Diocesan parishes link with Catholic mission in Mexico

The American Catholics arrived at Cuanacaxtitlan, Mexico, in the middle of a January night, after clattering over rocky highways on a bus whose seats were boards in the back of a pickup trick.

The truck was met a mile out of town with fireworks, a six-piece band and Catholics from the towns that comprised Mision San Agustin. They had risen early to welcome nine members from their sister parishes: Our Lady of Fatima in Schenectady and St. Helen's in Niskayuna.

"The reception was very touching," said Don Ardell from St. Helen's. "The whole town turned out."

Mission area

Mision San Agustin is comprised of Mistec Indians from the remote villages of Cuanacaxtitlan, Cumiapa and Yoloxochitl, all located in the Archdiocese of Acapulco, Mexico. The mission is staffed by three missionary priests.

The nine U.S. pilgrims -- who ran the gamut of ages from 20 to 86 and jobs from retired schoolteacher to Siena College student -- spent their visit learning about the faith, culture and needs of their sister parish.

The relationship began four years ago, when Mary Moon, a parishioner of Our Lady of Fatima, graduated from Springfield College as a physician's assistant. She decided to spend a year at Mision San Agustin, where she'd served on a spring break mission trip.

"It's the kind of work where you wear a lot of different hats," she said of her earlier experience. "I liked that feeling. I was just out of college and figuring out where I wanted to be in the world. That experience made it more clear to me who I am and what I want to stand for."

Linkage

When Mary Moon returned from her visit to Mexico, her parish and St. Helen's were exploring how did to respond to a diocesan summons to engage in sister-parishing.

Mary's mother, Helen, served as the religious education director at Our Lady of Fatima, so Mary was asked to speak about her experiences.

As a result, the parishes established a relationship with Mision San Agustin.

Into the mix

During their visit, the Schenectadians played with local children, attended a wedding, witnessed a funeral, toured the only medical clinic, learned about the efforts of the missionaries to translate the Bible into the Mistec language and held meetings with local leaders to discuss what each side could do for the other.

Mr. Ardell told The Evangelist: "I don't think you can come into contact with needs like these without responding. I've never been in the midst of such poverty."

There is a considerable lack of health care. The only clinic is staffed by a Mexican doctor less than half the month, and the residents are susceptible to diseases that are easily treated in the First World.

During her year at the mission, Ms. Moon held regular classes to teach villagers how to avoid those maladies: to wash their hands, boil their water and wear shoes, among "other very basic things that nobody's taken the time to teach them," she said.

Suffering

The villagers exist on subsistence agriculture in mountainous areas that make the use of modern farming technology difficult. Access to water is spotty.

But the Mistecs also suffer from other maladies that are more psychological than physical.

"The Indians feel like they're forgotten about," Ms. Moon said. "They've been oppressed for so long it's almost as if they have lost their sense of their own self-worth. Because of that, they are losing their culture and their language. They don't know how to take it that these people from far away want to hear them and see them and learn from them. Hopefully, it will give them a sense that their culture and language are important."

Relief

While financial assistance isn't the only goal of the exchange, the visitors have vowed to help "in any way we can," according to Mary Ann Finley, a parishioner of St. Helen's.

Money has been sent to drill wells to increase access to clean water, and to purchase animals for a program that provides local families with goats, sheep and rabbits. The parishes sell tablecloths, blankets and other handicrafts made by the women of San Agustin, and run other fundraisers to provide better irrigation. Money from the parishes has also enabled the mission to buy a truck to haul goods and food.

Prayer requests are also being passed between the communities, and St. Helen's students have sent friendship bracelets to primary-schoolers in Mexico.

The parishes' biggest dream is to build a medical clinic. If that happens, the Mexican government will send a doctor to work there. To that end, the two parishes hope to raise $30,000.

Senior visitors

Helen Polenz, who is 86, was so touched by the stories she heard from the missionary visits that she took the opportunity to see for herself.

For ten days, Ms. Polenz, a Eucharistic minister and volunteer at Our Lady of Fatima, trooped up and down barely paved roads to meet the children and learn about how the locals live.

"We have no conception of what those people live like," she said. "They live, on average, 60 years -- and some of the children had never seen white hair before."

At 81, Ms. Finley, a retired teacher, was excited about the opportunity to educate herself. "One of the things that stuck with me was the simple kindness of people to strangers," she said.

Faith on display

All of the travelers were touched by the villagers' deep faith. Ms. Finley recounted a story in which the whole town turned out for a celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Huge copper kettles were placed at the center of town, and the women made community-sized portions of traditional dishes.

"They're very strong Catholics. They fill the churches," she said.

Mr. Ardell added that he was impressed with the "piety of the people."

Added Ms. Polenz: "You just hope that you could do more for them. We were special to them -- as they were special to us."

How link deepens beliefs

Mary Moon now works in Hartford, Connecticut, but she continues to feel connected to her childhood parish.

Being Catholic grounds her, she said, and her faith has been fed by her life in the village. She hopes to continue to visit the three towns that changed the way she thought about the world.

"Working in that environment -- with people who have been oppressed for hundreds of years, and you're trying to make them realize that they do have a lot to give this world -- made me realize that I always want to help people who have lost hope in themselves." she noted.

Her mother, Helen, agreed. "Like anything, we are just beginning to be changed by it. It opens our hearts and minds to a much wider world, and gives us a more global sense of needs: the need for water, for electricity, for roads that are easy to travel on.

"And to see their faith has made us understand the importance of celebration. They are full of thankfulness for the things that they have. It gives us so much hope and pride to be a small part of this good news." (KD)

(3/24/05)