A Mixed Experience

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This Lord's day found us unable to connect with a local gospel preaching congregation. This weighed on me particularly strongly for some unexplainable reason and so this evening Sandra and I attended the Sunday night mass at the temple in El Gramal. My unspoken desire was that I might at least be fed by the Scripture readings and perhaps by a portion of the musical worship. I heartily participated in every part I could without compromising my conscience. (The few parts I couldn't participate in turned out to only be one song, one line in the confession of faith, and the Eucharist). The kindly-faced priest did surprise me when he turned the homily into something of an anti-government battle cry (before somewhat returning to the actual meaning of the passage for the last few moments). The States of Oaxaca and Chiapas have strong anti-government currents running through them which evidenced itself through the homily. When he began by somewhat negatively mentioning the “gritos” (shouts for freedom) that rang out at Mexico's 200'th independence celebration, I was hoping he would contrast them to the true cry of freedom “It is finished!” that rang out on our behalf almost 2000 years ago. Alas, he urged them to vague political action as the answer. While I agreed that the abuses he mentioned were true offenses against humanity made in the image of God, he offered no true hope or justice. On the positive side, I was pleased to see the church meet some of the physical needs of the faithful through basic food packages handed out to each church-goer (including Sandra and I). Back on the negative side, several hours after eating the food we were given I was visited by my good buddy Montezuma. Just saying.

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