Mexico City Metro

some footage from the Metro (subway) in Mexico City, taken March 25 on our way to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This stretch of the journey featured live music at no extra charge to the traveling public. During other parts of the ride, vendors would board to offer us CDs of popular music at the very reasonable price of 10 pesos (less than a dollar). I did not buy any.

And That's Just the Novices

The Missionary Servants of the Word are young, happy, and on fire for the mission to spread the Gospel of Christ with Bible in hand. That's what I learned during my recent trip to Mexico City. I also learned that they are going to send, not three, but four sisters to our parish in August. Hooray! Where are we going to put them? How are we going to pay for it? Don't forget, you are all invited to a very special event to raise funds for our new convent.
Mexico City and environs, known as the "Federal District", form a vast nightmarish landscape, like Mordor with really good food. 22 million persons inhabit the "DF" and I tip my hat to them, because you have to be really tough to live there. Just getting to work is hard work. Commuting times are long, roads are bumpy, and the traffic is indescribable. Drivers make up rules of the road as they go along. In addition to the usual stop signs and speed limit signs, the authorities have put up signs reminding people to do what the signs tell them to do. Let's think about the thought process that went into this decision. (1) authorities notice that drivers ignore speed limit signs (2) authorities notice that drivers ignore "yield" signs (3) authorities notice that drivers ignore "one way" signs (4) authorities conclude that additional signs reminding drivers to respect existing signs are a good investment. Now you understand Mexico.
On the plus side, I found that the Metro (subway) was mnre comfortable than that of Rome, even though Mexico City's Metro isn't a real subway in my opinion, because it has rubber tires. Real trains have steel wheels. Still, the trains are pretty clean, well lit, not too noisy, and the stations and platforms are of ample dimensions. I have seen much worse in New York City.

Aspirant #3

Another young man from our parish is off to the seminary to try his vocation with the Institute of the Incarnate Word. Please pray for Julian who hits the road on March 24. That makes three young men from our parish aspiring to the priesthood. So far.

Our Aspirants

One of the responsibilities of every priest is to provide his own replacement by encouraging young men who are preparing to be ordained priests, or just thinking about it. While I can't take a lot of credit for the good news I am relating here (the Holy Spirit gets the credit), I am very pleased and proud that two members of our parish set off this morning for Washington, D.C., to try their vocation. William Pacheco and Samuel Castro will be living at the seminary of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, a very dynamic and fast-growing congregation of priests. As we go to press, word reaches us that they may soon be joined by a third young man from our parish. Pray for them!

They Really Do Sing That!

Here is actual proof. And it was not my idea.

This is your parish at 5:00 a.m.

We began our celebration of the Feast (in Mexico: Solemnity) of Our Lady of Guadalupe with Mañanitas at 5:00 in the morning. There were about 150 devoted souls present and 4 different bands (we only knew about 3 of them in advance). For me, this year's highlight was the Dance of the Old Men (viejitos), several young men dressed as old men, complete with papier-mache masks. Curiously, when they spoke to each other, it was not in Spanish, but in an Indian dialect. This is another sign of how much immigration is taking place -- it's not just people from border towns anymore. Many are coming from rather remote areas in search of work or a better life in the USA.

Feliz día del pavo

We tried something new in the parish yesterday: a Thanksgiving Dinner for all the Latinos who had the day off but weren't sure how to cook turkey and pumpkin pie. Food service began at 4pm, dancing at 8 pm. We had about 400 people come. The all-you-can-eat buffet included turkey (with homemade stuffing), ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn bread, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. Entertainment was provided by a DJ and a folkloric dance troop (see video). Volunteers worked very hard the day before Thanksgiving, preparing all the food from scratch, and getting the hall ready. In fact, they finished painting the cafeteria walls about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday!
The event was a great success which means, of course, that we will have to repeat it next year...