Never the same again
Solidarity Trip to Honduras with D&P and CCCM
What an inspiring experience this social justice trip has been! The greeting by the Sisters in Tegus (as the locals call Tegucigalpa) helps us to ground our many community visits with Caritas Honduras, a Development and Peace partner.
We hear and see first hand about the rampant corruption, the shameful practices of our Canadian mining companies, the seeds of hope from various projects that D and P is funding. http://www.caritas.hn/
Most of all, we connect with the dedicated and competent leaders and their capacity-building training and listen in shock and admiration to the people who learn to help themselves and direct their own development. It is beautiful to see how they have accessed their potential and how the intergenerational bonds are so strong through surmounting both inner and (amazingly persistant) external obstacles. Such dignity, such persistance, and such proud defiance in the face of the blatant human rights violations!!
At our daily Eucharists, it has become impossible for me to read the Word of God in the same way I used to. I have had a hard time holding back the tears as a man of God celebrating life when my brothers and sisters in Christ are being treated so inhumanly and have to fight so hard for justice and peace.
How can I say the peace of Christ without seing the joyful faces of people who fight for it tooth and nail. This experience has made me realize how central the message of justice and peace is to the Gospel. I will never be able to say mass the same way after this experience. Thanks be to God.
Fr. Daniel Renaud, omi
Bravo pour ce beau stagge et un gros merci pour ces commentaires émouvants. Ayant fait un stage d’immersion en Bolivie avec d’autres partenaires D&P d’Ottawa, je comprends très bien l’émotion que l’on peut ressentir mais aussi, la joie de constater que nos frères et soeurs du Sud ne se laissent pas abattre par les contraintes. Ils ont bien des choses à nous apprendre.