To the Band of Brothers: BYM Edition

It is day 4 of our mission trip and hopefully, you’ve had the chance to see some of the pictures posted on Belen's social media. That is, I hope they’ve been posted. While I get spotty access to the internet from some random Soviet-era satellite that occasionally floats over the Dominican sky to send pictures, I don’t check to see if the posting has happened. That being said, I am sure it does.

The construction of the aqueduct is well underway. The boys are digging and picking through the countryside, all the while dodging boulders and cows. Cows, by the way, manage to leave their own kind of boulders, but they are not too difficult to pick through. While the sun has been shining, we experience some relief from its heat because of the altitude and the cool mountain air. 

The guys are divided into various teams, all named after Jesuit saints. Team Loyola and Team Xavier pick and shovel. Teams Bellarmine and Gonzaga carry down pipes and lay them down next to the trenches. Team Ciszek and Team Anchieta are mixing cement and completing the construction of massive water tanks. The operation runs as smoothly as you would expect from a group of Miami kids who have only seen picks and shovels at Home Depot.

We are staying at the local schoolhouse. It’s a small, yellow building made up of five classrooms. The windows have metal shutters and the roof is made of tin. It’s amazing to think it runs from kindergarten through high school. I’m surprised none of the guys have asked where the college counseling office is or the athletic facility. Hopefully, the stay will help them appreciate how blessed we are at Belen.

There’s a pretty little chapel just a five-minute walk away. The tabernacle is made of wood, not gold; the floor is basic tile, not marble; the altar is poured concrete and there is no artwork on the walls. Yet, Jesus is as present there as he is at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It’s his Eucharistic presence and his encounter with the poor and the Belen boys that truly makes the little building sacred. That encounter obliges me as a priest to kiss the concrete altar at the beginning and end of Mass with the same reverence I do at home. I’m not going to lie, for some reason, the Salve Regina sounds more powerful in there. 

One last thing before signing off. You may not know I collect all cell phones the day we arrive. That means nine days cut off from family and the rest of the world. Sitting here under a tree, I am looking at a group of boys who are talking with each other, playing dominoes, eating Cheez-It crackers in a circle, and playing baseball with a broken broomstick and a ball made of tin foil. Priceless! 

Please keep us in your prayers. One Hail Mary should do the trick. I will be sure to send something out in a couple of days. For now, this Fr. Willie signing off.

Auspice Maria