To See Christ in Everything and In Everyone

What if Christ is a name for the transcendent within of every “thing” in the universe? What if Christ is a name for the immense spaciousness of all true Love?... As G. K. Chesterton once wrote, Your religion is not the church you belong to, but the cosmos you live inside of….A mature Christian sees Christ in everything and everyone else….We see him so we can see like him, and with the same infinite compassion.

- Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ: How A Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, And Believe (2019)

Maria Agustina, one of my most "Christ-like" friends here in the mountains of Mexico

I first walked in the mountains of Mexico forty years ago, in 1979. I was a young, naive high school teacher from Canada, unconsciously blind to so many factors that allow the world to function as it does. I daresay that I now see life, creation, religion, politics, economics, God differently. I am grateful for this learning experience…and I recognize that I will depart from this world still not knowing all of the answers. But the noble indigenous peoples of the mountains have shared the richness of their spirituality and their relationship to life—and I pray that I be a worthy friend with them on their journey to truth, goodness, and beauty.

Yadira and her mom, Estela, are grateful and content with Yadira's new wheelchair

Saint Oscar Romero, the archbishop murdered in El Salvador in 1980, once stated that “there are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.” Bishops meeting at the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s began their document Gaudium et Spes with these words: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men [sic] of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.”

Don Lencho recently lost his house in a fire—but the struggle to rebuild is underway

I have been blessed to have been allowed during almost four decades to be physically present with many poor and afflicted, and to be allowed to share in their joys and hopes, their griefs and anxieties. Father Richard Rohr, the Franciscan priest quoted at the beginning of this blog, writes in that same book, The Universal Christ, that “only presence can know presence. And our real presence can know Real Presence.” Besides being stupid, I would have to be blind to not  discern (weakly, I admit, and with many failings) Christ in the people and in the cosmos that surround me here in the mountains of Mexico.

Ester and Mario welcomed me to their kindergarten in Naranjo with flowers; there were perhaps 4 or 5 pairs
of sandals worn by the 38 kindergarten students and the 80 elementary school students—but smiles abounded

All of this is humbling. And especially humbling is the thought of all of the good people in the Diocese of Calgary who support Mission Mexico in so many different ways. I have the blessing of presence, of seeing smiles, of receiving hugs, of observing hope being nourished…and all because of the generosity of donors in the Diocese of Calgary who trust that the loonies and toonies and dollar bills given in Canada are being used to make a real difference in the lives of the poor indigenous peoples here. Sometimes when I think of this sharing between “north” and “south,” I think of a quote by Denis Goulet, one of the main founders of “development ethics”: Yes, there is a link between meaningless lives on one continent and meaningless deaths on another. I pray that this solidarity with impoverished peoples in another part of the world helps to give meaning to the lives of the people and families in the Diocese of Calgary.

Saturnina, Monica, and Priscila were walking to the next village
on this day; Priscila had left her baby boy with her mother 

Thank you to all those who who support Mission Mexico. Be assured of the gratitude and the prayers of the beneficiaries of your solidarity and generosity. May God bless you on your own journey to Real Life.

Some students at the Champagnat High School of the Mountain share a birthday cake
with the school principal, Brother Wicho