July 20th-30th, 2007

Sunday, July 29th- The Delegates Lead our Mass

Way too quickly, the final day has arrived for the delegates, how fast the time goes for everyone. It is hard to believe they will be leaving early, early Monday morning.

All preparations for Sunday’s Mass sharing were completed, and if you missed the service it was beautiful and thought provoking. The first reading was a Guatemalan folk tale translated for us, Meeting at the Woodworking Shop:

Once upon a time there was a strange meeting at the wood working shop. It was a meeting of the tools to work on their differences. The brother hammer was the president, but the assembly asked him to resign. Why so? He was too loud. Plus he spent all his time pounding. The brother hammer accepted his faults, but he also asked for the resignation of the brother screw because you had to give him many turns in order to be useful. The brother screw accepted his fault, but he also asked for the resignation of the brother drill because he was so insignificant and gave a small impression. The little brother drill stood up and said: fine, I’ll go but the sister sand paper has to go to, because she is so rough and always has friction with others. The sister sand paper agreed, as long as the brother tape measure left because he was always measuring all the others according to his own standards as if he was perfect. But the brother tape measure also complained about the brother plane, saying his work was very superficial and never did anything on a deep level. In the middle of the discussion, the carpenter of Nazareth came before he was expected and started to work as usual. He started to work in silence. He used the hammer, the sand paper, the tape measure, the screw, the plane, the drill… all the tools. Finally the wood was turned into a beautiful pulpit. When he left the wood working shop, the saw said: I think we have seen that we all have faults, but the carpenter worked with our qualities. That’s what makes us valuable. So, let’s not think about our faults but focus on making our qualities useful. The assembly then agreed that the hammer is strong, the screw holds together and gives strength, the sand paper smooth things out, the plane was necessary to polish and they realize that the tape measure was very accurate and exact…. so all the tools have their very own special thing that the carpenter of Nazareth could work with. To finish, the brother hammer said, brothers: drill, screw, tape measure, plane, saw…. In the kingdom of God, we are all important. So they felt they were a very capable team, able to make and build quality things. They were very proud of their qualities and their ability to work together.

Both Alba and Carlos spoke using this tale as their theme. Carlos felt that God sees us as hammer and screws, all her various tools, and we need to stop hurting one another. Alba stated she was a tape measure, three feet style, as she stood on a stool to be tall enough to use the microphone and to be seen. Everyone laughed, understanding her joke, whether they spoke Spanish or not. Alba wants us to use our love of God for fighting for peace and justice.

Padre Juan Rene gave the homily and told us to think of the Lords Prayer, think of forgiveness, as forgiving is not easy without God’s help. He told the story of a single Guatemalan mom whose child was senselessly killed by a gang member. Convicted and sentenced to ten years in jail, he found Jesus during his incarceration. After his release he went to talk with the woman and ask forgiveness. She could not comprehend his motive and asked him to return the next day. Returning, the woman seemed to understand and gave him her forgiveness, plus she asked him to be her adopted son. To do this you need God’s strength and it is found in prayer. Padre emphasized we need to discover everyone’s good qualities and then you will be able to love everyone.

The musicians were Joe and Andy Fisher(right), who grew up at SJA and have been to Guatemala as delegates and Haiti and on their own for visits. Two special songs, written by Joe, were sung about Guatemala. It was awesome musical experience.

Communion was distributed by the delegates and we closed with “Let There Be Peace on Earth and Let That Peace Begin with You”.

In the court yard after Mass, we greeted the delegates for our goodbyes. To keep our mood happy we were given brownies. Nothing like chocolate to keep the mood upbeat.

Later in the day the delegates, host families, and Sister Parish Committee members gathered for their final retreat and dinner at Joel’s home. Joel has been a delegate to Guatemala. The time was spent reflecting and sharing. It was clear that our hermanamiento grew stronger and deeper as a result of this visit. 

It goes so quickly, so much is shared in such a small amount of time, and so much love is passed from one to another. What a gift that we could spend this time together!

Until we meet again………………………………………….

and

Nancy Lynch says, "Joy is being a wife, Mom of fourteen, eight with varying disabilities and living at home, Grandma of thirteen, and Great Grandma of three. Serenity is listening and watching the ocean, alone, at our home on Maui. Passion is friends, photography, reading, swimming and children." Nancy can be reached at nalynch@aol.com.