Before I finish my report on Mexico, I wish to thank JIM SMITH. Jim is the fellow who generously gives his time and talent to keep this web site and our other electronic services up to date and functioning. We all owe a great deal of thanks to him!

As I had previously written, we were getting ready to travel as a group to Mexico City on Wednesday, July 7th, to celebrate Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is hard to explain what this sacred place means to people who are not Mexican. The people of Mexico believe (as I do!) that the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego,an Indian, at this spot in 1531. You cannot go into a Mexican home, anywhere in the world, without seeing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. People come from all over Mexico (all over the world!) everyday to visit and pray at the Basilica.
For our Mass, FR. JAIME GUTTIEREZ, the deaf priest from Spain was the Celebrant and homilist. We came out with him and our interpreters, spread out to interpret for our deaf group, for Deacon Pat Graybill(Rochester, NY), and for Fr. Jaime. Four years ago when we were there, we had to struggle with the ushers to let the interpreters (especially the WOMEN interpreters) get anywhere near the altar. This time, the staff at the Basilica were much more cooperative.
It had to be strange for the three thousand people in the basilica to watch Fr. Jaime celebrate Mass in sign, but hear a female voice, that of his interpreter Loreto. However, he gave a great homily. At the end of it, the three thousand people broke into applause(a very rare happening at a Mass in Mexico!). For me, I simply thanked Our Lady of Guadalupe for making the entire week possible! (Mass has been celebrate don this site since 1540; this was the first time in history a deaf priest celebrated Mass at the main altar!)
After the Mass and time to tour the grounds, we loaded everyone into the busses and went to La Feria, a sort of poor person's Great America. The young people had a ball; us older types watched the World Cup game! Back on the busses for a long, two-three hour drive back to Rancho Viejo through a rain storm. Everyone was happy to go to bed.
Thursday is our traditional day for physical challenges: people riding a "zip line" over half a mile of forest; "trust" exercises; team building including a project to make something to protect an egg being thrown like a discus. The young people absolutely enjoy this. Then, disaster!
That night, there was a horrific rain storm with blasting winds and more rain than I had ever seen. By 11pm, we had no electric power; no running water; generators could not cope. Everyone was hunkered down in their cabins, but without any lights, showers, or working toilets.
The next morning, because of lots of hard work by the Rancho Viejo staff, we began to get power and water back. It was a powerful lesson. Some of the young people complained about the conditions. However, I reminded them that this is how 80% of the people of the world live EVERYDAY! IT WAS A GOOD LESSON FOR ALL OF US!
The rest of the day: each of our four "groups": had prepared a very involved skit portraying a Gospel passage. We had started out,at the beginning of the week, with a group of young people who barely knew one another and had to struggle through a variety of sign-languages. Here they were, at the end of this week, one group after the other with imaginative, creative performances. We spent the afternoon evaluating what the week had meant, celebrated it at a beautiful Mass, had a great dinner, an exchange of gifts, and a bonfire blazing in the darkness of a Mexican night!
Next morning: packing, final hugs and good-byes, MANY TEARS, and we all headed home.
During the week, while the young people were working, we had all sorts of OTHER things happening: meetings for the Pastoral Workers from the various countries; meetings each night for the sign-language interpreters; a staff meeting each day (sometimes more than one) to make sure everything was proceeding on course.
I am most grateful to all of those who supported this effort. In a special way, I must thank; CHELO MANERO SOTO(Mexico City); DEACON PATRICK GRAYBILL(Rochester, NY); IAN ROBERTSON (Miami, FL); MARY ANN BARTH (Edgewood, KY); GERARDO (Washington, DC); the ESPARZA FAMILY of Rancho Viejo, Mexico for an extraordinary week. And, of course, our Lady of Guadalupe, who protected us and made the week the success it was!