Today, Sunday, was a day to take a rest from our labors and enjoy ourselves. We left our work place and went to noisy Mexico City. After being closed in for a week, we were thankful to see new faces.
At 9:00 a.m. two buses took us to a place near the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In that immense and lovely basilica, other members of the Vincentian Family awaited us. Together with them and many other people who had come together to celebrate the Lord’s Day under the protection of the Mother of Guadalupe, we celebrate a joyful Eucharist. The basilica was full, and in the sanctuary there were about one hundred priests with the Superior General. It was a beautiful celebration prepared in detail by the various Vincentian Family groups.
In his homily, based on the first and third readings of the day, the Superior General insisted that God has revealed himself and wants to continue revealing himself as the God of life. Like Elijah and like Jesus himself, we have been called and sent as prophets and witnesses of the God of Life. Our Christian and Vincentian vocation impels us to approach so many people marginalized from life in order to place in them the “breath of life” and to welcome them into our embrace and present them, thus renewed, to their mother. We are called to bring them back from the margin and accompany them in their reintegration to the human family, to the family of the Church which, under Mary’s protection, celebrates Christ’s presence in its midst.
There was almost no time to walk around the basilica and investigate the many expressions of popular religiosity found there. There were many family groups who approached the basilica to visit their Mother to implore her favor or give her thanks for her protection. There were a surprising number of mothers, with children in their arms, who asked for our blessing.
Later, in the Provincial House, the party continued, now very much a family affair. The community’s ability to receive and welcome us all in a limited space with such attention and affection is something to be grateful for and to admire. A group of mariachis came to enliven the gathering; and they made the Mexican soul of Frs. Arriola, Roma and Muñoz thrill to the music. They were so moved, the put on Mexican sombreros and sang for us.
After lunch a bus tour allowed us to discover, most of us for the first time, a modern, well constructed city with wide avenues and spacious parks. The commentary we heard from the guide made everyone want to prolong their stay in this charming city. But not with another bus tour, but rather taking time to delve into its history and culture.
After the tour we boarded other buses and returned to our meeting place for supper because tomorrow will be another work day in our temporary Mexican home.
