Today, our last full day here, began early with the morning devotional time, which is an all-school assembly led by one of the teachers, who says the opening prayers, followed by a presentation/sermon/inspirational speech by Doña Claudia. Then, we divided ourselves into teams of three to spend time in the classrooms. The students run the gamut. Some are great students, some have almost no interest, some were distracted to have us as visitors, others were motivated. From our perspective we saw determined, compassionate teachers who welcomed us, and who worked non-stop to teach and to love.
Some of the classroom time was interrupted by more furniture moving, which we did cheerfully, and by something else: food shopping. Because El Hogar is "in between" kitchens we offered to buy the groceries to make 220 ham and cheese sandwiches. That´s a lot of white bread, mayonnaise, mustard, cheese, and ham!
By 10:30 we were loaded into the van and en route to the Agricultural School, a good hour´s drive from town. Our tour there was thorough, but given our tight schedule, not as lengthy as we had hoped. I loved especially how clean the stalls were for the cows and the pigs, and we were all impressed by the School´s coffee cultivation.
A beautiful drive over the mountain ended in Valle de Angeles, a town near Santa Lucia where locals and toursists alike go for shopping and eating. We loaded up on goods for Epiphany´s Artisan Fair, and dashed back to El Hogar just in time to assemble the 220 sandwiches. Doña Claudia laughed to see the new kitchen inaugurated by a cookery of all men. Before too long we could see all the children lined up outside the new dining center. We said several prayers, then we sang Gracias, then, like unto a grand liturgical procession in some majestic cathedral, the children marched into their new space to collect their sandwiches. We danced to the beat of the school´s marimba and drums, and wondered when the band will make their way to a 10:00 service at the Parish of the Epiphany. From there we loaded up two vans and headed to a Honduran restaurant where we hosted the Castro family, as well as five of the teachers at El Hogar who are celebrating their birthdays during October.
Yet that´s not all.
Long before we left Winchester this group of nine men met several times to raise money, to get acqainted, and to prepare for this mission. One of the commitments we made at those initial meetings was to pray every night that we were here at El Hogar. And so it was that on our very first night here, Saturday the 13th, we gathered on the narrow enclosed porch at the Volunteer House, sitting in Technical-School-Made adirondack chairs, and we prayed. Every night, all of us, all the time. The Prayer Books, a few of them literally vintage, were donated by the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ocean City, New Jersey, and since I had left all of our prayer material at home, I was especially relieved for this gift from Holy Trinity. There were exactly 9 books. Once we had dug them out of the little bookshelf in the sitting area off the kitchen, we sat quietly, opened the books and discovered that the ribbons were already marked to the office of Compline, the ancient late-night service used by monastic communities throughout generations. Compline has been our prayer every night.
The closing antiphon is from the Song of Simeon, the canticle we know best from Evensong: Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.
We said this office tonight for the last time. We said it strongly, led by Thom Fries, and we prayed with a fierce, in-the-body-sense that God has blessed us beyond measure. We prayed while picturing in our mind the faces and smiles, the tears and the love of the boys and girls who have befriended us, and we ended with an unswerving resolve to hold the teachers, the staff, and the board of directors in our hearts.
In that meeting with Doña Claudia (mentioned in an earlier blog post) two days ago we asked her how she keeps up her attitude of hope. She answered by admitting that it´s not always easy. Then she said, "But thanks God we can see Him working in the lives of these children every day. Thanks God." Later that afternoon I thanked her for her courage in answering the question so honestly, and for permitting us to see not only her vulnerability, but also her faith. I said, "your life is cruciform, cross-shaped, yes?" She nodded and said, "Yes, it is, but Christ is alive." How right she is, that Doña Claudia! Jesus lived out what was in him, and on that hill, on that cross, he reconciled everything that was at odds, in his own self and in those who surrounded him. He reconciled that which was supposedly irreconcilable. El Hogar does the same thing. And what of us, the people who are his disciples? We know, along with Doña Claudia and the young boys and girls at this school, that what happened there is not the end. Life broke through. It was not possible for death to hold Jesus. Indeed he is alive, and so is El Hogar, and so are the 9 of us who were here this week.
On the back of Doña Claudia´s car is a bumper sticker. It reads Jesus es tu amigo, Jesus is your friend. The men of this trip, this group of 9, were the incarnation of this statement.
As we get ready to return home, to you--our families and our church--I am unspeakably thankful for these "amigos." I believe we have witnessed here that no matter how cruciform shaped life is (ours, or these children's, or anybody's) love and hope transform us into new creations; the glory of friendship unites us in new bonds of affection and respect; and the grace of Christ, who is alive and who is our friend, guides us waking and guards us sleeping.
With love--ours and God´s,
Thomas
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