Last Week in San Marcos, Nicaragua

Hola! Como Esta. Yo espero que ustedes tienen paz como Jesus quiere por nuestra vidas. I am writing, as this is our last week or 4 days in Nicaragua...and its been tough coming to terms with leaving for good. Last night, Joseph and I spent the evening in the hospital with our teacher and her family awaiting the birth of her granddaughter Catarine Michele. Catarina (the mother) went into what we thought was labor about 3 days ago during class in the morning and our teacher rushed out only for dissapointment as Catarine was not ready to leave her mothers womb. I had formed a pretty close relationship with the family, and they had envited me over many days a week for coffee and conversation, and I had gotten to know Catarina very well. So this week was an anxious awaiting for the birth. Last night, I had joked around telling Gloria, the mother of the family, that we should have a party and prayer vigil for the coming of the baby, and she told me that we should.....but I was only joking. So, I ran around town getting supplies to cook for the ladies, (the husband of Gloria passed away this past winter) and the family is all women still living in the house. So i bought cheese, tortillas, ice cream all natural from Jinotepe(famous in Nicaragua) and cabbage for a salad. When I arrived back from my shopping, Catarina had already started having the pains and they had left for the hospital in Diriamba. I was in my teachers house with her daughters until Joseph arrived, and I cooked for about an hour tortillas with fried cheese in them, and we together made a salad. We finished eating, and like the past couple of nights, the electricity was cut off by the government for 3 or 4 hours from 7 till about 11. So with lit candles we made some phone calls and had a friend taxi driver, pick us up and we headed to Diriamba. We arrived at the hospital and our Teacher was in tears, because the hospital had barely any electricity and noone to administer the anasthetics?, so their was much tension and anxiety about the C-Section Catarina needed. The whole family circled together with Joseph and I (2 gringos) and prayed for a bit until the doctors gave us permission to come and wait inside the hospital. We walked into the waiting room, I looked up for some strange reason and saw Mary Queen of Peace....our Mother....with roses surrounding her, and Joseph and I (being in somewhat of a awkward situations being gringos and not knowing the 10 other family members) just prayed and listened to the family. We learned at about 1045 that all was well with Catarina, and we went home around 1130. Catarina had the baby with no problem during the night - Catarine Michel. Joseph and I will visit them tonight when she brings her back home.
Overall it was quite an adventure, throughout the evening I had thought and even remarked to Joseph how different it was than the states....a friend would need to have known a family for far more than 4 weeks, as well as probably be from the same area as them to be invited to the hospital at such a crucial time in a persons life and vocation. It was a blessing to be present with them, and they have constantly renewed my faith in Christ and His Love. At this point, I am praying for peace in leaving San Marcos, for I have to leave people I have become quite close to in only 4 or 5 weeks. My family that I live with is very sad, as am I in leaving, and I will miss alot of the community here, but I am excited about arriving back home to Honduras. I have experienced so much in this past 4 or 5 weeks and Joseph and I have constantly reflected on how impossible it would have been without constant Mass daily, recieiving Christ in what actually makes us Catholic...just as the christians did in the years immediately following His resurrection....only they did it underground for fear of the government. We now have Jesus in His Eucharist any time we want it and we refuse Him in our negligence.... or conviction in other sects or ideas of christianity that "its not important, or Jesus doesnt really mind if I dont believe in the Eucharist, all that is important is that I love him and read the Bible, or the verse about eating His Flesh and Drinking His Blood, is only symbolic."
There are so many excuses we make for neglecting Jesus in the Eucharist, sadly it can be seen in our world today....
Lacking Morals
Lacking Values in Children and Life
Sexual Promiscuity
20,000+ different christian sects
Religious Confusion

We all fail so much everyday in these things or things similar to these, and the worst thing is that when we do fail.....we dont run to Jesus in the Eucharist like EVERY Saint or Saintly person in the HISTORY of christianity.....and we need to do just that.....
I am learning every day more and more the importance of this and How much an hour of Adoration with Jesus can do for our souls and for the souls we are praying for .......and I really know that if I can help anyone in this period of time, and in my life....I can do nothing less than to desire to bring them The Eucharist....

As another life is brought into this world this day here in San Marcos, we NEED to pray for all of those who never had the oppurtunity to live at all...

Oh and by the way....remember Roe vs Wade, the court case that helped the movement in America for legalizing Abortion? Here is the website about "Roe" now.....check it out
http://www.leaderu.com/norma/
I love you all, I miss you, Im praying for you, and please pray for me....

Adios, Dios le Bendigo....

The FPO´s

¡Feliz Fiesta de Nuestra Senora de Carmelita! At least, thats how I think it goes.....Yesterday was the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and it was a beautiful day with the friars of the primitive observance. The Carmelitas live very close to the Friars, actually exactly right between my house here and the Friars convent on the Coffee Farm of the Leeches, a North American family who harvests coffee out of their back yard and sells it to the U.S.. I am hoping to be blessed with an oppurtunity to visit them soon, they have a 12 oclock daily soup kitchen for the orphans in the area who havent found an orphanage yet...anyways they invited Joseph and I and anyone else from the Campus to go and pray and sing with them for they have about 50-75 kids everyday. They are truly saints, just another example of people living radical lives for Christ in a world centered around the idea of self.
Interesting, in my spanish dictionary- thanks Jiza...the word Yo translates into 2 definitions- 1)I and 2) Ego.

So about the visit with the Friars....I left the campus on friday to go to the convent at 2pm. I walked into the convent during their midday prayer and found out upon arrival that this was their day of silence. I had already drank a cup of coffee at school and was unprepared but I read for the first hour and then adored Christ in their chapel for the next 3, which was probably the most spiritual time I have been blessed with and Christ repeatedly told me to have peace...and it was the one thing I had been missing for the last couple of weeks. I had moved into a new country and met new people, left that one for another one (nica) and then met newer people, started living with a new family, praying with a group of new people who spoke a different language and this whole time I was constantly being broken. I must admit, I was far from full of peace during this past month or so. So it was this friday in silence and meditation that Christ could really speak to me in such a powerful way. And it was SO simple too, which was probably the biggest blessing out of all of it, It was really really simple. Almost like a ¨shhhhh¨ from a mother to a young child crying. From that point on, the weekend flowed into more and more discernment in my heart. The Friars FPOs are probably the most simple guys I have ever met, they have nothing and seem to be the richest guys I know, apart from the CFRs, but its a very different community. We went to bed nightly around 9 oclock and awoke at 1 am for office of readings and we had to light candles in order to see. After those, we went back to sleep for roughly 2 and a half to 3 hours and arose again at 530 for prayer and then Holy Mass at 730. It was in celebrating mass with the 5 friars in a chapel of dirt floor, 2 candles and extremely humble tabernacle that I fell even more in love with Christ in the Eucharist. So many things occured to me as I recieved Christ that Mass in such a fashion- why it was so important to spread not only the ¨good news¨but the Love of the Church and to earnestly and enthusiastically draw closer to the Catholic Church, Christs SPOUSE, and to desire with everything we have for others to be just as close IF NOT closer to HER, for the sake of the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. This quiet listening was Necessary for me at this point in my life...and was completely providincial in many ways. Saturday morning after Mass, Fr Peter and I talked for a while about my vocation and he gave me some great direction in that, he helped explain some things and answered alot of questions I have had for a while in ways that have been very beneficial in my discernment. The rest of the day I walked the streets with the friars begging for food and sharing time with the people of the city. I felt honored in a way to be apart of their community even for that short time. I had an amazing vision of Friars all over the world as the special forces of The Church in 3rd world countries, here they call it the power of the Habit, but it truly is that way. They walk among criminals, injustice, rape, heretics, violence, abuse, etc etc, but when they walk....people STOP everything they are doing and notice them. Not in some fancy schmancy way like we would the president or something but in Awe....if their sacrifice, of their devotion and of their LOVE. Their love for anyone....no matter their story, past, life, these MEN of GOD, love anyone with as close to the same love Christ had for us, as you can get. Like the red sea parting, and Pharoah with all of his evils stopped as the water closes back on his troops, so does the sin, at least for that time....as the people part opening a path for the friars to come and pray, to hold, to love.....their selfishness or hurt ceases during that time. It was after these things that I left the Convent and headed back for San Marcos....a truly beautiful and clarifying experience.

So...I arrived home to Maria Sara's wide open arms around 8 30 pm last night, Fr. Peter kicked me out so I could avoid walking around in the dark (not a bad idea). It felt great to be back at my home again, Maria Sara (the little 4 yr old) and Jesse (6yr old) had just gotten over a really really bad cold and ran to me saying (in spanish) Estamos mejor! Puede abrazar nosotros! Because for the last week or so, they couldnt hug me due to an extreme flu that was going around San Marcos.

So now its monday, and the reading today in Mass was about Jesus saying ¨I have not come to bring Peace.....I have come to seperate brothers, sons from fathers, daughters from mothers¨ and this is so TRUE.....But, we must never forget His love overall....as in Revelations (in spanish in one of Johns visions about the seals being broken and total warfare, destruction, blood, tears, etc etc etc, and God is victorious as always, but we must remember that Jesus doesnt only preach fun and happy things.....in fact He teaches Repentance of our Sins and Conversion of Hearts more than ANYTHING else...which is not such an easy and happy happy joy joy type thing at all. Now, all these things can be good, family is very important as are Brothers and Sisters in Christ....but what we must realize is that its not always about feeling good, and that is where I think the protestant church, as well as many of us Catholics go astray. This is where we should draw closest with Christ in His SUFFERING on the cross. And I thank God everyday that I am given His Son in the Eucharist to remind me of that. As Catholics we can all experience this....EVERYDAY.

As for this weekend it was truly one of the most amazing experiences I have ever been blessed with and I feel above all else that God has His Hand open in front of me, with an invitation on it written.....¨You are invited to join my special forces. Date: Life. RSVP if you decide to join my troops.¨ As I left the convent yesterday evening.....it was as if God used Brother Patrick to hand me that spiritual invitation....and I know that if this is my true calling....There will be no hesitation in making that quick phone call upstairs..

I pray that all is well in the States.....You are all on my mind and in my heart all the time...especially in big groups of people when I cant understand a word of their rapid-fire nicaraguan spanish...Please please please pray for me, as well as the missioners here and in Honduras....I hope the trip went well to my home in Honduras Joe, Joe, Andrew, Chris and Dad. Ill be praying for you guys.

Praise God for the gift of Life.

New Family in San Marcos

I am writing to ask for prayers as I have moved out of the dorms of Ave Maria and into a family's home in San Marcos. They live about 5-10 minutes by feet from the campus. We met the father through the Friars of the Primite Oberservance here in Nicaragua. They are amazing(the friars), they live in a convent in the woods near my house, all of it from one tree that broke near the site a few years back, they built it by hand, none of it is man made, all natural "material" was used, the floor in the house is the actual ground of the earth, the chapel has nothing but dirt to kneel on, the beds are their desks they read or write on (flat wood), and they beg everynight for their food. I am going to stay with them for a week visit in a few weeks and to live the life with them, discerning what God might be calling me to. Their presence in Nicaragua is extremely influential the faith of Catholics and even non-Catholics seeing it as an example of the faith the Church can inspire...it is truly one of the most important backbones in this city. Anyways, the father, Tavin is a really devout and passionate Catholic in San Marcos (unfortunately one of very few) and a very loving father and husband. His wife Lupa and him have 3 children, a 15 yr old boy Jader, a 6 year old son Jesse, and an absolutely beautiful 4yr old daughter Maria Sara. They treat me like their older brother, and the are extremely welcoming and loving to me. We live in a not-so-great part of town, called La Cancha, and you can hear the freguent dogs barking and fire works being lit till even 4 in the morning. The door is kept open till about 10 oclock because frequent visitors stop by; friends of the family, couples newly married that Tavin and Lupa have counseled in their marriage class at the parish, and young children wanting food. They are extremely generous despite having just enough to get by- it is beautiful. It is the way Jesus asks ALL of us to be, and I still have to learn that. The children are vey innocent and obedient, mostly unaware of the unjustices happening even across the street. They know Jesus, and that is enough for them. It is a practice that we pray the rosary together as a family, with Tavins parents (in their late 80's) every night, usually followed with praise and worship. The normal meal at the house is gallopinto (rice and beans) with possibly a tortilla. When I am really hungry, it even tastes good for breakfast. It is difficult at times because they know absolutely no english, but they are patient with me. I have met many of their extended family and friends whom Tavin refers to as "Hermano or Hermana" so I have no idea which of them are actually blood reatives. It was a hard transition for the campus because I had been used to meeting with the many strong Catholics for Adoration and praise and worship everynight, and starting to get to know some of the young adults here. One of them, Nubia who just graduated from Ave Maria, does alot of the facilitating here, and she is a complete blessing. I got to go to her home town Jinotepe last weekend, and it was another beautiful city, except it was alot bigger than San Marcos, and I had come at a strange time, during an Ipica, where "cowboys" show off their horses and the streets are flooded all day with parties and music. It's a very lively culture much like that of a city in the United States, except Nubia told me that you can usually expect to walk around and talk to anyone at length whether you know them or not. So here I am, in Nicaragua, somewhere I never thought I'd be in a million years, especially not in 2006. It's just another example of how much we have NO idea what God is calling us to. And I am slowly learning how much I lacked trust in God in the past (and still do in many ways) when I reminded myself of my priorities- Family, School, Work, etc with God involved with all of those, but that was WRONG....its GOD and then because of, and ONLY because of His grace...we can try to undertake those things...this is the MOST important aspect we must focus on when we say we Love our Lord, or that we Trust our Lord...He is first, and as Fr. John Anthony C.F.R. told me last week before I came to Nicaragua...."If I really follow the commandments and Love the Lord with all my heart (which, yes folks...is a Commandment) than I have to say 'I will do WHATEVER You want of me Lord, NO matter WHAT that means'".

I have to go now, but I want to leave you with something that Jesus reminded me of yesterday in the Chapel as I was overwhelmed with Spanish, and stressed out telling God "This is too much, I can barely make it", one of the teachers at Ave Maria gave me a card without previous knowlege of anything and said, completely out of the blue!,
"My son Andrew just got ordained and this is his motto"
the card read
"He Must Increase, I Must Decrease"
Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to prepare, and I thank you all again for the support....I pray God blesses you the way He has blessed us here...I could be no more peacefull than I am right now, despite the challenges all around me.

Peace

Andres