Contexto

Another bright and warm afternoon in Cochabamba, with another dry and cold night to follow. My laundry is hanging to dry in the hot sun over the burning concrete cancha where the brothers expect to play volleyball tonight. 

Another week of classes done at Maryknoll, and we are already at the midpoint of this six-week term. The students will change their teacher teams on Monday. Grace and I will receive a new pair of teachers, so we say adios to Profesoras Liliana and Karla for now. A twist in the schedule: in the third and fourth class periods, Grace and I will be separated to work with different teachers. The reason for this is to focus our conversation on the areas of work in which we specialize. For Grace, who is studying nursing, it is health and medicine. For me, it is social ministry in cultural context. 

The last two Fridays, we have been splitting off during the fourth period for these contextual conversations. Last Friday I visited the office of social mission of the Archdiocese of Cochabamba. Today, thanks to Señoras Kitty and Tania, I had a conversation with Brother Edgar, a member of the Little Brothers of Jesus, a religious institute inspired by Blessed Charles de Foucauld. Edgar hails from Cuba, which brought our conversation closer to the contextual mark. I have requested opportunities for cultural appreciation that focus on the Caribbean and Central America, from where many of the Latino communities our Capuchins serve in New York and New England originate. Many of the families who worship at Church of the Good Shepherd come from the Dominican Republic. The majority of the immigrants seeking asylum in the United States today come from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. This year, the Capuchins provided temporary material support to two such families from Central America who have been granted legal status. There is so much more the friars would like to do, in their particular ministries and as a provincial fraternity, to provide comfort and a welcome to our most vulnerable immigrant neighbors who are seeking a new life after surviving unspeakable poverty and violence. 

Learning Spanish has been one thing. Acquiring a sensitivity to and appreciation for the particular Spanish-speaking peoples who make their home among the friars is another. We have already been broadening our cultural learning beyond Bolivia to other countries and peoples of South America, including Argentina and soon Chile. Now it is time for me to connect to the peoples I will be ministering with directly. There is, of course, no substitute for spending time with the people of Good Shepherd and Inwood. Now that I have more fluency in the language, I believe I will have more courage and confidence to enter into la vida cotidiana of my New York City neighbors. 

Off now to a gentle afternoon and low-key evening. Most of the brothers will join the volleyball game. I refrain from playing or observing the sports, which start close to 9 o’clock. I try to keep a low-impact routine now at night, as I aim to keep insomnia under control. It’s what I have to do. Coming up this weekend: some social time tomorrow afternoon with Brett, a Jesuit from Australia who is studying with us at Maryknoll; and the Sunday morning visit to the girls’ shelter, to tell more witches’ stories.