News 16 -- Dec. 16, 1995

“Please pray for the people of Guatemala that somehow, despite the extreme and present darkness, the war will come to an end soon and the children will have an opportunity to know that existence on earth is not meant to be war and death and poverty as they have come to believe it to be.”

[In some of his letters Larry used the word womyn as his way of expressing the equality of women and men.
campo = farm field or farm region. Campesino(a) = peasant farmer]

Newsletter #16

December 16, 1995
Guatemala

Dear Friends,

A BLESSED AND JOY-FILLED CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR!

What can I share with you that is part of the reality here in Guatemala? It is Advent 1995-- the season to prepare and to make ready for Christ's presence among us.

On December 3rd we ten Oblates along with many of our friends celebrated the canonization of our founder, Bishop Eugene De Mazenod --a great privilege for Oblates of Mary Immaculate the world over to have the first member of our religious congregation recognized by the church as one who has attained sainthood.

It is like a shot in the arm to us Oblates living today to know that our founder was unique in living out the missionary call to serve the most rejected and oppressed of society. Eugene struggled with his own internal hang-ups to slowly become truly human in his relationships toward all who came to know him.

We Oblates today reflect on this heroic aspect to change which Eugene continually manifested throughout his life and then during our own life span was singled out by the church as a person and Saint for our times. Due to this recognition given to Eugene De Mazenod, we as Oblates are awakened and enlivened to seek out just what made this person tick.

How can I be realistic about this personal search to know Eugene better? Is it in fact becoming a reality for me, the knowledge of who Eugene is and his influence on me personally?

Let me try to explain this in relation to recent events here in Guatemala. On the 3rd of December Julio Cabrera, bishop of the El Quiche` diocese which extends to us here in the IXCAN, offered for all the Oblates of Guatemala and our friends a special and beautiful Mass commemorating the canonization of Eugene De Mazenod. On the same day in Rome, Pope John Paul offered the Canonization Mass for Bishop De Mazenod, while Oblates the world over celebrated the special day in honor of Saint Eugene De Mazenod.

Then just three days later, Bishop Julio was with us in our parish here in the IXCAN. Some of you may know the history and suffering of the Guatemalan people over the past 35 years or more. The massacres and obliteration of over 430 villages, destroyed and burned to ashes, Indigenous womyn, children and old people were often tortured, beheaded or burned alive, the majority by the Guatemalan armed forces.

Bishop Julio inherited the diocese of El Quiché shortly after the most violent years, 1980 – 82, when Julio's predecessor and the entire clergy were forced to flee or be singled out as the next victims on the military's death list.

Bishop Julio took over his diocese in 1984 and with less than 5 priests and a small number of sisters began to rebuild from the ashes, the diocese of El Quiché.

When a Bishop visits the parishes of his diocese, the demands on him are great. On his visit to Playa Grande for the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Julio spent hours hearing confessions, celebrating weddings, baptizing and confirming what seemed to be thousands of old and young alike. In each village we visited, people waited in line to discuss their problems with him. Groups of people from land cooperatives or human rights organizations waited also in hope for some clarity to tense situations that exist here.

My privilege was to accompany him on his visits to the villages and to witness the patience, gentleness and sensitivity he showed to all. I listened closely to his words of inspiration and hope in each of the communities. It was an opportunity for him to thank the people for their courage and perseverance over the years. It was a time for him to explain that there is HOPE in the Guatemalan air. In the evenings when a few of us gathered with Julio, he shared with us in a most personal way. Often at the point of tears, he talked of the agonizing moments over the years in Quiché, when he walked the pavement of his patio, not knowing if a certain catechist or priest or sister having disappeared was still alive.

I have never had the privilege of seeing a bishop at such close range before. Here was a man who had spent a great number of years as a professor and director of the Major Seminary and who, after suffering a near mental breakdown, accepted in faith his appointment as bishop. "If this appointment is of the Spirit," he said, "I will be given the health necessary to live up to the challenge at hand.”

Since Julio's visit coincided with the canonization, I began to relate the beauty and depth of Julio's life and ministry with the life and ministry of Bishop Eugene De Mazenod, bishop of the diocese of Marseilles, France (1837-1861).

The church of France in Eugene's time was a persecuted church. The poor and abandoned were unattended and by not some uncertain grace Eugene took on the "powers that be" and came to the defense of the oppressed. He too knew times of agony and sickness and almost death from fatigue. His deepening in the faith and life of prayer and community with brother Oblates saw him through each crisis. In the struggle on behalf of his people he grew to be the saint he was called to be.

Eugene's plea to those first Oblate missionaries who left Europe to set foot in Canada's Northwest territory was: "If you are going to be mediocre priests, it is better to leave the mission now. What we as Oblates need most are saints -- Men dedicated to becoming saints and nothing less.”

How did it happen that this newsletter has turned into a sort of vocational piece? Forgive me. But the newsletter flows from the circumstances of my life at present.

Saturday December 16th at about 1:30 in the afternoon people here in Cantabal heard the rat-a-tat-tat of gun fire, a confrontation between army and guerrilla forces nearby.

A community of recently returned refugees had settled on the outskirts of town while a more permanent and suitable location was found for them.

I was on my way to visit one of the villages and stopped by to bring some soap and other basic necessities to the refugee families there. On my arrival a huge group of people were gathered. Cars from the United Nations and other concerned organizations were present.

A catechist from the Community approached and explained that while sugar and corn were being portioned out to the families, gun fire opened up from the other side of the road--a densely populated area of trees and brush. A nine-year-old girl sitting on some make-shift planks used for a bed was struck in the head and died immediately. Another eleven-year-old boy was wounded in the shoulder. As I drew near to the girl's body and witnessed the tragic reality, I realized once again the absolute insanity of war.

I share these few thoughts with you just a few days before Christmas. I share them from a setting where people have known and continue to know only poverty, oppression and unbelievable suffering.

But it is from our very people that radiates over and over again the light and hope of Jesus whose birth we make ready to celebrate.

Please pray for the people of Guatemala that somehow, despite the extreme and present darkness, the war will come to an end soon and the children will have an opportunity to know that existence on earth is not meant to be war and death and poverty as they have come to believe it to be.

And especially, pray for Magdalena Caal Coc, the nine-year-old girl killed after returning only a few weeks from Mexico in hope of a new and peaceful existence in Guatemala.

A Joy-filled and blessed New Year to you all,

Lorenzo