What a whirlwind the last few days were! We are all back happy and safe (and excideted to be sleeping in a bed again!) here at the City of Joy. (I should say that we are “almost” all back here…we had a couple who made their way to the airport on our way to Cancun and should have arrived this evening).
Today we said good-bye to the villagers of Uh-May in the morning and all of our new-found friends came to see us off. It was impressive to see how much they grew to love us (and we to love them!) in the few short days we were able to spend with them. There were tears shed on both sides before we got onto the busses that would take us back to Cancun. Here you can see a picture of all of us with the townspeople in their plaza just before our last goodbyes!
We arrived with plenty of time before the closing Mass where we were met by the sight of hundreds of young people and families who had participated in the Holy Week missions here in Cancun. It was another experience of how the “language barrier” teaches us different lessons than words perhaps would. What we saw and heard was a group of tired but joyful and enthusiastic young people who were excited about their faith. The Bishop of the diocese was on hand to celebrate the Mass and we were able to greet him afterwards.
One thing that was fun for us was to see how the Mexican youth expressed their enthusiasm after Mass was over. They stayed singing typical “mission songs” in the plaza and started cheering and groups would throw people into the air and catch them! It was as if their joy overflowed and expressed itself in celebration! One of our missionaries commented “I feel like it’s a rock concert!” And all this because it was Holy Week and they spent their vacation time (like us!) serving others and spreading the Good News.
We arrived back to the City of Joy for a late lunch and for some well-deserved free time. Providence was on our side tonight and the gas stopped working so we were “forced” to order pizza for dinner! Then we had a moment to share together about the mission. A running theme was that of gratitude. Many people tell us that “we should be grateful for what we have”. But one thing is hearing this and another is experiencing firsthand the gratitude that comes to us from what we experienced here. In all, we had a very good experience (with some even thinking of ways already of how they can return).
