Okay, so I was not going to post again until next week, but something happened to me today that I feel like I just need to express to the universe and to all of you who may be reading!
This morning before Mass at the Chapel in the neighborhood, I was simply going to concelebrate the Mass with Fr. Raymundo and he was going to introduce me to the community. The Mass was scheduled for 8:30am. At 8:35am we were still in the sacristy and there was a flurry of activity with everyone trying to get things in place for the already (by American standards) late Mass. An older woman came into the sacristy and asked Fr. Raymundo if he could hear her confession. He pointed towards me and the woman came towards me. My eyes got big and my heart starting pounding rapidly. I could not possibly hear her confession. I thought my Spanish was not good enough for something like the sacrament of Reconciliation. I had to tell her in Spanish that I would not be able to hear her confession. She looked downcast and hurt. Eventually Fr. Raymundo took her aside and heard her confession.
So, what's the problem? Well, I feel like I am in a moral dilemma here because I did not offer her the sacrament, and I also think that others in the sacristy did not look kindly on my actions. So.... here's what I am struggling with. I am an official minister of the Church who is entrusted with administering the sacraments. A person in need came to me but because of my Spanish capability I was not able to assist her. I think of myself as a moderate in my theological beliefs. I think that in the sacrament of Reconciliation the priest should be able to understand what the penitent is saying so that he can give a penance that is appropriate, not to mention be able to say the words of absolution in the language that the penitent can understand. Because I could not do any of the aforementioned things, in conscience I could not hear her confession. Was I wrong? Should I have just let the woman confess, not knowing exactly what she was confessing and give her absolution? Was it more important that she wanted to confess or more important that I understand what she was confessing? If it doesn't matter that the priest understands, then why go to a priest in the first place? Why not be like our Protestant brothers and sisters and go directly to God? I am also trying to balance my own feelings about being put in this position in the first place and what is commonplace in Mexico. So, I am left wondering, what was the right thing to do??? Did I make an insensitive cultural mistake? Did I uphold the Church's understanding of sacramental theology over and above pastoral practice? Yes, I am in a dilemma.... any thoughts?
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Friday, August 28, 2015
Everybody's Working for the Weekend!
Well, here I am, and boy do those words to that famous 80's song ring true for me! What a week it has been indeed!
In my community there will be seven of us. At this moment two of the members are away and will return at some point this weekend. The Brother's have been very good to me so far and have been very good at correcting my Spanish, but also allowing me to make mistakes so that I keep trying. As the week unfolded, my Spanish became a bit better. I celebrated the Mass in Spanish on Thursday and Friday. Needless to say it was an act of humility. For a guy who is pretty confident in what he does, I was very nervous presiding at the Liturgy. In English, I know most of the prayers by heart and use the Missal very little. Well, in Spanish I am tied to the Missal and have to use ribbons that I never use in English. I hope in time this will get better...ojala!
I do feel like I am in the Novitiate all over again! The day consists of Morning Prayer followed by Mass and Meditation and breakfast in common. During the remainder of the day the other members of the community are involved in other things while I go off to school. In the afternoon the main meal-La Comida- is eaten. The evening consists of Evening Prayer followed by Meditation and La Cena. So, as you can see I am immersed in Spanish from the time I get up until the time I go to bed.
The name of my school is Ole'. I am enjoying my classes and my teachers. I was alone in my grammar classes which was both great and challenging at the same time. I was able to get very personal attention, but I was always in the "hot seat". I enjoy my conversation class because there are two other students in the class besides myself. A Japanese woman and a Dutch man. So, whenever we talk about "life situations" it is always good to hear how things are handled or done from different cultural perspectives. As with most Language schools, the student body changes from week to week, so I do not know if I will have anyone else in my grammar classes but I am pretty sure that I will remain in the same conversation class. While my Spanish may be a bit better than my two counterparts, I have to remember that this is the third language for each of them! During the week I also met a young Polish priest who serves a priest for the Diocese of Savannah. This was his second time coming to the school to study. He works with the Latino population in his diocese. It was good to have someone to speak with during the breaks. He leaves tomorrow.
So, all in all, it has been a good week. Ten Lessons learned this week:
1. How to get to and from school without getting lost!
2. I have been here for 5 days and I will not speak or understand as if I have been here for 6 months
3. Each day gets better.
4. From the Our Father, "Give us this day our daily bread"- my daily bread is the ability to make it through another day and not worry about next week or next month.
5. The Brothers I live with are good men.
6. Something as simple as not having a reclining chair in your bedroom can be off putting and a source of consternation.
7. I miss my friends, family and community members more than I thought I would.
8. Community life is the same wherever you go-there will be people who eat the food you specifically purchased for yourself and then go on to eat everything else!
9. While its important to review and be prepared, it's not the end of the world to make a mistake.
10. I am definitely not in charge.... taking the bus is a metaphor for Mexico-sometimes there is no rhyme or reason for why things happen or don't happen-it's just the way it is.
Well I am working for the weekend here. Happy to be free from travel and classes for the next two days. Keep me in your prayers! Would love to hear some responses. Muchas gracias por tu amor y amistad.
In my community there will be seven of us. At this moment two of the members are away and will return at some point this weekend. The Brother's have been very good to me so far and have been very good at correcting my Spanish, but also allowing me to make mistakes so that I keep trying. As the week unfolded, my Spanish became a bit better. I celebrated the Mass in Spanish on Thursday and Friday. Needless to say it was an act of humility. For a guy who is pretty confident in what he does, I was very nervous presiding at the Liturgy. In English, I know most of the prayers by heart and use the Missal very little. Well, in Spanish I am tied to the Missal and have to use ribbons that I never use in English. I hope in time this will get better...ojala!
I do feel like I am in the Novitiate all over again! The day consists of Morning Prayer followed by Mass and Meditation and breakfast in common. During the remainder of the day the other members of the community are involved in other things while I go off to school. In the afternoon the main meal-La Comida- is eaten. The evening consists of Evening Prayer followed by Meditation and La Cena. So, as you can see I am immersed in Spanish from the time I get up until the time I go to bed.
( 4 of the Mexican Brothers:
Top: Nereo and Regulo
Bottom: Fermin and Juan)
When I first said yes to my Provincial to go to Mexico, I was supposed to go first to our community in Puebla and study at a Language School there. That school was approximately 30 miles away by bus and walking. Well.... In Queretaro I spend between 2.5-3 hours a day in travel time to and from the school. The bus ride is also not the most comfortable mode of transportation. The seats are designed for people who usually don't exceed 5'8" and are on the slim side-and as you all know, I am neither! Right now I listen to music on the bus. Perhaps in a little while I may use the time to read or study Spanish, but for now, that time of English music is a respite for me. 
So, all in all, it has been a good week. Ten Lessons learned this week:
1. How to get to and from school without getting lost!
2. I have been here for 5 days and I will not speak or understand as if I have been here for 6 months
3. Each day gets better.
4. From the Our Father, "Give us this day our daily bread"- my daily bread is the ability to make it through another day and not worry about next week or next month.
5. The Brothers I live with are good men.
6. Something as simple as not having a reclining chair in your bedroom can be off putting and a source of consternation.
7. I miss my friends, family and community members more than I thought I would.
8. Community life is the same wherever you go-there will be people who eat the food you specifically purchased for yourself and then go on to eat everything else!
9. While its important to review and be prepared, it's not the end of the world to make a mistake.
10. I am definitely not in charge.... taking the bus is a metaphor for Mexico-sometimes there is no rhyme or reason for why things happen or don't happen-it's just the way it is.
Well I am working for the weekend here. Happy to be free from travel and classes for the next two days. Keep me in your prayers! Would love to hear some responses. Muchas gracias por tu amor y amistad.
Monday, August 24, 2015
The First Day!
Well. I wasn't going to post until Friday, but I thought my experience from getting off the plane in Queretaro until the writing of this post was too good to pass up!
We arrived in Queretaro and another plane was ahead of us, so getting through customs took a good amount of time. Since I was not able to send some of my belongings successfully ahead of my arrival, I had way too many suitcases with me. I was sure that I was going to have to go through the line where they search through your items. Three people ahead of me received the green light to go directly to the exit so I was sure that I was going to get the red light.... but as fate would have it when I pressed the button, it revealed green! Alleluia! One of the Brothers from the community was there to pick me up. He does not speak much English so our car ride home was very long. In addition to the airport being a good distance from the community, there was an accident on the highway so we had to go through the "back" roads. The roads were not well lit and we made our way through the countryside with very few people on the road. It was a scene out of a movie where I was sure bandits were going to commandeer our car and all my earthly possessions! What would have been about a 40 minute car ride turned into a 90 minute car ride. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time we arrived in the community. The other members of the community who were home all greeted me warmly and showed me to my room. I was so tired I just went to my room and tried to get ready for the next day.
We had prayer at 7am followed by a Liturgy of the Word Service. I will probably preside at Morning Eucharist in a few days...I just want to get more acquainted with Spanish before I take on that task. I ate breakfast quickly and another Brother went with me into the city to go to the Language School. We were on the bus for about 40 minutes and I was already late for my 8:30am appointment. We got off the bus in the vicinity where he thought the Language School was located..... well, it was no where near there! It was a sight for him to be walking fast and me lagging behind him. We must have walked about 2 miles and I thought well so much for my first impression on the first day of class- late, sweaty and embarrassed. We eventually arrived at the Language School at 9:30am. I was given a teacher and proceeded to speak in Spanish. The first hour I was the only student in the class. I think I did okay, but the first few minutes were difficult as I was so distracted for being late that even simple words that I knew would just not come to me. After a deep breath, things got better. I did have two other members in my conversation class. A young man from Ireland and a young woman from Japan. They each have been at the school for a number of weeks. It was good to have others speak so that I wasn't in the "hot seat" for the whole hour! At the end of the classes I took a taxi back to the community because I was so turned around from the exploits of getting to the school that I really had no idea where I was. The taxi cost more than I had anticipated but I was able to pay with the money I had changed previously.
So, tomorrow things may be different.... I do not have to be at the school until 12:30 and I will have classes until 3:30pm. My homework for today is to figure out a better way of getting to and from school without the expense of the taxi. Pray for me!
I will try and post on Friday and try to keep to that schedule. Lesson learned.... be flexible!
We arrived in Queretaro and another plane was ahead of us, so getting through customs took a good amount of time. Since I was not able to send some of my belongings successfully ahead of my arrival, I had way too many suitcases with me. I was sure that I was going to have to go through the line where they search through your items. Three people ahead of me received the green light to go directly to the exit so I was sure that I was going to get the red light.... but as fate would have it when I pressed the button, it revealed green! Alleluia! One of the Brothers from the community was there to pick me up. He does not speak much English so our car ride home was very long. In addition to the airport being a good distance from the community, there was an accident on the highway so we had to go through the "back" roads. The roads were not well lit and we made our way through the countryside with very few people on the road. It was a scene out of a movie where I was sure bandits were going to commandeer our car and all my earthly possessions! What would have been about a 40 minute car ride turned into a 90 minute car ride. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time we arrived in the community. The other members of the community who were home all greeted me warmly and showed me to my room. I was so tired I just went to my room and tried to get ready for the next day.
We had prayer at 7am followed by a Liturgy of the Word Service. I will probably preside at Morning Eucharist in a few days...I just want to get more acquainted with Spanish before I take on that task. I ate breakfast quickly and another Brother went with me into the city to go to the Language School. We were on the bus for about 40 minutes and I was already late for my 8:30am appointment. We got off the bus in the vicinity where he thought the Language School was located..... well, it was no where near there! It was a sight for him to be walking fast and me lagging behind him. We must have walked about 2 miles and I thought well so much for my first impression on the first day of class- late, sweaty and embarrassed. We eventually arrived at the Language School at 9:30am. I was given a teacher and proceeded to speak in Spanish. The first hour I was the only student in the class. I think I did okay, but the first few minutes were difficult as I was so distracted for being late that even simple words that I knew would just not come to me. After a deep breath, things got better. I did have two other members in my conversation class. A young man from Ireland and a young woman from Japan. They each have been at the school for a number of weeks. It was good to have others speak so that I wasn't in the "hot seat" for the whole hour! At the end of the classes I took a taxi back to the community because I was so turned around from the exploits of getting to the school that I really had no idea where I was. The taxi cost more than I had anticipated but I was able to pay with the money I had changed previously.
So, tomorrow things may be different.... I do not have to be at the school until 12:30 and I will have classes until 3:30pm. My homework for today is to figure out a better way of getting to and from school without the expense of the taxi. Pray for me!
I will try and post on Friday and try to keep to that schedule. Lesson learned.... be flexible!
Sunday, August 23, 2015
The Adventure Begins
Well, the day is finally here. Today I leave for my adventure in Mexico! I just finished three days of meetings with the Provincial Council and tried to do a bit of packing each day. This morning is about cleaning and final preparations. I arrive in Queretaro tonight and hope that one of the Brothers will be there to pick me up! I do have more things with me than I would have liked to carry on the plane, but that's another long drawn out story that some of you know already. I do begin Language School tomorrow, Aug. 24th. The Language School is called, Ole! I will be placed in a group with other students who are at the same level of proficiency in Spanish as I currently am. My plan is to attend the school for 4 weeks for 3 hours a day and to also have a one-on-one tutoring session once a week. After the four weeks I will evaluate if I will continue with group classes or just attend individual tutoring. I have much to learn, but I will need to see what will be the best way for me to learn and perfect my language skills.
I embark on this adventure with great enthusiasm and trepidation! I feel like I can make a contribution to my Marianist community by accepting this assignment, but I do go to Mexico alone. Everything will be new, so I will need to handle those stresses with great care. I will certainly need your prayers and encouragement along the way!
My hope is to document my journey with weekly postings and share with all of you the trials and tribulations of learning a language and ministering in a different culture. I am hoping to not only share the funny and humorous moments, but also, the poignant, challenging, and difficult moments that may arise during my time in Mexico. In the end, I will need to be patient with myself and patient with the process of cultural immersion. Since this is my first blog, it is simple in design, and as I become more familiar with the tools on this site, I will try to incorporate pictures and other things that will give life to the written word.
So, pray for me and I will try to keep in touch the best I can. I will have a plan on my phone that will provide me access to so many minutes for talking and texting. You can also email me as we do have WIFI in the community.
THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD!
ESTE ES EL DIA EN QUE EL SENOR HABIA HECHO. REGOCIJEMONOS Y ALEGREMONOS!
I embark on this adventure with great enthusiasm and trepidation! I feel like I can make a contribution to my Marianist community by accepting this assignment, but I do go to Mexico alone. Everything will be new, so I will need to handle those stresses with great care. I will certainly need your prayers and encouragement along the way!
My hope is to document my journey with weekly postings and share with all of you the trials and tribulations of learning a language and ministering in a different culture. I am hoping to not only share the funny and humorous moments, but also, the poignant, challenging, and difficult moments that may arise during my time in Mexico. In the end, I will need to be patient with myself and patient with the process of cultural immersion. Since this is my first blog, it is simple in design, and as I become more familiar with the tools on this site, I will try to incorporate pictures and other things that will give life to the written word.
So, pray for me and I will try to keep in touch the best I can. I will have a plan on my phone that will provide me access to so many minutes for talking and texting. You can also email me as we do have WIFI in the community.
THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD!
ESTE ES EL DIA EN QUE EL SENOR HABIA HECHO. REGOCIJEMONOS Y ALEGREMONOS!
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