And so this is Christmas! And what a lively time it has been. Last night is the big night and day of celebrations. On the 24th, rather than the 25th, people will travel the country to get to their loved ones and have a meal. All through the night of the 24th there are firecrackers going off alongside the street parties. I was so shattered last night when I fell into bed at 1.30am that I slept even through the street party that sounded so loud that it seemed it was actually in the garden! But that is to start at the end. I had three Masses for Christmas here in the Parish: two last night and one this morning. The two on the 24th were jam packed and even into the choir-loft whereas this morning was much quieter, numbers-wise. All three though had great participation from all of the chapels round the Parish and in each mass there was an acted out Gospel; and this morning we even had an Ecuadorian pageant showing all the various regions of our country here. One of the great traditions here is for each family to bring all the figure of Christ from their family crib so that it can be blessed at Church – water flies everywhere as people seek to get themselves and their Christ figure blessed. Then at the end of each of the Masses there was a scrum to get the wee bags of Christmas sweeties provided from back home. After the Masses I spent my time phoning home and seeing what everyone was up to back home – where Santa had been etc. Then it was off to a local hotel for a meal with the other St. James guys and then topped off with a film that you just snooze into! A fantastic day – our community Masses here and then off for a bit of relaxation! We had the last of the large Baptisms – at least I think it’s the last of the large ones. 40 this time, on Saturday past! Of course, one of the good aspects of the large numbers is that the parish is getting more and more recognized so that more and more people are coming. However, the downside is that the I worry as to how deep we are touching their lives – is the message really getting through? A question to ponder for many weeks and months ahead …. We had a big Diocesan event earlier in the week where the Archbishop gathered us all for a big talk. Unfortunately, although he is an engaging person on a one-to-one basis, he can be a rather dull public speaker so it wasn’t a very lively meeting. It was made bearable by the crack of the other priests round about and also by the nice Christmas meal that was provided at the end. And, of course, I also hosted our now annual teacher’s meal in the house here. It was all very well when I started here and the staff was only nine but on Tuesday there we had twenty-four teachers around the table. It was a bit of a squeeze and, if it keeps growing, we will have to look for somewhere else. In any case, we sat down to Scotch broth, turkey and a Scottish pudding (I say it was Scottish because it had a wee bit of whisky poured over it). Along with the singing, presents and the dancing that went along with the meal; it was a very enjoyable afternoon!!!! And a great bunch of people. I went to see Fernando in hospital – he is the father of small Andres that came to Scotland. He is a city hospital having his diabetes looked into. He is a very deep guy and, although he doesn’t come to Church, we always end up speaking about God and religion. I also spent part of last week visiting the housebound and simple walking around the Parish. It is a real blessing to be able to walk around and see at first hand where people live and the sufferings they have to put up with. I went to visit Greta on Christmas Eve – she is well into her eighties and lives with her son and his family. She suffers from Parkinson’s disease and, as with so many people here, simply cannot afford regular treatment at the doctors. For her and for so many, the struggle goes on and on …..

I am just back in from a ‘possession’ event. These occur from time to time. Basically someone will come to the Chu8rch and tell me that such and such a young person is possessed by the devil and needs healing. I had had a few of these in recent weeks but when I was called out tonight, I saw that the 15-year old guy was shouting with more force than others so, instead of trying prayers and blessings, I tried another tack. I suggested we should go to a nearby clinic. The anxious mother agreed and we were able to get an injection and a few pills. The young guy, Ramon, seemed to settle down and was almost sleeping by the time we got him home. Possessed or what I am not sure but there are grave problems caused by lack of education and by poverty. This week was the big First Communion week. 250 young people received their First Communion ion Saturday. I had thought earlier in the year that they would, like previous years, all receive in the one Mass. But then I realized that the Church was not big enough. So we spilt – one Mass at 8am and then again at 11am. The Mass – and the photos afterwards – was so long that the Masses actually clashed. Having said that, it was great to see the Church packed on both occasions and with everyone participating. Music was by Tito and group so we are still swinging from the rafters. The photographers do get right in your face but, unfortunately, there is no point in fighting it as they will just find another way of getting right in there. Next year proves to have even more kids for Fist communions. These big events were followed by two youth events in Saturday evening and night. Firstly we had a youth concert at a nearby secondary school. IT was for the local youth of the various parishes and was a Christmas concert. It was very lively and lasted till about 10pm with various nativity scenes being acted out as well as Christmas songs and hymns. Then it was off to the city centre for our annual all-night vigil. I had promised that I would be the main celebrant at the Mass and thought I might be able to get a few moments of sleep but it was impossible. The event was great but everyone was shattered come 5am and the finishing Mass. Of course that was followed by three Parish Sunday morning Masses – I was nearly sleeping during my own sermon! My new job within the St James Society calls me to go and visit the Ecuadorian guys where they are working. I have see quite a few of them already but I was glad to get out and see Liam Reilly in a rather tough area of Duran and then later in the week get out to the coast to see John Keane and Tom Bierney whoa re in La Libertad. All three are in areas of great poverty and all three are just starting out on their missions. It is great to see their enthusiasm and commitment. So Christmas is just around the corner. And there is the big build–up here …. Though not as big as back home. There is no money so there will be no presents. But everyone wants to get something. Even if it’s a toy soldier or a turkey for their Christmas dinner…

The big building work of this month has been completed. Basically it is a wall outside the Divino Nino chapel (the chapel that St. John’s youth group did up when they came out here). For a while the catechists there had been on at me to do something. I had said that if they raised $500, we would go ahead. So being pretty smart people they got going with fundraisers: bingos, selling hot dogs out on the street etc. So quickly they came up with the cash. And I had to come up with my part of the bargain! It looks good, strong and sturdy. Although they have put barbed wire along the top which takes away a bit of the good look. Last Saturday was a massive Confirmation day – we had 120 people for the Sacrament! With so many Confirmations throughout the Diocese, the Archbishop sends out local priests to do the needful. So we had Padre Mauricio who was very good – he only spoke for thirty minutes (I heard of a guy who spoke for an hour and a half). So the Church was packed and, after the Mass, it was a long period of smiling for all the cameras with the various kids that had lined up. That, of course, was followed up by another batch of Baptisms – only thirty this weekend! We are looking forward to building the long-promised Medical Centre. We got a few good donations from back home so, although not all the money to complete the project is there; there is enough to make a good stab at it. The rest, God will provide. However, before we even get to that stage, the housing charity (Hogar de Cristo) who will run the Medical Centre, are fighting on our behalf. Basically the best bit of land for building is right beside the Nursery but we don’t yet have claim to that land. Not only that but the ‘lawyer’ said it wasn’t ours!!!! So I think while the lawyer seems to be ‘on the run from the law’, we are making hay with the City Council and getting claims!!! Hopefully we can start building soon. And I got another bit of good news this week: the local Rotary Club is funding the laying of a water pipe to get water up to the Nursery, Church and House. They sunk a well two years ago in the school and now they want to lay pipes from the school up to the house. It will be a great boon and blessing as we spend $50 each week for water in the Nursery and house. Good old Rotary! John Keane has his sister, Mary, our visiting him. While I was out at San Pablo to get some Society things sorted, we went out for lunch to a lovely place at Ballenita overlooking the ocean. Mary had just arrived and was shocked by the extent of the poverty. But the meal and the chat – and the scenery – made for a lovely afternoon!

The retreat at Ayangue was good and Fr. Jim and Fr. George, the two guys that were leading us were very good. There was no big psychological thing, which is Jim’s slant, but rather the key idea of the retreat was that all of us need to have a Spiritual Director. Who will care for the carers, who will minister to the ministers? One thing about the retreat was that we had to be accommodated at the nearby hotel – there was not enough room at our own house. So there was a daily walk back and forward between house and hotel – scenery on the way was fantastic! The only bad thing about the retreat week was the amount of additional business meetings that were added on. So when I came back to the city on Friday it was for a busy weekend. On Saturday I had 75 Baptisms split between two sessions. The reason for so many Baptisms is that people get panicky about not having their child baptized before the end of the year. So it was a busy, very busy Church on Saturday morning and afternoon. And I think there might be more this coming weekend. On the other hand I felt a great sense of relief last night as we concluded the Confessions Season. Last night it was the turn of those who will make their First Communion in a couple of weeks – all 250 of them. I started at 6.30pm although we had told them 7pm. And for a while it looked as if myself and Colm Hogan would be there for hours but then the cavalry of Tom Oates and Padre Augusto (Colin’s assistant) came to the rescue and we finished around 9pm. I have now heard the confessions of all the 850 kids that are involved in our catechetical programme!!! A funny incident happened yesterday. I was writing my latest article for the Observer and I had chosen the theme of ‘the water situation’ here. Normally I include several photos that the paper can use as they wish. However, I did not have a photo of the water truck actually filling up at people’s bamboo houses. Then I struck on a great idea: I went up the main road and waited for a water truck to pass (I didn’t have to wait long) and asked if I could accompany them. So we went up hill and down dusty dale them filling up tanks and me taking photos of it all. There was of course banter all the way from the heavy guys but they were quite pleased with the $5 I gave them – money to buy a roast chicken, they said!