Christmas and New Year Greeting from Tlachinollan

For many years the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountain has been a valued partner with Mission Mexico in trying to transform the lives of the impoverished indigenous peoples of Guerrero. I think it only appropriate to share a Christmas–New Year greeting that they recently sent out to friends (with my translation). Thank you, friends, for making a difference in the lives of the people here. Happy New Year!

Dear friends of Tlachinollan:

The indigenous peoples nestled in the Mountain of Guerrero,

during these days made for reflection and relaxation,

are especially present in our hearts

because they are the ones who inspire us to struggle for the new world we need

and for which we dedicate a toast this Christmas.

Ever since they inhabited this Mountain

they have been the architects of communitarian life.

They became the vigilant protectors of our common home,

the artisans of the culture of giving,

the wise men and wise women of the age-old wisdom cultivated in the plant of corn,

the noble and indomitable men and women in this enclave of a thousand battles,

of the enchanting geography, where the tiger warriors and the eagle warriors live,

and where combative men and women and children fight tooth and nail

against the exploitative companies that pillage their natural wealth.

Under this sky reddened by violence,

darkened by the pain of the 43 disappeared young men,

numbed by so much obliviousness,

the star of Bethlehem shines.

It guides those who walk these rugged trails in search of justice.

With their heart of steel,

their main weapon is the hope of a different world,

one based on divine plans.

The Me phaa, Na savi, Naua, and Ñomdaa peoples,

swelling with generosity

and protected by their community police,

safeguard everyone

in the face of the maneuverings of a government tied in with organized crime.

Thanks to this strength of the people

who are nourished by the cosmic powers in their prayers,

they have been able to resist and stay firm in their model of communitarian life,

as sons and daughters of fire and rain.

These men and women, on this Christmas,

from their sacred hills

where their altars to Saint Mark are found,

together with the wise elders, pray for us

and look at the world

to see what 2016 might bring.

In this cosmic prayer

they embrace us as our exemplary big brothers and sisters,

those who teach us that true happiness means

cultivating a life of simplicity and loving solidarity,

because that is how a communitarian heart is forged.

Fullness of life is achieved in the fiesta of the people

where all is shared among all,

the fruits of the land that they themselves harvested.

These men and women continue working their parcels of land on the mountainside

so that a divinized life can be born in their community,

so that justice, truth, and peace might flourish among the poor.

In their prayers to their sacred powers

they whisper the psalm of the prophet,

“God has heard the cry of the poor

and prepares to deliver them from their troubles.”

May we never lack the strength and the joy to continue accompanying

those who wander in search of their children

and struggle for a world where there are no victims.

With all of our affection and esteem,

The companions of Tlachinollan

Our Lady of Guadalupe Torch Run

Persons attempting to find a “text” in this book will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a “subtext” in it will be banished; persons attempting to explain, interpret, explicate, analyze, deconstruct, or otherwise “understand” it will be exiled to a desert island in the company only of other explainers. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR

                            Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow (2001: Counterpoint)

Getting ready to leave Atlamajalcingo del Río with everyone's belongings

I thought of these lines this past week as I was accompanying a group of eighty-two persons participating in a “Guadalupan Torch Run” from the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City back to their home towns of Tlapa and Atlamajalcingo del Río. We arrived home on December 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Father Bernardo blessing the uniforms that will be worn by the participants in the relay run

The Diocese of Tlapa has over 700 towns and villages, and there are very few of them that do not have a group participating in a Guadalupan relay run. Some towns have two or three groups (or more: Tlapa has about ten). Most people suggest that about 5,000 persons from the mountains here participate directly in the run.

Some of the organizers of the Guadalupan Torch Run

We left Tlapa at 9 o’clock on Wednesday night (December 9) and drove all night to Mexico City. We arrived at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at 5 in the morning on Thursday (December 10), and the runners, some with guitars and mandolins, went to the shrine to sing “las Mañanitas” (early morning serenade) to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Later came participation in two different Masses, one in the older shrine dating from the 1500s and another in the newer shrine built in the late 1970s. A torch was lit from a candle in front of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe; as well, a large backup candle was lit in case the flame in the torch died out during the run back to the mountains of Guerrero.

The scene in the plaza in front of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

At about 3 PM (Thursday) we drove from the Shrine to Chalco, on the outskirts of Mexico City, and there the 82 runners began running the torch back to Tlapa (with one group of 22 planning to then continue on to their village of Atlamajalcingo del Río). It is a relay run: the runners are spaced out about every hundred meters, although the distance varies depending on the age and physical abilities of the runner.

One young runner with a copy of the tilma (cloak) that Juan Diego showed to the bishop in 1531

At about midnight we stopped for a few hours beside a gasoline station in Cuautla. The runners stretched out on the pavement and tried to rest. At 5 AM (Friday, December 11)) the run started again. This lasted all day, until we arrived in Huamuxtitlan, once again at midnight. There a family offered the floors of several rooms in their house and the backyard for all runners to rest for a few hours.

Running at sunrise along the highway between Cuautla and Izucar de Matamoros

At 6 AM on Saturday, December 12, we left Huamuxtitlan and the relay run continued to Tlapa. Entering Tlapa at about 9 AM, the people of a neighborhood called Contlalco offered everyone a hot breakfast. Then the sixty persons from Tlapa prepared to go in procession with their Guadalupan torch to the cathedral. The twenty-two runners from Atlamajalcingo del Río lit their own torch, and we continued on for another ninety minutes or so to their village. There the people were waiting to receive the runners with great joy.

Runners heading toward the parish church in Atlamajalcingo del Río

At 12 noon the bishop of Tlapa arrived in Atlamajalcingo del Río to celebrate Mass. After that celebration, there was a meal for everyone. Then—for me at least—home to bed.

Bishop Dagoberto blessing people as they go into the church for Mass

During these days of the run, I asked many people why they participated in this very tiring, difficult, and dangerous (since there are so many narrow roads) run. All referred to their love for “Lupita,” the affectionate name given to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Many told stories of how she had blessed their lives. Their responses weren’t “explanations” in any “analytical” sense (thus, my initial quote), but their heartfelt words reminded me of Albert Einstein’s words in 1932 that “the most beautiful and deepest experience a [person] can have is the sense of the mysterious…” These people have that.

A mother and daughter running their part of the relay

Or, to follow up on that initial quote by Wendell Berry that began this blog, later in that same book called Jayber Crow, Berry writes: “And yet for a long time, looking back, I have been unable to shake off the feeling that I have been led—make of that what you will.” This is what I heard many of the runners suggest—except that, for them, Our Lady of Guadalupe plays a vital role in that “being led.”

Lalo during one of his many relays

It was a blessing and an honor to accompany these beautiful people in their “Guadalupan Torch Run.” They definitely earned my respect and admiration. National surveys in Mexico suggest that about 83% of Mexicans “believe” in Our Lady of Guadalupe; but those same surveys suggest that among the impoverished indigenous peoples, almost 100% “believe” in Our Lady of Guadalupe. This belief impacts their understandings of life, their imaginations, and, most importantly, their actions. I am grateful that these noble people allow me to learn from them and with them. What an incredible blessing!

The procession to the parish church in Atlamajalcingo del Río

People on the Ground in the Kingdom of God

People who push the envelope in the “welcoming” congregations, people who make peace and serve the poor, the people in the working church, are the people on the ground in the kingdom of God, with or without God. They are the people of God, in the most radical, literal, material, and embodied sense, people who transform God’s insistence into existence and give God a good name. They are the way God acquires mass and body. They are what God does, what God means, what is getting itself done in and under the name “God.”

-       John D. Caputo, Hoping Against Hope: Confessions of a Postmodern Pilgrim (Fortress Press, 2015)

As the month of December advances and as the year 2015 draws to a close, I find myself reflecting more and more on how blessed I am to be here in the mountains of Mexico among so many wonderful human beings who “are the people of God, in the most radical, literal, material, and embodied sense.”

Lunch for lay religious leaders from the 28 villages in the parish of St. Mark Xochitepec

Many of these people were born here in the mountains and somehow have managed to escape the message of individualism and consumerism that tends to be promoted by the people and institutions with power in Mexico. No one is perfect, but these "friends" do what they can to promote a culture of respect, justice, dignity, empowerment, and love among the impoverished indigenous communities.

Franciscan Sisters of Divine Providence, the only group of sisters actually founded in the Diocese of Tlapa 

One such person is Edith NaSavi, a teacher at the local National Pedagogical University. Born in the mountains, she is involved in almost every struggle for justice that exists in the region, and she shares her vision for a just society with her students, with her friends, with the oppressed—and with the oppressors. If anyone is a “sparkplug” here, it is definitely Edith.

Edith visiting in San Marcos, municipality of Metlatonoc

Another such person is Abel Barrera, the founding director of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountain, located in his home town of Tlapa. His has been an untiring voice for justice for the indigenous peoples and for all who have been victims of human rights abuses. Abel is a poet whose studies in anthropology and theology allow him to express in a most beautiful way the longings of his people for true life.

Abel is the man in the middle, accompanied by Father Juan, Malu (international coordinator with
 Tlachinollan), Father Vicente, and Father Eugenio

Another such person is Father Adrian Hernandez, who just yesterday became the new parish priest in Huamuxtitlan, after seven years as the pastor of Copanatoyac. During that time he served as chaplain of the Champagnat High School of the Mountain, located in Potoichan. His witness and his commitment have surely marked the generations of students who have graduated from that institution.

Father Adrian is the man in the middle, accompanied by Marist Brothers Javier Francisco
(with guitar) and Salvador (with camera)

Other people have come from other parts of Mexico and have fallen in love with the noble people and their struggles. They offer who they are and what they have as they accompany the people in their many efforts to transform life here. A prime example is Father Juan Molina, parish priest in Xochitepec. If Juan had his way, he’d never have to leave the mountains. In his life, Juan is definitely one of those persons who "give God a good name," as philosopher John Caputo expresses it in the quote that began this note.

Father Juan anointing a very sick Delfina (covered in the blanket, lying on the bed)
while husband Tomás looks on

I could go on and on naming people, but I suspect that you are getting the idea. There is a whole community of heroic, noble people sharing their lives with the poor—and Mission Mexico works with these people and these groups to assist in this struggle for transformation. Thanks to all who help keep this struggle going. As the opening quote suggests, your support represents one of the ways that “God acquires mass and body” here in the mountains of Mexico. The people here know that, and they are most grateful to you for your solidarity. Gracias.

The one-hour walk down to get to Delfina's house wasn't so bad; the climb back up
involved a few breaks "to admire the view" (I don't think anyone believed that)