CHRISTMAS IN MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO 2021

Children in Alcamani, one of the 700+ villages here

In just a few days, we will be celebrating Christmas. Here in the mountains of Mexico, amid a reality marked by impoverishment, injustice, violence, Covid, and death, it might seem incongruous to even think about “celebrating” anything. But if the indigenous people of the mountains of Mexico have taught me anything, it is that one must never lose faith in the God of life, never lose hope in the possibility of a different future, and never waiver in the love of God and neighbour that gives meaning to one’s existence.

Esmeralda, from the village of Barrio Nuevo, has hydrocephalus

Here, some families will share gifts either on the 25^th of December or the 6^th of January (the feast of the Reyes Magos), but those families are the exception rather than the rule. There will be no special meals in most of the households. Many will go to a church service on Christmas if there is such a service; many priests attend to 20 or 30 or 40 or more villages, so they can’t be everywhere on that special day. Although even the expression “special day” seems a little out of place for many, since every day is another day of struggle to stay alive and to try to advance toward a tomorrow that might be just a little better than today.

A typical home here in the Mountainof Guerrero

Years ago, I had the opportunity to be present when an incredible bishop from Brazil, Pedro Casaldaliga, was in Cuernavaca to meet with Bishop Sergio Méndez Arceo. I have read many books and poems by Pedro Casaldaliga, and I always remember one of his statements about the meaning of Christmas. Christmas, he wrote, means that

“God is within reach of our Hope.”

A fortuitous encounter with Doña Mari outside Xilotlancingo

Those who know me well know that I can never speak of “Mission Mexico” and its projects among the poor indigenous villages of the mountains of Mexico without using the word “hope.” “Mission Mexico” plants seeds of hope; “Mission Mexico” nourishes these seeds of hope; “Mission Mexico” witnesses to Hope. Its twenty years of presence here has transformed many lives; its actions have spoken louder than mere words in witnessing that God is present and “within reach of our Hope.”

Parasites and malnutrition led to Aida´s right eye becoming detached;
it was removed in Mexico City; she has her next appointment on January 24

 On another occasion, Pedro Casaldaliga wrote the following about God’s coming:

God is coming.

God is coming in his Word,

in his Spirit that gives us faith,

in the sacraments of the Church,

in the struggles and joys of life,

in each one of our sisters and brothers,

especially in the poorest and most suffering.

We must know how to wait for God.

We must know how to seek God.

We must know how to discover God.

This woman in Cerro de la Lluvia appreciated
a gift of clothing during a recent visit 

My friends in the Diocese of Calgary and in other places, please allow this to be my Christmas wish for you. May you and I and all know how to wait for God, how to seek God, how to discover God. And for those of you who have assisted the beautiful indigenous sisters and brothers here in the mountains of Mexico through your support for Mission Mexico, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I enjoy the great blessing of seeing firsthand the difference that “Mission Mexico” is making in the lives of so many of “the poorest and most suffering” here. May you have a most blessed Christmas season.

Yenisel stopped breathing for 8 to 10 minutes during an epileptic attack,
causing irreparable cerebral damage and loss of motor skills