Misioneros de Africa
Missionaries of Africa
Missionnaires d' Afrique
Guadalajara
Mexico

24th November 2008
Blessing of our new house of formation in Guadalajara

THE BIG DAY
On Saturday morning of November 24 in the crowded barrio of Patria Nueva in Guadalajara, the new formation house for the Mexico project was due to be blessed and more or less inaugurated. As the day began, however, a crow, flying over the garden wall or though the chapel or the spacious rooms inside, would have had doubts. The "garden" consisted of muddy stretches between house and walls with a few halfheartedly installed flat stepping stones.

The chapel had most of its windows in place but the centerpiece cross was shown by the hollow shapes left in the concrete to receive it. (It would have to pass for a modernistic touch today.) In the ceilings some lights were ready but most had nothing to show but a cluster of wires hoping for a fixture. Worst of all the floors were a mess. The whole house was full of muddy or dusty tracks and every visitor from the garden tracked in some more. Even the big garden walls were still getting a coat of paint.

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Bill Dyer, Assistant Provincial and Albert Thévenot Provincial

An outdoor Mass for 700 souls was being planned for 11 AM but in the street blocked off by parked vehicles on both ends there was no sign of a cleanup effort let alone tables, chairs, or anything resembling an altar. Only the stretching of several canvas coverings in different places signaled that something was happening.

None of that mattered. A miracle was on the way. At seven two cars from the first cycle community pulled up. Out jumped Fidel, Bernard and their seven students with fresh brooms and mops. They sprang into action. Neighbors had signed a petition with the authorities to reserve the street all day for this event. They were soon pitching in. Women and men, some of whom had probably not been inside a church since Ash Wednesday, emerged from their homes with rakes, brooms and shovels and joined the students. This was Mexico and the mood was fiesta as sleepy children began asking about rumors of a padded trampoline delivered for the occasion. A truck pulled up and workers began unloading and arranging tables and chairs.

Meanwhile the house began a slow transformation. Early arrivals including the pastor of one of the students gladly joined the preparations. Squares of grass were delivered and magically a garden appeared. It began to look as if something would be happening after all.

Almost exactly at eleven o'clock Don Rafael, the smiling, friendly auxiliary bishop of Guadalajara, passed through the rows of people in the procession to the large platform that served as an altar. The street became a church. Joining Bishop Rafael around the altar were the provincial and vice provincial of ANA, all the confreres currently stationed in Mexico, and a dozen or so priest friends. During the ceremony the five new first cycle candidates received a Cross as an official welcome to White Father formation. The Mass was spirited, attentive, and festive. The Bishop congratulated us for our place in the mission of the church and during the homily Father Fidel recapitulated the twenty three year history of our presence in this country. After communion we marched off in four different groups to bless the chapel, the basement, and each of the two main floors of the new seminary.

After the blessing no one left. Tables were put in place and friends and family of the White Fathers settled in with old acquaintances or got to know new ones including over fifty classmates of our students at the Philosophy Institute and a very large and excited group of our new neighbors. After a bit of waiting a delicious selection of meats, tacos, soft drinks, fruit juices and deserts were served buffet style by the seminarians.

The mood was joy. Happily fed, a few stayed on at the tables to keep the conversation going. The children set out in search of the trampoline and many adults and children enjoyed the open house roaming in groups around the new building. Many of the young ones seemed to prefer rather than using the crowded trampoline romping laughingly up and down the variety of stairways from cellar to roof.

It had been an important day in the history of the Mexican project.
More than two buses filled with friends from Lomas de Casa Blanca and other parts of our founding city of Queretaro had come like pilgrims, proud perhaps to see that the mission they knew from infancy had come of age through this new seminary. Their presence formed a link in spirit between the two White Father houses four hundred kilometers apart establishing us as one enthusiastic community of friends for Africa. Their loyalty, support, and love (there is no other word) have nurtured the mission and every confrere who ever spent even a week among us here.
The small group of supporters in this area proudly welcomed the new community. Perhaps they will also forge a link of solidarity and a growing mission family.

The street Mass, the open house, the welcome around the buffet table were meant to communicate clearly to our neighbors that this house, large as it may seem in context, will belong in some sense to them. Soon they will bring their sick for confessions, their second hand cars and their medals for a blessing, their children and their problems to be heard. The ice has been broken. The students will know from experience the spirit we try to establish, "close to the people."

For the first cycle community and the confreres who carry on vocation animation the house is officially there providing a tool and a challenge. It is a formation and promotion tool because there is sufficient space for an improved library and quiet study, a chapel whose African décor and consecration to the Ugandan martyrs invite to the love of God, the love of the mission and a passion for Africa. The presence of the humble and the poor and a busy parish nearby open up opportunities for service. Here also prospective students can "come and see" in the company of a vocation director the missionary formation they will be offered.

It is not just a tool but a challenge. "Why is this house so big?" I have asked myself many times in the last few months. Perhaps the answer is that those who built it believe in our mission in Mexico and sense that God may be calling more young people to embrace their call if we will have the insight and love to help them along the way. Maybe after all the community of seven will grow to fill the official capacity of twelve and who knows how many after that. That is strictly God's affair. We can only tag eagerly along willing to give our best for his kingdom.

More than a month later here we are. The day after the celebration Gerard Chabanon, unable to come sooner, lead us to the new chapel where he celebrated the first Mass and placed on each of our students a symbol of Africa and the mission. A new semester has started; the students are here fresh from their holiday break. The worst of the moving is over and, despite quite a few loose ends and unfinished touches and even two or three stubborn glitches still unresolved, we are underway. The province and our benefactors have done their part putting this new home at our disposition. Now it's up to us!