An amazing idea!

Last night, my family and I had the opportunity to hear a young priest speak about his adventures in El Salvadore. Our diocese does missionary work there and this priest, Father John, spent 10 years with the people of El Salvadore after his ordination in 1986.

He spoke about the people, the poverty, the hardship and the crime, but he also talked about the good humor of the people and how they are just extrodinarily happy despite living in what most of us would consider squalor.

Father John is back in the states now for good, although he plans to go back to El Salvador to visit often. His parents are older now and he wants to spend what remaining time they have with them. But aside from his missionary life, he has also studied astronomy in Australia, and gone scuba diving (two of his passions) as well as learned to be quite fluent in Spanish.

He talked about death threats that were made against his life and how he found the courage to stand up to them. What stood out in my mind is that he really expressed that if he were to be killed, he would only die once. But if he gave in to the threats and backed off from helping the people, or saying mass every time he was threatened, he would die over and over again in many different ways. A young man from the audience quoted an old proverb, “A brave man does once, but a coward dies many times!”

Father John said that if he were to die, in that instant before he let his spirit go, he would know that he had lived life fully and well and that he had made good use of his time while he was on this earth and that he was ready.

As a wife and a mom, I felt that he was talking to me too. I haven’t ever left the country or done any of the brave heroic things that Father John has, but I feel in my vocation as a wife and a mother I have bravely withstood the pressures of the cultures and the fears those influences put on us. I’m expecting my seventh baby after a stillbirth! The voices of our culture are, “that’s too many kids”, “You’re too old”, “How will you feed them all”, “What about college” etc. etc. It is never about the wonder if new life, or the possibility each new baby brings to the world, or how raising a child and sacrificing for it, even on a shoestring, brings positive changes to the parents in ways that aren’t always so tangible.

Also as a blogger, since the new year, I have had more then a few unpleasant and unkind remarks made to me for stands I take that are again unpopular in the culture. Someone named Wilder, told me to “F” myself in my doodle board just last night so I switched back to Tag Board. The point is, I could delete the blog, read other blogs but never ever comment etc., but in very small ways, that is a death. It’s giving into the pressure instead of doing what I think is good and right.

Father John will be a blessing in our community and certainly an inspiration. He has already blessed and inspired me!

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