Liking Huanusco, Zacatecas very much!

I can’t believe I have been here for 15 days. It seems like I just got here yesterday! The people are eager to get going with catechism classes. All of my printed material has to go to the Internet Café and print all my documents, etc. Not an easy task!
After Holy Week and all the Easter services, we started the Novena to the Divine Mercy—a bit late but we pray the chaplet at 3:00 p.m. daily.
We have daily Mass at 8:00 p.m. which makes my seven-block walk home in very dark streets. I always ask someone to accompany me. Imelda, who lives one block from me, always volunteers to walk me home.
I go to Lauds at 8:00 a.m. …. we have about 4 people who gather for that. At 3:00 p.m. is the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy to prepare for the feast this Sunday … today there were around 12 adults and children. At 5:00 p.m. there is a prayer group. At 8:00 p.m. we have Holy Mass with around 40 people and about 6 altar servers. That is an incredible amount of people for such a small town, I think.
Father and his secretary bought me fruit – a huge papaya, about 4 pounds of oranges for fresh squeezed orange juice, about 6 large mangos, a bundle of bananas and a jug of water. Margarita gave me three kinds of homemade cheese: queso fresco, ricotta and something like a brie cheese. My refrigerator is packed full. Earlier I had totally emptied the fridge and washed all the racks, etc. Now that she is on vacation so I can clean one area of the house at a time. I have seen no scorpions but that does not mean they are not around. I have not seen any cockroaches either. Thank God.
Hortencia is staying with me every night so that I do not sleep alone while the teacher is out of town this week. Hortencia took me to her twin sister’s home for lunch at 3:45 p.m. Her sister is one who goes back and forth to the USA with her husband. Hortencia never married and her sister never had any children. Her sister lives in a nice home. For lunch we had watermelon to start with. We had both homemade buttermilk or some sort of very sour yoghurt and tortillas next. She fixed roast chicken with zucchini, green beans, carrots and freshly boiled beans. She served pink guayaba drinks. For dessert we had toast with peanut butter and jam. How is that for a twist?!
Margarita, her husband and Eva, their college daughter, invited me for breakfast this morning. They are looking for a place for me to stay close to the church. They have a home behind the church and there is an empty home next to theirs. (In the end the owners called and said they would not be willing to rent.) Eva has visited two convents this past year. She is discerning her vocation. She says she wants to work with the elderly folks in a nursing home. She visited the Oblates of St. Joseph. She liked it so much she wanted to stay but her parents insisted she finish college first.
She is the second young lady who has approached me about their religious inquietudes. Marcela Ponce Ruiz also wants to discern her vocation. She is finishing high school in July. She is very mature for her age.
Monsignor Antonio Soto gave me a surprise visit. I was sitting in church fanning myself with my Spanish fan when I felt someone was kneeling down next to me and asking me if I was hot. Oh, my! I turned around and there he was. I was shocked to see him. It has been like two months since I last saw him. We went off to a little corner of the church and chatted. He was very pleased with my report. He wanted to know how Sister Adele Marie’s report was received. He wanted to know if I was well-taken care of and all. It was so good to see him!
Father Jesus Guerrero, the pastor here, is nervous about the consecration ceremony which will take place on May 10th in the little town of Arellano. We have worked out a program with the outline sent by the bishop’s office. I will need to teach lots of new songs to the congregation. I hope they can learn them. Father asked me to sing the Litany of the Saints for the Easter Vigil … like without any warning. Thank God our Sisters sing it and Patty Cleary, too. So, I “winged” it and it came out OK.
I walk the streets early in the morning when it is yet cool and I hear the sounds of so many birds. Do you know that the birds in Mexico sound different? Last night there was a strong wind which knocked down huge bird nests and lots of leaves. So at almost every house there was someone sweeping the sidewalks and street section. There are no street sweepers here. I hear the mingled sounds of the town and smell the food cooking. It makes me go back to my childhood and think I am a small child again. One lady brings me half a kilo of freshly cooked tortillas every other day. Goodness! I can’t eat that many tortillas. Got to make some enchiladas, chilaquiles, or something!
The government officials put on a big party to celebrate the “Day of the Child”. The town plaza had inflated toys for them to climb and play; they provided gifts and treats. We had our regular 8:00 p.m. Mass and many parents attended but some parents stayed with their children at the party. Oh! Oh!
For Mother’s Day there will be another big party! Too much partying for me! The young people from the high school are practicing dances, etc. The children are memorizing poems which they will recite at the plaza. I am sure they will have loud music, too.
In the town of Jalpa they have market day on Fridays. I went with Hortencia and I saw a whole raw chicken fall off the table; the young man picked it up and placed it back on the pile. One must always wash the meats very, very well. I know that they claim we eat chickens which have been infused with tons of chemicals, frozen and then we eat months or even years later. Well, these chickens supposedly arrived fresh in the a.m. for the market but the heat was incredible and they were piled high and not refrigerated!
I have purchased “fruit waters” at the market and eaten sugar “gorditas” – they remind me of my Mom’s sugar tortillas except these are very thin wafers. Yummy! I am so grateful that I have not gotten gravely ill over food or water.
I see an unbearable mistreatment of animals: dogs, cats, roosters, horses, etc. Street dogs dodge people as a possible reaction to being kicked or beaten with a broom or stick. House dogs sit tied to short chains with flies all over their little eyes and dirty dog dishes with dried tortillas as their meals. This is the season for innumerable flies. Roosters are caged in tiny crates while waiting to fight their opponents. So sad. Such cruelty! Horses are often tied to short ropes and they show their ribs while standing under a small tree. I cannot stand the sadness in their eyes.
But I also can’t stand cruelty to children. Many children at the market were selling stuff. They seem way too young to be working to support their families. Last evening a lady told me that a brother raped his sister and the family and the town’s people reject the mother and the baby. I can almost hear their silent screams.
Below is my schedule for my work until July here in Huanusco. Some ladies were commenting how strange it is for me to be willing to live here all these weeks. They said, “We have never had a Sister stay longer than a few days.”
Lauds will be prayed every morning at 8:00 a.m. in the church for anyone who might be interested in participating in the Liturgy of the Hours. Lots of people have their short versions of the Office.
Monday – “Rancho Dos Rodriguez” during the day to guide the people’s faith formation and in the evening at 6:30 p.m. and help the Catechists (with Lourdes as Director) with their own faith formation and also help them with classroom tips. They will participate as Lectors, musicians, acolytes, and offertory collection and procession during the 8:00 p.m. Mass.
Tuesday – “Rancho Nuevo” during the day to guide the people’s faith formation and in the evening at 6:30 p.m. help the Families—the adults (with Lourdes as Director) with their faith formation through Bible Studies and also give them tips for discipline with children. Different adults will offer to be Lectors, musicians, acolytes, and offertory collection and procession during the 8:00 p.m. Mass.
Wednesday – “Rancho San Pedro” ” during the day to guide the people’s faith formation and in the evening at 6:30 p.m. help the Young People— (with Lourdes as Director) with their faith formation through Bible Stories and leadership styles by offering to do all the ministries at Mass at 8:00 p.m.—Lectors, musicians, acolytes, and offertory collection and procession.
Thursday – The town of Yerbaniz ” during the day to guide the people’s faith formation and in the evening at 6:30 p.m. we have Holy Hour followed by Mass and perhaps propose different kinds of prayers for Holy Hour. Mass will follow at 8:00 p.m.
Friday – “Rancho Remudadero de Abajo” during the day to guide the people’s faith formation and in the evening at 6:30 p.m. I will participate in Religious Education of the children with Lourdes as Director. I will visit different classrooms and some of the older children will offer to participate as Lectors, musicians, acolytes, and offertory collection and procession during the 8:00 p.m. Mass.
Saturday – Classes will be offered for young ladies, their damas, chambelanes, padrinos and parents who will be having a Quinceañera in the upcoming months.

In Huanusco, Zacatecas—Monday of Holy Week

I left Irapuato after breakfast on Monday of Holy Week. My bus left at 9:55 a.m. The bus offered a snack of pop and crackers and two movies: Alice in Wonderland and Emilia Earhart—both in Spanish. The bus arrived in Aguascalientes at 1:00 p.m. Father Jesus Resendez was there to pick me up a little after one. He was so kind. He put my two suitcases in his car and off we went to drive around town looking for a candle shop. He needed to buy his Paschal Candle. He also bought 500 small Paschal candles to sell to the people. The parishes do not offer palms on Palm Sunday nor small candles for Easter Vigil. People buy their own. Since these towns are so out of the way the priests bring the sellers or supplies the wares to his parishioners right at the church.
Father also took me out to lunch. He wanted a fancy place but I was too tired to keep walking in the heat of the day so we stopped at a semi-fancy restaurant and ate enchiladas. We also stopped at a juice factory and bought some fruit juice…like 350 pesos worth of juice and red wine. He also filled his car with gas…another 380 pesos. I helped him pay for both. It was kind of him to pick me up.
When we arrived at St. Francis Parish we asked some children if they knew where the priest was and they went and got Father Jesus Guerrero. He was wearing a big, white cowboy hat. Funny! He told us that I would be staying with “the teacher”. Everyone knows who the teacher is in town. Her name is Esther but I doubt the people know her name. She is “la maestra”.
Her home is nice –two bedrooms, a bath, a tiny kitchen—camp style; rustic and rusty, too—both the stove and fridge are 50’s style. She has an office, a living/dining room and a huge patio and a huge car port…big enough for a dance hall. She teaches students in a public high school: history, social ethics and morality. She invites her former students to help her present students to learn dances for different school functions. Some students also come to her for help with legal cases. She helps a lot of people, including me!
In this parish of St. Francis of Assisi lives the priest, his blood sister who is very elderly and frail, his secretary who is about 45 or so and Father—who looks about 70 but is probably a bit younger—in a very small house behind the parish church. But I went to see his newly renovated parish house right beside the church. That place will have about 5 bedrooms and patio and all the other rooms. It will be nice.
Father wants me to catechize the lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, parents; young people…in other words, start evangelizing everyone. He said that at first he would ask people to come to the church for catechism but few came. Now, he goes to the ranches and spends all his time on the road. Now the ranchers walk to their temple at the ranch. Each ranch has a tiny chapel with the Blessed Sacrament so that when Father visits he has a place to offer Mass. The catechists assigned to those temples are very possessive and proud of their positions, too. They are totally committed to their call. Rightly so!
For my Easter “meal” I had left over scrambled eggs from two mornings ago and I added some beans and made myself a burrito. I am all by myself. The teacher left for Puerto Vallarta and I can’t even make the TV work. I am missing “home” – wherever home is!
I must get some information from my saved documents to catechize the lectors and Eucharistic ministers.

Sister Adele Marie visits us in Mexico

On Tuesday, March 22nd I left the city of Irapuato in Guanajuato for Benito Juarez Airport in Mexico City to go meet Sister Adele Marie who was arriving at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. I left the house at 10:30 p.m. and rode all night on the bus. That is no fun. I arrived around 5:00 a.m. at Terminal 2, went down to arrivals and there was Sister Adele Marie standing on the corner waiting for me. Gosh, it was so good to see her. I had not seen her since September 2010.
It was too early to wake her cousins so we sat and had a cup of coffee and chatted. Of all times to have a “guest” join us! A priest, Fr. Julio from the city of Tula, came up to our table in the open food court and wanted to know who we were, where we were going, etc. He, too, was too early for his flight to Arizona and decided to sit down and share conversation. It turned out OK, but…
We finally got a Yellow Taxi and gave the driver directions to Tom and Cristina Tennant’s house on Zone 7, Puerto Versailles in the Colonia Lomas de Reforma. We got there and Cristina had been worried as it was 8:00 a.m. and we were just getting there. She knew Sister’s flight was really early. She made Sister call her Mom in the USA to let her know she had arrived and was fine.
Tom and Cristina have a beautiful home in a “guarded” and gated community. She immediately had the maid fix breakfast for us and then she took us to Costco to get some things. We went to her daughter, Gina’s home. Gina lives right next door to the most fantastic Anahuac University owned and operated by the Legionaries of Christ—better known as “the millionaires of Christ”. Manuel and Regina have two children: Manuelito, who is four and Isabel, who is two. We made plans that Gina would take us all day to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe the next day. We had a tour of Gina’s gorgeous home and left. The maid fixed us lunch and we had a little time for resting. Cristina had her business people obtain tickets for the Ballet Folkloric at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in downtown Mexico City. We got a taxi at 6:00 p.m. for an 8:30 p.m. show. We made it there by a thread. Terrific was horrific! The taxi driver kept making turns in side streets to get us there on time. Our seats were one row before the last top row of the middle section! The cost for the two tickets: $70 USD. Tom paid for them. The ballet was of regional dances. It was a most exquisite show and evening. We got home late. We were starving. We raided the refrigerator and had cheese and crackers and a “Sol” lime and salt beer. It was not the best dinner but it sufficed.
In the morning of March 24th we had breakfast at VIPS and then went with Gina to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We went to the 12 o’clock Mass and then walked the grounds. We visited her father-in-law’s museum on the grounds. It seems they bought and have developed the park, museum and other features at the basilica grounds. These people are very important people!
We got home and the maid had some tacos ready for us to eat: they were made with black hongos (mushrooms) which grow on corn. They were very good. It seems we are always hungry. Again, we got to bed late. In the evenings when I see the clock reading midnight I feel so dead tired!
March 25th, on the feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord to Our Lady and the feast of our community, we got up early and went to the 8:00 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church within walking distance from our home. After breakfast Cristina took us to the bus depot and we left for Irapuato. It was a 5 hour ride. On the bus we slept a little and watched movies a little. The “Primera Plus” bus line is fabulous. It has one seat on the left side and two on the right side so that the seats are extra large and very comfortable. They have a leg rest like a recliner and the seats can be pushed back. They have TV screens every so often and show movies in English with Spanish subtitles. Mexico has many bus companies but ETN and Primera Plus are the best. They are also more expensive…like $10 more but well-worth the price difference.
We arrived in Irapuato and I used my house keys to get in the house. Fr. Felix was in his office and met Sister Adele Marie. We visited and he asked her some questions. He was eager to hear another person’s view of our Mexico Project. He is a brilliant man, a doctoral degree in theology, author of many books, tapes, editor of the diocesan newspaper, renovator of ancient churches, has traveled extensively and on and on.
Sister Adele Marie and I toured the huge parish house and took pictures. We went shopping at the town’s big market—fresh meats, fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables, flowers, candy, some clothing—and the stands go on and on in a huge maze. We brought home the supplies and fixed dinner for the four of us. We met and helped the ladies in the parish office as the flow of people comes in and out asking for information, asking for records, etc.
The next morning we went to Mass and then visited the streets where I walk. We also visited the nursing home, “Casa Hogar, La Paz” where I stayed for a month. Only some of the Sisters were home. They, too, are celebrating 125 years of their founding and had gone to Leon to have a three day conference in connection with their feast…March 25th. They have many things in common with our Sisters. We stayed and toured the nursing home and greeted the folks there. Sister was impressed that so many residents recognized me and spoke excitedly to me—happy to see me again.
Around 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning, March 27th we left for a five hour bus ride to Zacatecas. Las “Hijas del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús y Santa María de Guadalupe” were waiting for us. We arrived around 3:00 p.m. and they greeted us warmly. They showed us to our rooms. Sister Adele Marie was totally impressed. They have a mansion. Their home is absolutely gorgeous and very spacious. There are over 25 Sisters in residence: some are teachers at the Institute Sebastian Cabot where over 1,000 students receive a good education, others are in vocational work, others are housekeepers, others work in the diocesan offices and many are “retired” which means they work in light housekeeping or are house porters.
The first day we walked the streets as Sister recalled all the places she had already seen and experienced. This was her third visit to Zacatecas! The second day we visited Monsignor Antonio Soto at the chancery office. We had a nice long visit with him. He reassured us about our Mexico Project. He told us to be ready at 2:00 p.m. as he was going to pick us up and take us to Huanusco, a town about 2 hrs 30 min. from Zacatecas. We were eager to go see the people. He told us that Father Jesus Guerrero was calling the folks to come for our second meeting. Four months ago there were some 30 people who came to the church. This time the church was pretty full. I received the following email message from Monsignor Soto the very next day of our visit:
“Thank you for your visit to us, to the people of Huanusco and for your joyful witness. Father Jesus Guerrero came to visit me at the Chancery Office and told me that the people in his parish were delighted with your visit. The whole community is happy with you! Our bishop, too, told me that he has high hopes for this endeavor. (The bishop is calling this effort: a pilot project to evangelize the immigrants of Zacatecas.) Let’s put all these things in God’s hands. All will happen as God wishes. Infinite thanks for the basket of fruit you left in my office. That was very thoughtful of you and a very nice detail. May God repay you abundantly. Father Resendez (of Jalpa, a priest friend who lives in a town about 10 min. from Huanusco) also told me of the discussion you and he had at the convent in Zacatecas. That is such a great possibility—that your works extend to other parishes, too. Thank you, Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. Greetings to all the Sisters!”
Monsignor Soto drove us to meet a priest, born and raised in Huanusco but worked as a child in Salem, Oregon. Small world! He was very kind. He is a “canonigo” at the cathedral in Zacatecas. He also stopped at Monsignor Conrado’s parish in Villanueva. He is the vicar of the vicariate which includes Huanusco. We visited the towns of Tabasco and Jalpa, too. They neighbor towns of Huanusco. Some of the priests were attending a funeral of one of their brother priests and therefore were not home. Father Soto bought us some “ice cream” from a little old man selling it on the streets. That is a dangerous thing to do! But we did not get sick.
It was evening by the time we finished our visit with the parishioners in Huanusco and headed back to Zacatecas. We prayed the Rosary in English. Fr. Soto called his bishop and asked if it would be possible for us to stop for a quick visit and share our story of Huanusco. He welcomed us. It was a better visit than I expected. He was eager and very impressed with our work. He said, “Sister, when you come to stay I want to go and present you to the people. I want to do that not only because you are a woman, but because you are a consecrated woman. I will be there!” I felt so loved and appreciated. Sister Adele Marie was impressed with the people and with the entire events of the day. So was I.
On Tuesday, March 29th we got up early and intended to go to Mass in the convent but instead we went to the Acropolis Café for coffee and pan dulce. We decided to go to Mass at the cathedral. Unbeknown to us, Fr. Jose de Jesus Resendez had come early for his appointment with us. We returned to the convent to find him there eating breakfast. He had also prayed Lauds with the Sisters. Oh, well! We visited and enjoyed him. He remembered Sister Adele Marie from 10 years ago. We are blessed with his friendship!
After our visit Sister and I left to go to the market and have a store prepare a huge basket of fruit, Mescal, and other goodies to give to Fr. Soto in appreciation for his generous help to us.
That evening at 10:30 we left for a long 8 hour bus trip back to Mexico City. We arrived Wednesday, March 30th at Tom and Cristina’s again. We did laundry, showered, ate more tacos, visited with Tom (Cristina was gone to visit a daughter who is ready to have a baby) and rested. Tom is a brilliant business man. He and Sister enjoyed talking business. He assured us that we and any Sister of St. Mary of Oregon have a place in his home anytime.
On Thursday, March 31st Tom ordered a private taxi to take us to the airport around 10 a.m. Sister Adele’s flight was at 1:30 p.m. I took a bus right from the airport and went back to Irapuato…all by myself! So sad, but what fond and blessed memories! God is good! He is great! Blessed be His Holy Name!