery is nice to behold.

2007-03-23T14:10:00.000-04:00

this lent we decided to begin what will hopefully be a long-standing tradition: the soup dinner after friday stations. the idea is to have everyone who prays the stations on friday evening sit down afterwards and eat a simple bread and soup dinner, and then offering some sort of alms, thus tackling the three classic penances of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving with one thrown stone.

last week we had over 100 people attend the soup dinner after praying stations, so things seem to be well, except for the fact that the alms were less than 100 pesos. i guess 2 out of 3 ain't bad...

2007-03-23T13:49:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Pete Benedetto, the following photo was possible. Six months after Pete and I hauled the pvc piping and water tanks from the capital, the community of Rincón has begun their aqueduct project according to the plans and the piping Pete gave them. BTW, if anyone has Pete’s e-mail, I’d like to send him more info, but I’ve lost most my e-mail addresses recently. (This could be why you haven’t heard from me—but most likely I’ve been lazy.)

2007-03-23T13:33:00.000-04:00

Before this Lenten season slips away, I need to highlight some of our projects that have been accomplished this March through help of some friends from the States. Both groups from Christendom College and Marymount University gave up their spring breaks to spend a week in our parishes. With the guidance of Fr. Jack Peterson, Marymount University Campus Ministry (13 volunteers strong) put a garage on San José parish and built a house for a family who lost theirs due to fire. Our parish of San Francisco hosted 25 students from Christendom who spent their time building a chapel for the community of Pilón and painting two other chapels (San Andres & La Heradura). FYI, the community of Pilón, which never had a chapel, is the home of our first priestly vocation from the parish, Pedro (de Pilón) Mateo.

Working on the garage of San José

A helping hand to the homeless

2007-03-19T11:37:00.000-04:00

We’re back! We’re all back. I apologize for any insinuation that our cat Gaebo had been eaten by locals. Not that such a custom is unheard of, but miracles of miracles, this cat of ours shows up after a full two month absence. He left us to go courting, but he left with a bum paw, so after a week I figured he was a goner. The MIA moniker I assigned him wasn’t far from accurate. I would have been more right to say that he was a POW. When he returned to us. He was nothing be skin and bones. He was covered in scars and had a two inch bald swath around his caller; as if he had been tied up. So, we can only assume, he broke free of his bondage and made a break for it. It must have been some distance judging by the calluses on his pads. Where was he? We can only speculate. But interestingly, just as I was ready to indict to locals of cat eating, they are all ready to indict the Haitians for this unlawful bondage. Who knows? But his happy return, coincidentally, occurred the day after my parish began its novena to St. Joseph, in preparation for the feast we are celebrating today. So, Happy St. Joseph’s Day to all!

2007-03-17T07:48:00.000-04:00

we are back online. after a nice 30 day lenten internet outage, we are pleased to be back in communication. obviously we have been busy and will update you later on the goings-on, but for now i'll leave you with a picture of our new puppy, bernabe's son, right after he finished eating a pidgeon he had taken down:

2007-02-07T05:11:00.000-05:00

we have undergone an interet service change. however, no necessarily for the better, at least as of yet. we have some issues, which i cannot bear to detail here. nevertheless, we seem to be operational from 5-7 am our time (4-6 eastern). hopefully we'll have things worked out over the next week and be back to normal.

otherwise, we are gearing up for lent and the brunt of the dry season. the local aqueduct has been on the fritz for 3 months.

the new high public high school is progressing nicely, and i delivered the ultimatum to the contractor and the principal of the high school that their 40 year, rent-free occupation of our building would end with the close of classes this summer. hopefully that'll light enough of a fire under their feet to get things finished. then we can do some reconstruction around the parish.

more to follow when i don't have to write at 0551...

2007-01-24T13:46:00.000-05:00

GABO
R.I.P.
January 2005 – (M.I.A.) January 2007

In the comedic styling of Jeff Foxworthy (e.g. You may be a redneck, if you think family reunions are good places to find dates.)
You may be a camposino if the above image makes you hungry.
If you have a loose connection on your car battery and the first thing you grab to tighten it is a rock, you might be a camposino.
If because of an approaching rainstorm you flag down a ride from a pick up with vacant seats inside and you jump in the open back bed, you might be a camposino.
If you think the cat with new kittens has moved them to have them baptized on St. Francis’ Mountain, you might be a ...
(This is actually one of Foxworthy’s, but modified Dominican style) If you find yourself making change in the collection plate (and I add) in front of the bishop, on the altar, with help from others, you might be …
If upon arriving late for church, rather than unobtrusively sneaking in the back, you think it best to greet everyone the moment you enter regardless of what’s happening, you might…
If you think the best time to flag down a ride from a truck traveling 50mph is when he is passing by, you…
If you ask a ride from a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction you want to go, …
If you think that the only sin that you have committed in your whole life is throwing rocks at animals, and this you say with a straight face in Confession, you…

2007-01-24T13:40:00.000-05:00

This is how our local bishop, Msgr. Grullón, spent his 65th birthday. How are you spending your golden years? We visited 6 districts of the parish in 5 days, one day and night was spent returning. We had 37 Confirmations, and participated in hours of meetings about the progress of each of our 25 locales. The best news to report from the Loma is that the bishop is finally caving in to good economic sense. The road he has labored to install so that the foto of him on mule back wouldn’t be so common a sight is one that is supported entirely on generous donations. Well, the road nearly made it to the goal last year, but, unfortunately, all that progress was of little use to us this trip because of the great washouts from the rainy season. Fortunately, this has inspired a change of planes on the bishop’s part. His Excellency is now laying out a plan that will benefit the people in multiple ways. He wants to install a toll. Not that the average traffic on foot, mule, motorcycle or even pickup truck will pay anything, but he wants to charge the big trucks that make their way to the various markets and pick up produce on the side of the road. He has a different rate depending on what these truckers are hauling and he is including the local national guard post to assist the toll team in their collections. The folks will benefit from being able to maintain a road that not only makes life easier, but also supports and encourages an economy. Best of all, they will be able to do this themselves without constant handholding from the diocese or some other big institution.

Interesting anecdote from my mountain folks: When we arrived at our furthest destination, Sierrecita (Where the road ends). I noticed that the house that is nearest the chapel with the family that usually does our cooking was vacant. This is a sizable house by local standards, all wood with a raised non-dirt floor. When I inquired of the whereabouts of the residents with our coordinator of the community, he informed me that they are bunking down with him because…the house is haunted. Well, I didn’t let this pastoral moment slip by. I told them right away the reason for this haunting—they refused marriage in the Church when offered. I don’t remember this from classes in Rome regarding the sacrament of Marriage, but surely if a family doesn’t invite Christ to be the foundation of their family they are only opening themselves up to trouble. My demonology aside, I don’t think I know many people States-side who would open their 2 bedroom home to neighbors with 5 children because the family was claiming something spooky was going on in their own house.

2007-01-22T18:02:00.000-05:00

well, here's the new format. i'm not sure i really like it, but i can't seem to find anything else that i really like and i harldy feel like coding a site from scratch (or even halfway), so for now we're sticking with the simple and slightly colored page...

EDIT: i couldn't stand the red, white, and black. i've switched to this for the time being.

2007-01-11T12:11:00.000-05:00

sorry for the slight delay in posting times, we just finished the annual pastoral visit with bishop grullon.

we had the honor of attending the first ever deaconal ordination in the newly restored cathedral in san juan. also, we were particularly honored because the man who was ordained is from our parish. pedro (from pilon, a 2 hour walk from banica which he made every day to attend high school) is an outstanding young man who will, with the grace of God, be ordained a priest here in banica this summer. below you will see a picture of me vesting him and another of pedro and the bishop after the Mass.

also, please pray for me as i begin my yearly retreat on sunday. i will not be posting until after my retreat, and hopefully, when i do, it will be with a new blog format...also, the quarter-pipe is too small, a half-pipe is in the works and should be completed sometime in the first week of feb.

2007-01-07T11:31:00.000-05:00

Let it be known that the “we” in the previous blog had nothing to do with me. I’m just thankful that good ole USA style litigation hasn’t caught on here. The mission continues to hold a few surprises. I had a major startle this weekend as I was tending to the good folks of Rincon (2 ½ hour drive from here). I hadn’t yet walked into the chapel when a man accosted me. I had to ask him to repeat what he said, not because the Spanish was indiscernible, but because it was unbelievable. He asked me if I was going to hear confessions. He then, proceeded to lecture the tiny congregation of the need to confess before the beginning of the new year. I heard 5 confessions which is more than half of what I heard in town during Advent. The other startle in my trip to the Loma was to awake in a chapel to find a tarantula not more than 5 feet from my head. Interestingly, it was a greater shock for me that when during the same trip I tossed an unwrapped Power Bar in the path of a scavenging pig and she turned her nose up to it. Speaking of turning one’s nose up, there is a gourd down here called auyama. This vegetable has been called (by Fr. Gee) a fruit of Original Sin. Imagine an acorn squash, yet larger, with little flavor and extremely dry (at least, as customarily prepared). And as Murphy’s Law would have it, it would have to be one of the more popular dishes in the Loma. One the greatest signs yet of my progress in getting acclimated, was that last Saturday it was all I was offered for lunch and I ate it with only slight feelings of gagging. The gourd has potential, but is unanswerably missing something very important.

2007-01-01T16:08:00.000-05:00

look, we built a quarter-pipe, i mean a slide, for the school kids...

2006-12-29T08:26:00.000-05:00

merry Christmas:

our Christmas celebrations continue down here - at 0500 this morning yet another group of drunken stooges found themselves a drum and were serenading us with "feliz Navidad" - otherwise things have been relatively quiet and peaceful, as you would hope the Christmas season would be. below is a pic of the pesebre in the side altar of the church:

2006-12-26T19:06:00.000-05:00

My Christmas Day was spent at a sumptuous feast with our American volunteers the Kirby family, Maire Eggers and, of course Fr. Gee, and our friend Fr. Mike Seis from a neighboring parish. This topped off the day and set my equilibrium aright after a less than inspirational morning of saying Mass for a dozen people in the only Christmas Mass the town of Pedro Santana had. The rest of my congregation isn’t accustomed to attending Mass on Christmas Day or they were at the house of a family in mourning. This was how my parish entered into this blessed season: a teacher (of the public school) in jail for manslaughter and a town drunk dead. I’m not too clear on many details, but Deacon Roberto reports that the dead man was last seen by him stumbling drunk, wielding a machete, looking for a fight. Christmas Mass made me feel like the King in our Lord’s parable who gives a banquet and all the guests don’t show because they are attending to “better” things. Likewise, the sentiments of this parable were not lost on me as I headed out to the highways and byways in search of other guests. I found a truckload in two villages and brought them to my scheduled Mass in the chapel of El Córbano where we had a packed chapel. Another anecdote unique to a Dominican Christmas, during our Christmas drama, they were bold enough to use a real baby for our Virgin Mary to hold. Miraculously, he played a good baby Jesus, with no signs of Originial Sin which all too often manifest themselves at inopprotune times during my Baptisms.

2006-12-21T12:46:00.000-05:00

i've lost count of the amount of baptisms i've celebrated since the beginning of november, but it's close to 200. here is the latest batch, 42 people in banica:

2006-12-21T09:06:00.000-05:00

Spanish Moss Xmas Tree

Yes, the scenes of Christmas are a little different down here, but with some unseasonable rains the temperature is quite cool in the mornings (sweater or jacket weather) and being the shortest day of the year, dark. So, I will say that while riding the motorcycle all bundled up and passing a lighted Christmas Tree in the dark gives me a tangible sense of Nativity ambiance.

My last trip to the Loma afforded me my first opportunity to baptize a child Eduviges, or rendered in English, Hedwig. When I met the mother the end of November she was nursing her 4 week old baby and still didn’t have a name. So, I suggested that we let the stars decide. Which date was she born? I asked. When she responded October 16 she was in luck because it happened to be the feast of two female saints, Santa Eduviges or Santa Margarita. Apparently, Hedwig is the more popular name, the same day Fr. Gee boasted of baptizing a Hedwig in his parish. So at my Baptism, the sad reality of the break down of the family was comically manifest. Paper work is always a task in any culture, but in the mountains there are a lot of approximations filled in the blanks. In following the routine procedures of recording names, the father’s name is asked. What might be a sensitive subject for some young unmarried women doesn’t seem to carry the same discomfort in the Loma. Broadcast loudly across the chapel and the community of houses outside the window was the question, Hey! What was the name of that guy? All the girl or the community at large could come up with was a nickname. I did get a sense from a few faces that this was a laughably sad situation, but they seemed to have given up on the shame of it all long ago.

You all may be burned out on Christmas by the time you read this, but if anyone is still in the giving spirit, I’m looking to raise $2,500 to fix my leaking church and parish center roofs. All one needs do to make sure that 100% of a donation goes to this project is write the check to the Diocese of Arlington and include a letter stating that this is for the roof of San José parish, Pedro Santana.

2006-12-14T18:02:00.000-05:00

just after posting the two pictures below a young woman (fifa) comes to my office and says
"hey, sofie's having her baby, she needs a ride to the hospital"
"okay," i reply, "let's go"
so, after helping her into the car and beginning our 4 minute cruise to the hospital she starts intermittently screaming and moaning.
"hey fifa, check to see if it's coming out"
fifa reaches into the back-seat, lifts her dress and says,
"oh yeah, it's looking good"
"do we have time?" i ask
"maybe"
as we pull into the hospital i tell the guy on duty to grab a wheel chair. as he rolls up i am trying to help this woman out of the truck, but she refuses to close her legs. we are forced to give her the old 'double leg hold and lift' and set her in the wheelchair and head back to the delivery area. when we enter the maternity suite she decides to get up and stand. so, the guy removes the wheelchair and leaves. sofie then then decides to squat down over the cold ceramic tile floor. i'm thinking to myself, "well, this can't be right" and the doctor walks in and screams
"get off the floor, stand up, get on the bed." and then says to me,
"hey father, she'd just drop it right there, head first."
we finally get her on the bed and she pulls up her dress above her belly and starts screaming again. the doctor then starts laughing and calling her a coward and the nurse is telling her to shut-up and be quiet and then this baby basically falls out and i'm standing there like a deer in the headlights and i have no escape route because the door is blocked. so, i guess you'd have to say i was finally present for a complete birth...

hopefully she'll name the baby after st john of the cross, but only time will tell.

2006-12-14T15:31:00.000-05:00

the houses are just about finished, we're waiting on the windows to arrive. here is yaya and 5 of her 6 kids, (the other boy was playing in the river...). she was widowed a few years ago and has managed her family very well, all things being considered. this is a huge upgrade from the rented mud shack in which they were living.

i must add a second shot because when i arrived and told them we needed to take a picture the girls were in their lounging clothes and it took a good 20-30 minutes to get dresses on and hair done...

2006-12-02T00:52:00.000-05:00

For those wondering of my whereabouts, at least for the past week, I’ve been in my parish’s backyard. 25 hours, from 2:30pm to 3:30pm, to traverse from the top of the parish, Francisco José (home of the world’s best coffee), to arrive back to Pedro Santana (base camp). Quite a profitable trip: 30 baptisms and 4 marriages. The marriages are the first I’ve performed in either Bánica or Pedro Santana in the 2 and a half years I’ve been here. I would have had more marriages but two couples told me that they couldn’t get married in November because it is the month of the dead. Despite the non-sequitur, I have to respect the catholicity, I don’t think there are many of those married in the Church in the US that could tell me that November is the month of the dead. When it comes to the marriage issue, one would think that the Catholic Church just arrived on the shores of this island, then again, there are things that are just beautifully Catholic. One of the couples whom I married had their proud godparents in attendance. I may have not explained too clearly here. My couples had all been together, living as man and wife, for on average 20-30 years. Another personal interesting anecdote in gathering the facts of the couples, is that a few of them were grandparents by my age. (For those unfamiliar with the Fr Murphy bio that would be 37 years). I don’t know about you but that’s a challenge to my modern Northern Virginian perspective. When life is simple, why wait around? And by the way, why is our life so complicated? Is it our pursuit of things? Or is there a nobler reason? I’ll save it for another blog.

Back Yard of San José Parish

2006-11-24T11:20:00.000-05:00

while you all were sleeping off the tryptophan we were up and celebrating the sacrement of marriage with these three couples - really, i promise, they are happily married...

2006-11-24T06:52:00.000-05:00

oh yeah, two delicious turkeys, one roasted in the oven, the other smoked for 7 hours...

2006-11-22T15:27:00.000-05:00

keeping with the "nothing's easy" mantra of life down here, i present to you the alternative to heading to the local supermarket to buy a thanksgiving day turkey: last month we couldn't find any turkeys for sale locally, so we eventually sent someone into haiti to buy us two big birds. two days later he showed up with the two beauties you see below. after spending the last month residing in the center and being fattened up, today they met the hard reality of the machete to the neck. mrs. kirby will be cooking one in the oven and we'll smoke the other here at the rectory and then celebrate dinner with all the trimmings we could find locally. it looks like key lime pie will replace the standard pumpkin pie, but i'm not complaining...i'll take a nice picture of the feast tommorow if i remember...

2006-11-17T10:51:00.000-05:00

from the old mud walled, dirt floored, one bedroom shack to the new wood paneled, cement floored, 2 bedroom, living room with balcony house:

2006-11-16T18:19:00.000-05:00

i'm up to 32 baptisms this month and i haven't gotten to the big chapels nor the churches yet. i'm hoping i can do over 100 for the month.

also, my rcia class has 18 people in it. not too bad, although you really have to wonder how there can be an rcia class in a small town in a Catholic country, unless the country really isn't Catholic...

the house project continues and i promise to take some pictures.

2006-10-31T12:39:00.000-05:00

good news abounds: food for the poor, a Catholic aid organization, has planted its feet firmly on banican soil. they have already fixed 8 wells that were broken and today a group of 8 men arrived who will build 15 homes for people who are living in mud and stick huts. we had informed four of the five families that will receive the first five homes that they were first in line, but we hadn't decided on the fifth. so imagine what it must be like to be sitting in your yard with a half-fallen house next to you and see a priest arrive and ask if they would be able to knock down the old shack in the next hour so that the workmen could square out the area for the new house they would be receiving. i wish i'd had a camera to capture the looks on their faces.

i'll try and take some before/after shots.

2006-10-30T10:17:00.000-05:00

november is almost upon us and i realize that i have not published the local parish schedule. i'm heading into this school year with loads of hope and ambition, to wit:

Mass 0700 sun-fri
Mass 1800 sat
adult catechism class in sabana cruz 1700 mon
meet with youth group who is giving the talk on wed nights 1800 tues
ccd 1800 tues
actual youth group meeting 1800 wed
rcia in banica 1800 thur
ccd 1800 thur
holy hour/confessions 1800 fri

that's not to mention the work in the school, boxing classes, first friday's, and all the Masses in the campos.

so, there's plenty to do, and hopefully the devil won't find any work for idle hands...

2006-10-16T14:16:00.000-04:00

as you may know, the cave of st. francis houses a large bee hive at the entrance. to date only one group has been assaulted by the hive. today marks the second. a call came in saying that there were people stuck in the cave and they couldn't get up to them to get them out because the bees were going beserk. so, up we went to investigate. when i got to the second landing in the truck the three men and i jumped out and a single bee started making threats. i brushed it off and figured the hike up to the cave would be a piece of cake. as we began our ascent the only sound to be heard was a persistent hum. as we came closer to the mouth of the cave the hum had changed to a distinct buzz. then i heard one of the men say "here's one." i have to admit, the sight of a woman having been stung some 300-1000 (impossible to say) times startled me. she had bees in her hair and stingers covered her entire body. she just laid there barely breathing. so, we hoisted her up and started down. the bees took notice and didn't want to relinquish their prey so easily. having a full on bee attack can be quite nerve racking. they seem to get everywhere and the only recourse is to keep calm. i'd swear in a court of law that they actually entered the back of my baseball cap and knocked it off from the inside twice.

we finally made it down and took her to the hospital, which was already full of 15 or so others who had made it down under their own power. thankfully it appears as if all will be okay.

interestingly, neither i nor the man who was helping me was stung. i attribute that to good ole saint francis.