Corpus Christi in Honduras

Gathering in the Cathedral for Mass

   Sunday evening saw us gather in the Cathedral for the celebration of the Garifuna Mass.   I began to tell their story yesterday. They are a people who live in this region of Honduras. They were originally slaves whose ship wrecked off of Haiti only then to settle on an island that was occupied by the British. After 2 centuries they left the island and came to Honduras. They speak their own dialect and have their own music which was used beautifully during the Mass.

  

Main Square in Trujillo

      I was struck by the fact that on this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ we not only thanked God for the Eucharist in which we receive His Body but also had a wonderful expression of the Body of Christ as a gathering of all peoples with the Garifuna, the Hondurans and our group of missionaries from Arkansas.   We truly are the Body of Christ.

The Mission Begins

Clinic at Maranones

Fr. John

It's late on Sunday afternoon and we are getting ready to go to the Cathedral for Mass. You will hear about that in the morning (If the internet is running).  Work began at allof the clinics, the hospital and the construction sites.  I headed out with Emmet Guillory, the head of the Evangelization team to Maranones and Las Leonesto be present at the clinics and construction sites there and to have initial contact with the people. It was a very moving experience. At Maranones a woman asked me for Confession. She came with her little baby in arms. Afterwards she asked me if there was a medicine for her baby. I led her to some of the nurses who were with us and yes, thaey had what she needed.  The smile on her face said a million words.  In Los Leones at the dental clinic I came to appreciate the many crowns in my mouth as I realized that because of the level of dental hygiene many teeth simply had to be extracted. People were grateful for that because many of them had been living in pain for quite a while.  I will let pictures tell the rest of the story.  Just keep scrolling down

People waiting at Los Leones clinic

games for children

Emmet

Preparing dental patients

Dentists at work

Everyone's Here

Mountain view from our Hotel

Arrival of Saturday Missionarie

 Good morning! The internet was down last night.  Expect that to happen as the week goes on. We had a great relaxing day and the Saturday travelers arrived for Mass and dinner. The Mass was offered for David Greenway, the brother of Don Greenway, a missionary who could not come  so that he could be with his brother in his illness. Today we get to work. Our Evangelization Team will go along with some of the clinic teams so that we can meet people in the various towns and prepare for the "encuentros" which take place later in the week.

  An encuentro is an all morning or all afternoon event that includes visits to the sick, catechesis, confessions and Mass. The work of the doctors and the other medical people here is truly amazing. I have heard stories of what they accomplished in previous years and look forward to what may happen this year.  One thing that impresses me is that they work with local doctors, clinics and hospitals and respect what they have been doing.

Mass with entire team

More Saturday arrivals

   This afternoon we have a special Mass at the Cathedral called the Garifuna Mass. The Garifuna are black people with an incredible history of arrival in Honduras that began with them being on a capsized slave ship.You might want to Google that word and see what comes up. At any rate if the internet is running I will have a report from that Mass later on.

Honduras--Settling In

Trujillo Bay from my room

  The sun rises early here (about 5 AM) and so many of us were awake then.  I slept really well last night and got up to look out and see that our hotel is right on the beach overlooking Trujillo Bay.

Enjoying breakfast

   Today will be a relaxing day but one filled with anticipation. Tonight we will have Mass after the rest of the team arrives. Some in the group will tour a local hot springs location this afternoon, others will rest up and be ready to get going tomorrow. Our evangelization team will be visitng three sites tomorrow and meeting with people in the towns where later in the week we will be conducting "encuentros".  There will also be a special Mass with the bishop tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon.  I will say more about that down the road.  I am taking advantage today for the opportunity to mingle and to get to know the wonderful people who make up our missionary team. 

Some of us enjoyed a walk together

More of the gang at breakfast

You may notice the white T-shirts. They are our "uniforms" when we go out. This year they say "Jesus, El Buen Pastor" or Jesus the Good Shepherd, this years theme.

On most days it will be an effort to post once. Today I hope to post again with pictures of our Mass after the rest of the gang arrives.

Arrival in Honduras

Dinner at Christopher Columbus Hotel

Boarding Bus at San Pedro Sula airport

On the way

 It was a long day. We met at the Little Rock airport at 4:30 AM and arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras around 11 AM.  After getting something to eat at the airport we left on a 6 hour bus ride. It was long and tiring but it gave this writer a chance to reflect.  This is a group of truly dedicated, but also fun-loving people.  The mission is mufti-faceted--medical, with several clinic sites and a hospital site. Likewise there are dental and eye clinics.  There is a construction team as well as a team of teenagers/ I am on the evangelization team.  We will be visiting clinics and hospitals as well as leading encuentros n various villages.

   As we traveled along i was struck by the beautiful scenery with high mountains, lush tropical vegetation, as well as farm land.  I saw people working hard at various trades and observed that beautiful as the land is that it is a very poor country with people walking and riding bicycles, though there were certainly many cars on the road. We had a great meal at the Christopher Columbus hotel where we are staying. 

  Tomorrow is a day of preparation and getting ready to greet the rest of the team who arrive tomorrow evening. On Sunday we get down to work.Stay ready to hear more news. When the sun rises I will get more pictures of the area.

Honduras Mission Trip--Getting Ready

Friends,
Over the next few days I will be traveling to Trujillo Honduras on a mission trip sponsored by Christ the King Parish in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I will try to post a day by day journal of what happens leading up to and during the trip.

June 6, Wednesday I arrived in Little Rock today and am staying at the home of my cousin, Deacon Dan Hennessey and his family until we depart early on Friday morning, June 8.  There is a Mass tonight celebrated by the pastor, Msgr. Malone, at which we missionaries will be blessed.

Wednesday Evening, June 6.

 Mass was celebrated at Christ the King Church by Msgr. Francis Malone, the pastor. (pictured below) The mass included a blessing for the missionaries who are traveling to Honduras.  Thursday will be a day for final packing and preparation.  Early to bed on Thursday evening because we need to be at the airport at 4:30 AM

Trinity Sunday: A Message from a Little Jewish Boy

  This Sunday is called Trinity Sunday or, to be exact, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.  A number of years ago someone asked me, "Father John, why do we celebrate a doctrine?"  An interesting question and an understandable one because we think of the Trinity in those terms, as a doctrine or teaching, one which we certainly can't figure out, but which we nonetheless believe.  The picture to the left is typical of that understanding. It shows the Father and the Son with the dive representing the Spirit up in heaven.  But what does that have to do with you and me?

   Back in 1993 I had the privilege of making a study tour of the Holy Land. While we were there we were often in the company of Israeli citizens who were going about their business and also exploring the same places that interested us Christians.  One day our group was at a site alongside Lake Gennesaret (the Sea of Galilee).  In the parking lot there was a Jewish group arriving at the same time as ours.  Soon after we arrived a little boy of about five years old in the Jewish group fell down and smacked his head on the pavement.  There was stunned silence. After about 30 seconds which seemed an eternity the little guy started crying loudly.  While no one likes to hear a young child cry like that there was relief.  He was breathing. He would be OK. Naturally he was later taken to be  checked just to be sure.  In the meantime as the boy got his bearings he jumped up and ran toward his father who was also running to him.  The boy kept shouting through his tears, "abba, abba, abba, abbaaaah!" The father bent down and picked the boy up, wiping away his tears and calming him.

   Upon witnessing this the impact of that word "abba" struck me. Most of us know that it means "father", but in context it can mean "daddy" or "pop". This was clearly a daddy moment.  THe whole scene reminded me that when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray He said to them, "When you pray, say Our Father (Abba) who art in heaven, etc."  He wasn't just giving them a formula of prayer, but a special way of relating to God. He was saying in effect. "Let me Abba be your Abba too. Let our Spirit dwell in you too."
In other words the Trinity is not just an abstract doctrine but a divine reality in which we live.. If we understand that the whole universe was created in Christ (see John1) we understand that God is not just out there someplace, but is an eternal expression of love that draws us in and who in turn acts through us. That is what we celebrate today.  Sr. Ilia Dileo, OSF, a theologian, says that the universe is the Trinity doing the wave.  Think about that.  Let Jesus bring you to Abba. Let their Spirit move in you and be part of the wave.