AEDM - Fail

As you've probably figured out, I didn't make it to the end of AEDM. After two weeks, I got caught up in the whirlwind of having a visitor, confirmations, and then going to Santiago and dealing with the US embassy. I thought that I would start fresh in December, but haven't done a thing.

David and I are currently in a state best described as depression. The reality of leaving Chile is hitting us full force. We had our first farewell with a family who left today on vacation and who we won't be seeing again. We're trying to visit at least one family a day in order to spend some quality time with all of the special people who have touched our lives during our three years in this community and we often experience a sense of nauseousness when people ask, "When will you be coming back?".

We're still working with the youth and have a few activities lingering on as we finish the year. Also, we're still trying to form a team of adults to work with the youth next year. I imagine that most Christian communities have the same problem - a group of youth that need guidance and not enough responsible adult help to accompany them in their journey. We continue to pray and to ask people for help. We're making progress... slowly.

We're also officially on the job market. We've been searching jobs on the internet in Santa Fe, NM. I've decided to apply to a graduate school there in order to study for my master's degree in art therapy. So, we dug up our old resumes, wiped off the dust and started updating. Sadly, we're a little worried about putting our history as missionaries with the Catholic Church as work experience, when applying for secular jobs. We fear that in a secular society, the word may be misinterpreted and we might be seen as fanatics or as close-minded. So, we find ourselves hiding our faith in a way, rewording "missionary" as "volunteer", "parish" as "community" and "catechism" as "holistic development." We're confident that we'll find work, but a little sad that we may have to downplay our faith, which for us, is the most important aspect of who we are.

Would they know we are Christians by our love?

Todays gospel, Jn 15, 18-21:

Jesus said to his disciples:

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.

If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;

but because you do not belong to the world,

and I have chosen you out of the world,

the world hates you.

Remember the word I spoke to you,

‘No slave is greater than his master.’

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,

because they do not know the one who sent me.”

Last week we were trying to get this idea across to one of our youth groups - that being a Christian doesn't mean a life without pain or suffering. In fact, many Christians suffer more because of their beliefs. Often, it would be a lot easier to just forget Christ's teaching to love our neighbor and to ignore that homeless guy on the street, or not to respect God's creation by throwing that candy wrapper out the window. We introduced the youth to two Christians that most would agree, lived their lives for Christ and suffered greatly because of it: Mother Theresa and Archbishop Oscar Romero. It surprised us when they claimed to have never even heard of either of them! Who's never heard of Mother Theresa?! We hid our shock and reminded ourselves that these kids are 14 years old, that she died in 1997 when they were babies and that all of them are self-claimed haters of reading. Ask them about Daddy Yankee and we're sure that they could teach us a few things.... but back to the point.

After watching a short video on Romero, one youth stood in silence, mouth gaping... "Uncle David, what happened? They didn't kill him, did they?!". This led to the inevitable and necessary question, why?, which gave way to a great discussion on what it means to be a Christian today. We're pretty sure they understood the message. Now today, that same message is for us. We are forced to make a choice daily:

Do I belong to the world?

Or, do I belong to Christ?