One in Faith/Uno en la Fe

 My brothers and sisters, Well, throughout my time here, I have experienced a number of opportunities- cultural, spiritual, historical, etc… and I do have to say, this experiences is far from over, and I have just hit the tip of the iceberg in introducing you all to a nation, to a people, and to a community that we are so far removed form, but we really are not. Yesterday, July 25, the people of Guatemala celebrated the Feast of Saint James- Fiesta De Santiago. For those who do not know who Saint James is, here is a very brief overview of who this man is. St. James was one of the original 12 Apostles who followed Christ. He was the brother of St. John, the beloved Apostle, and is known as James the Greater (there is a James the Lesser who becomes the first Bishop of Jerusalem.) St. James was one of the three that was present for the Transfiguraron of our Lord, Jesus’s Agony in the Garden (all the Apostles were there, but only three of them went on further with Jesus), and was prese...

 My friends, due to some construction outside of the house, the wifi has not been the greatest, which prevented my previous post ‘Part I’ to not be published when I desired it. As my former professor at seminary would say, ‘Technology is the ontology of modernity’! Anyway, I would like to share with you ‘Part II’ of this short post series with an introduction to Blessed Stanley Rother! As mentioned previously, Santo Hermano Pedro Bentancour was a Saint of the poor and sick in Antigua, and an example of what it means to live out our Baptismal Priesthood- not just through fundraising or a share in our own surplus of our material wealth- but through the sharing in of Christ’s own poverty at Bethlehem when He humbled himself to take on our own weak and ‘poor’ human nature. Santo Hermano Pedro showed us that our own wealth comes from our own poverty as human beings, and by giving of ourselves, we share the greatest gift of wealth that we have- nothing material or words of ‘inspiration’-...

My friends, over this past weekend, I have had the pleasure to learn a little bit about the ‘sanctity’ of Guatemala. What I mean by this, is that the Guatemalan people, especially in Antigua and Atitlan, have a great devotion to Santo Hermano Pedro Bentancour and Bl. Stanley Rother. Both of these individuals, have had some impact on the life of the Faith in Guatemala. Due to the fact that they have had this impact I am going to write two parts- each identifying both of these individuals and their impact in Guatemala. First, Santo Hermano de Pedro- Br. Pedro was born in 1626 and died in 1667. He wa sa man who lives in through the eyes of the Mysteries of Bethlehem and the Cross. As he was about to disembark for the ‘new world’ he became ill. Through his illness he came in direct contact with the poor, the outcast, and those who were ill and suffering. Once he recovered he consecrated his life to God. Although he was not able to complete his ecclesiastical studies to become a Priest, he ...

Antigua- translated from Spanish to being called ‘The Ancient City’, and quite literally it is an ancient city. Much of the architecture, the culture, and the people portray the influences of the Mayan heritage. Antigua has been designed in order to protect the ancient cultures and traditions of Ancient Guatemala- from the time of the Mayan civilization to the time of the Spanish conquistadors and explores and the Spanish influence on the culture. One of the many structures int he city itself that portrays both the Mayans nd the Spanish cultures are the Churches. Though they are not designed to be like Mayan temples, nor anything European like, they are structured in a way that represents both heritages. The designs around the inside and outside of the Church is very much Mayan influenced, while the size and the interior layout is more Spanish-European.  The people- some continue to dress in the traditional Mayan colors- which signify the family they have descended from. Various co...

As mentioned in my previous post, the Mayan culture and ceremonial actions were heavily influential in Guatemala’s cultural and religious practices. The Mayans established their culture and society around their religious practices and ceremonial sacrifices. Nothing the Mayans did was without a ceremonial purpose.  One of the beautiful things is that the Mayan culture, although no longer continues as it was in the past, still is active in a more contemporary way. Those who descended from the true Mayan culture continue to return to Tikal in order to offer sacrifice. In the past, their sacrifices were not just that of animals, but also human sacrifices as well in order to please the gods of the cosmos. Today, the Mayan people return for their ‘Holy Week’ to Tikal at the beginning of March. They spend one day sacrificing small animals (chickens, hamsters, birds, etc…) and spend about 5 days in prayer and contemplation. They have ceased doing human sacrifices today, but you can see all...

 Over these past two weeks, I have been introducing you to the cultural and religious life of Guatemala here in Antigua. However, over this past weekend, I have been able to experience, how should we say, the beginnings of the ancestral heritage of this ancient nations. So, over these next few weeks, I am going to introduce you to the Mayan culture, its religious practices, and the influence that the Mayans continue to have today. A group of us from Probigua had the privilege of going to Tikal, which is the ancient Mayan city. What most people do not know is that the people, or at least the cultural and devout spiritual practices, come from the Mayan nation. Tikal, was one of, if not the first of the Mayan cities to be established. It is dated back to about 600 A.D. (some other people say it goes back further to 1 A.D.) It is home to over 20 temples, with 13 of them being the main places of sacrifice. It is home to the Mayan ceremonial, culture and commercial center for the Mayan n...

 Buenos Noches mis hermanos! Yo oro con tú! Today, was, well, and ordinary day- waking up, going to school, going to the Casa for meals and study, celebrating Mass and praying, and doing ALOT of walking! One of the things my maestra and discussed, yes- in Spanish- was how the education system worked here in Guatemala. Most if not the entire school calendar- Parochial or Public- is centered around religious holidays, not seasons. The schools, most of them any way, go on break from the 15 of October and return to school 15 of January (public may go back earlier). This means, that they are able to celebrate Todos Los Santos (All Saints Day), All Souls Day, La Solemnidad de Concepcion de Inmaculada (The Immacualte Conception), Navidade (Christmas), La Madre De Dios (Mary, Mother of God and 1st of the Year); Three Kings Day, the Epiphany, and the Baptism of our Lord. The rest of time (with respect to 2 more breaks- Holy Week, and Mothers Day) they are in school.  The day for a chil...

Mis Amigos, I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!  I know I didn’t post on Sunday, because, well, it was actually a day to catch up on some Spanish studying, and writing a post on nouns and verbs in Spanish, may not be as descriptive as one would like! Well today was a great 4th of July celebration. The Seminarians, the Director, Rigoberto, the Student Coordinator, Mirna, the maestras, and the three Priests (myself included) were able to celebrate down here in Guatemala. One of the things that was very eye opening was how the Guatemalan people- Rigoberto, Mirna, and the maestras- adapted to celebrating a holiday that was not their own. It was very humbling because they assisted in the preparations of the celebration, they even served us the ‘American BBQ’ that they even helped to make, and they did a lot to clean up. They joined in singing a number of ‘American songs’, after they had their chance of playing some of their music- and actually being a part of the entertainment....

 Today was another uneventful day to say the least because a number of us hiked…wait for it…a VOLCANO! Yes that is right, an active volcano. Volcano Pacaya! It was incredible hiking up the Volcano. We were able to see the remnants of what used to be a small village before the volcano erupted and destroyed it. If you look at the photos, each of the black marks in the volcano pictures is where the lava poured out. At the point where we could go no further, we were able to experience a little bit of the heat from the volcano through small craters within the earth. The heat was immense. So immense that we were able to roast marshmallows! I tell you, the Guatemalan people think of everything on these excursions.  There were about 15 Seminarians and a few of our maestras went as well. We were educated on the history of the volcano, as well as the story behind Rigoberto’s (the Director of Probigua) beginnings of the school. Front he time he was a young man, to the time where he disce...

Here is the link where all the photos from Spanish immersion will be sent to and downloaded on. https://photos.app.goo.gl/rr3t7S8MctCAEq9t8

 Mis amigos, (I will use some Spanish in the Blog in order for me to keep it up, so I guess you can say Spanglish) Week one is in the books. Although I am posting this earlier than usual, I figure yo doy tú the highlights so far.  Summary of the week (in short)- A few things of the things I have learned this far is probably about a dictionary’s worth of vocabulary (and if your asking if I memorized all of it, the answer is NO, but I am working on it- I think I got about 20 down out of about 500 words my maestra gave me so far, and its only week 1. But I am working on it!) Also, the amount of verbs that we learned this week in the present tense and how they are all conjugated both for regular nd irregular verbs, not to mention the different categories and word changes that are in the Irregular verbs, and trust me its a lot, and again its only the Present tense. I know I took Spanish back in High School and a lot of it is resurfacing now, but honestly, all of this Spanish work, ...