Hello!
I’ve put together another brief update while here in Boston - I hope you enjoy it. Just when I thought I’d be getting more updates out, new things have popped up, but now I’ll be hoping to focus more while still working.
Current Events in Ecuador
Omicron is taming down in Ecuador, much like in the States. Ecuador has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, and they have throughout the pandemic done things in a more strict and cautious manner than in the States.
There continues to be problems with gang crime in prisons and ranges around narcotrafficking channels. Gasoline prices are rising because of the war in Ukraine, though the rise in oil price can potentially have a positive effect on Ecuador’s economy.
In Chontal, things have not changed much. The Covid and Dengue waves have long past. People go about life without masks again.
More about Mission in Ecuador
I haven’t taken more steps yet exploring lay missionary possibilities in the Amazon, but in April and May I hope to start to explore that more.
The focus is again on Chontal and Mindo, as I’ve described before in other postings. That includes thoughts about visits, both international but also local. And one of the most important aspects of visits is the concept of the bridge. The bridge has limits to its sides, but it provides safe passage. Developing these limits - in other words, developing a clear program for visits with limitations - is one of the principal and most difficult efforts. Visitors would need to understand and trust that it’s important to stay on the bridge while visiting. The tendency to leave the bridge that’s been built and go one’s own way of exploring and adventure is a danger not only to oneself, but to others. This is true whenever going into a new place, but even more so when entering places of such different material and spiritual development. A lot of damage can occur. So, this is the biggest task: to make the bridge clear and comfortable and safe enough for each side, and earn confidence for visitors to stay on it when visiting.
This gets back to vision. For an effort to be ready to go forward, collaborators need to have the same vision, at least in the fundamentals. Without that, temporary collaborators and visitors wouldn’t have clarity on the shape and form of the bridge, and problems would result. I have had that experience often in small-scale efforts that I’ve done. And in the entrepreneurial short course I took, that common overall vision among the core team - expressed by each member - is deemed the most necessary component of a successful startup.
So, this leads to one of the goals over the next 6 months or so: to develop and promote more the vision that I have, integrated with small-scale visits, to invite others to follow in action and see through the same lens. This, by the way, was the method of Jesus in the Gospels of choosing twelves apostles who would collaborate with him. He began proclaiming the Gospel (being the Gospel himself), and attracted and called disciples. But after a while, after the disciples got experience following him and seeing from his perspective and he could see their response and growth, he selected 12 to be collaborators in his work. And the first step to following Jesus was to leave everyone and everything behind…
Soon, I’ll be following up on the investigation I did earlier this year about the professional visa in Ecuador. I’m not sure yet that I’ll get it, as it may eventually make more sense to get a tourist visa extension for 6 months, or a religious visa like before. But I think I will try to get my graduate school degree validated in Ecuador the next time I go, so long as I don’t have to then start the process for a visa immediately afterwards.
The schoolyear at my current job ends in late June, and so I’m starting to target that timeframe for going to Ecuador.
Accompaniment and workshops
I’ve spiritually accompanied a Capuchin Franciscan friend in Ecuador through his annual period of retreat and renewal, at a distance. It’s been a time for him and others in his community to reflect on vocational plans for the next year or two.
I focused on the value of stories, and finding discernment of contact with God in the remembering and telling of stories in our lives. It develops out the reality that our lives are stories that, the closer we draw in relationship to Christ, manifest the stories of the Gospel. Christ lives in us, and beginning to notice that reality expressed in the events of our lives involves growing in recognizing and understanding God’s voice. It’s to hear and understand the “Word of God”, which is spoken to us in the constant passing events of our lives, in our history, in the present story we are currently living. It helps to move beyond seeing the Word of God as something written down in the past, but an actual current communication conveyed to us. And not by a voice in our imagination, but by the relation of the trajectory of our lives with those of the People of God in the Scripture.
There’s a similarity between the written Word and a typical language dictionary of words. The dictionary is a reference for understanding the words we encounter daily in our lives: spoken, written, in our minds when we see an object or action. That way, we understanding what is being communicated to us daily, and we can communicate as well. In the same way, the written Word is a living reference that brings forth understanding of the communication that God has expressing to us in the daily events of our lives. God’s voice and spoken word are “now”. They are personal and communal. Because the relationship with God is “now”, alive and ever new.
Reviewing our stories helps us to relate to the “dictionary”, so to speak. Discernment of our interior movements helps us to progress in recognizing God’s voice and what He is saying, and to help us communicate in dialogue. God’s voice is very intimate to us: noticing and understanding it is typically a challenge.
Anyway, these conversations are ongoing with my friend, and I hope to continue to develop these workshops, accompaniments, and retreats as spiritual support.
Happenings in Chontal - María and Ximena
I've been in contact now and then with both María Herrera and Ximena Mina, who we've supported in fundraisers in 2020 and 2021.
María still continues on a difficult road. As her chemotherapy treatments continue, she seems positive, hopeful and in good spirits when I talk to her. However, she’s still frail, she thinks because of her anemia. She now has a pain in her leg that keeps her from sleeping a lot. So, doctors changed her chemotherapy because they thought it was affecting her nerves, but she had some hemorrhaging problems with that change where she had to go to emergency. But she recently had another chemo, and still has the pain, but will see if over some time the pain is relieved. It’s still a complicated situation. As I continue to mention, our prayer at a distance can be a way of being in solidarity from a distance.
Ximena’s situation seems to be going well. She is renting part of her house to a schoolteacher, so earning extra income that way. It’s a hopeful situation that she can keep her home going forward. Thanks again to the community there and the gifts we all made together.
Living in Boston
I’m just now finishing my first full winter in Boston in ten years. In just over 3 weeks, I will have been in Boston for a full year. I found that I have been happy to be here, but since the new year have had a growing and stronger sense of returning to Ecuador. As February and March have moved on, with some changes I’ll describe, that discernment and desire has grown even more.
Over the last 12 years, I have felt divided between living here in Boston and in Ecuador. But it’s become clearer that my place in Boston isn’t what it once was. I’ve lived in, I think, 25 places since I left my condo in 2005, many of those in Ecuador, and it’s very difficult now for me to live in US culture.
But I remain dedicated to inviting all the wonderful people I’ve known in my life in Boston and the US into the Spirit of the mission in Christ, in Barriers to Bridges. The relationship has changed definitively, and I can’t go back to how things were.
LOSSES IN BOSTON
February had some difficult losses, that also gave a space to hope.
My mother’s cousin, Sona Frissora, died in February 15th at 92 years old. She lived a full life, and I had only gotten to know her after she visited my mother just before her death in 2008. Her husband Anthony died about 6 months later. Living in the North End, “Sonny” attended St. Stephen’s church and came to know the St. James Society. When I shared news about having funded a church in Ecuador in my mother’s memory, she put me in contact with the Society, most directly, Fr. Pat Universal. Sonny became a friend, and my only family contact in the Boston area, and Fr. Pat as well became a supportive friend as I began a new journey of mission in Ecuador.
As the years went by, we regularly caught up by phone, or I’d swing by for a visit. Often in later years, I would bring her the Eucharist as well, to share in prayer together. She always had hospitality waiting, and great food, too. (And if there wasn’t time to prepare food, we’d order from the Sail Loft.) As I mentioned, she was my only regular family contact in the Boston area, and she was a support especially during my times in Boston in the seminary in 2010-2012. She helped me prepare Armenian food, and we made some great baklava together! She was a regular subscriber to this B2B newsletter, and kept up on happenings all around her community. Through her I got to know a variety of folks in the North End as well. I continue to miss her conversation and friendship.
Sonny was always proud of her 4 sons, and always looked froward to someday being with her husband Anthony. Her sons and their families surrounded her with love at the end of her life, and now her desire has come to pass.
Just before Sonny died, someone shared the news with me that my best friend from my childhood, Rick Jenks, had died 3 years earlier. I had lost touch with Rick over the years, especially over the past 10-20 years or so. I was heartbroken. I did some investigating and found what looked like his brother’s address in Massachusetts, and I sent him a letter. His brother and my brother had been childhood best friends as well. Well, he did respond, and we set up a Zoom meeting with his sister and my brother as well. We all caught up for the first time all together in maybe 35 years. Maybe we’ll gather sometime in the summer.
I found out that Rick died due to opioid addiction, which made me so sad. But I remember when we were little kids, instead of going over to call on each other, we used to call out to each other from our front porches with a Tarzan yell! He an dhis family moved away when we were about 10 or so, and I remember the sadness of missing him then. And then, one day, I heard the Tarzan yell again. I was so excited that the family would come back and visit now and then. It helped me to understand that, although it was the end of a time, I would see my best friend again. I wait for the day still that I’ll hear the Tarzan yell.
I have the same hope in God … that there will be a resurrection. (Acts 24:15)
Finally, at the end of February, I got news from my cousin Jim that his brother died. Cousin John was in a serious car accident when he was 19 that left him disabled with a head injury. My aunt and uncle took care of him for most of their remaining years until they couldn’t. John entered into a community home on Cape Cod for people with head injuries, and his parents each died several years later.
I haven’t been so much in contact with John and his brothers, and especially the last 8 years or so. Jim has been a regular supporter of Barriers to Bridges, generously giving financially in fundraisers over the years. But it was difficult to get to visit John, the last visit being in 2014. After selling my car a few years later, it became very difficult to go and visit.
I hadn’t taken pictures during my visit, so I’ll include a picture from years ago of my brother with John. John always had a firm right hand that he used as his primary tool for grasping what he needed and for hilarity. You can see him in the picture with the right hand in action! And it is the right hand of God that is His strength to save. “The LORD’s right hand works valiantly; the LORD’s right hand is raised; the LORD’s right hand works valiantly.” (Ps 118:15-16) From all accounts, John was very much loved in the community home where he lived, and he enjoyed being a part of it. I think it was by his right hand that he got a hold on everyone’s heart.
Being at the services gave us all a chance to catch up after so many years. We hope to gather in the summer when the weather gets better.
Death is a reminder of the scope of this life, and the depth of the mission of Christ. It was to undo the realities of death, and bring the revelation of the essence of God into our own interior to be lived and fulfilled:
“The LORD puts to death and gives life, casts down to Sheol and brings up again.” (1 Sam 2:6)
May the mercy of God fulfilled in Christ bring Sonny and Rick and John - and each of us - to that fulfillment of resurrected eternal life, all together.
PREPARATION AND FORMATION
When I arrived in Boston in April 2021, my thought was to do some studies in Boston College for a year, finish by summer 2022, and be able to return to Ecuador after that. I was accepted into a one-year Spirituality program in Theology and Ministry, but I couldn’t afford it (and the schedule wasn’t so conducive to work opportunities), and so I had to decline. I shifted my sights to other possibilities.
I was then accepted into a short, one-year certificate program in psychoanalysis, but because of my financial situation, I had to back out of that as well.
In parallel, I applied to a Franciscan Spiritual Direction program, to be certified as a spiritual director. It is a two-year program, and before applying, I decided I’d be open to staying around in Boston for two years if I got in and could get enough work going to afford it ($4k over 2 years).
Just when I was accepted to that program on August 1st, I also registered for an online TEFL certificate course to teach English as a Second Language, for $250. I completed that in a month, putting in about 4-5 hours a day for 6 days a week. I wanted to finish it before the Spiritual Direction course started, so I could just focus on getting work.
But shortly after finishing that course, I was informed that the Spiritual Direction program was postponed for a year, because there weren’t enough accepted applicants yet. The program staff would let us know later on about a plan, while they weighed the possibility of a one-year program. That was attractive to me, while waiting another year for a two-year program would put me at 3 years in Boston - much longer than the initial plan of a little more than one year. I was hoping that it would be a one-year plan.
Shortly afterwards, I interviewed for the work position that I’m doing now. And just recently, I heard back: the program will be 2 years, starting in September. On the one hand it was a bit of a let-down, as I just don’t think I could do another 2+ years here in Boston. But on the other hand, it freed me up the next year, meaning after the current schoolyear ends, I don’t have plans to be in Boston.
Also, I did speak with the Franciscan Missionary Service, and we had a dialogue and some discernment process. I realized that I wasn’t being called to enter their formation program to be a lay missionary for 2-6 years, and I left an offer on the table for them to discuss other possibilities of collaboration as Barriers to Bridges. There hasn’t been a response yet. A response may eventually come: we had recent communication because the staff realized that hadn’t sent an email response to me that was written months earlier! I also received an invitation to a webinar at one point addressed to the wrong person. But it’s a bit disappointing to not receive any response at all, and I don’t see going any further exploring things unless something surprising happens. And that’s always possible!
Finally, in my discernment over the last few months, a familiar message has consistently shown up. It’s something I’ve heard over and over at times during the last 15 plus years. It’s something like this: I already have everything I need. The formation activities are “nice to haves”, but they actually aren’t necessary. In fact, in my case, they can potentially be counterproductive. After my own intense, life-changing period of hearing the Word of God, of withdrawal and leaving an old life, and setting out back in the 2000’s on a vision in Christ that was upside down, there have been two constant voices. One is that I have no home here. And the other is that I already have everything I need: Jesus.
Latino Immigrants in Boston
During the winter time, with Covid and the tough weather, the small gatherings of folks who used to attend St. Anthony Shrine that had started, stopped. But, their Mass has resumed on Saturdays, and some attend, so hopefully they receive support there. I have met about once a month with one member to do some language, and now that the weather is getting better, we’ll see if some more can be gathered.
Language with Ecuadorians
Each Friday, I’ve continued to do an online English class with a group of Ecuadorians in Lawrence, Mass. They all live together in the same small apartment: a father and mother, a son, two nieces and a nephew. I’m considering starting some English with some people in Chontal as well, so there might be a connection between the two.
I had hoped to visit for a gathering at Carnaval before Ash Wednesday, but I was stranded in Pennsylvania by a winter storm. I hope to visit in early April, and at the same time visit some other Ecuadorians in Lawrence, particularly from the indigenous community of Alao in the Province of Chimborazo.
Parish Accompaniment
I've still been stopping by East Boston to Most Holy Redeemer parish off and on. They are short social visits, as well as hearing Mass. As I mentioned before, it is one of the largest and most active Latino communities in the Archdiocese, with a large El Salvadorean population. But for me, I haven’t found much invitation to participate in the parish life using my own gifts and talents, so I may back away from the visits more and more.
Work at East Boston Harborside Community School
I’ve continued my part-time work at the East Boston Harborside Community School. At the end of January my temporary English teaching ended. Since then, though, I’ve continued as a coach of the distance learning program for adults looking to get their GED; as an advisor to 3 classes of ESOL students in their education and career goals (though this has been more administrative than advisory); as a substitute English teacher from time to time; and, now, as an in-person tech assistant at the school for an hour a week, while also helping with the free food distribution that’s done at the same time. I’m also teaching a low-level computer help class for beginners for an hour a week.
I like the work, I really enjoy being with and supporting the adult students, and I think it’s the best place for me to be working right now. I am very grateful for the work. As I’ve mentioned, it’s been a very good place to work, with great co-workers and supervisors.
At the same time, I'm at a different place, and I have a vision that's similar but also different, and I want to pursue it. I've also always felt limited in organizations in the US for a while now. (All this is a common theme in trying to make a life here in Boston now.) Which leads me to the next topic…
RETURN TO ECUADOR
When I heard the news about the Spiritual Direction program, combined with what was a growing discerning inside since the beginning of the year, I’m beginning to think of returning to Ecuador after the school year ends in June. I don’t know yet for how long. But things seem to be lining up, and I’m beginning to aim in that direction. That means beginning to consider what to do with my apartment and belongings, with getting the necessary documentation for visa considerations, health appointments, with possibilities of continuing some level of remote work while in Ecuador, with living arrangements and collaboration possibilities in Ecuador… These things are beginning to move around inside and I’ll be working them out over the next few months.
Online Workshops and Teaching Videos
The online workshops and teaching videos are still available - come on by and check them out by clicking on an image below.
I am still continuing to develop these workshops and teaching videos. As the foundation is accompaniment in life, there are a few that you might find beneficial in this pandemic, and if you are experiencing a life transition. I'm continuing to offer the Pandemic ReBirth Workshop, as well as the Tree of Life. Feel free to contact me directly if you're interested. And you can share the link freely as well.
Health
I'm doing well health-wise, though I’ve put on a little weight over the winter because of a lack of exercise and some bad snacking habits! But I’m a few weeks into some new, basic exercise habits, and starting to get back on the bike as the weather is getting better.
Financials
Here are the current financials for Barriers to Bridges (I’m still working on updating the balance sheet).
Reflection
Last year, I was in Chontal at this time suffering from Covid. I remember visiting the doctor on St. Patrick’s Day. I was told I probably didn’t have Covid, but I did. And that time was confusing and stressful as my flight and my visa’s expiration approached quickly. And then, all of a sudden, in the span of a single day, I had flown home and was back home back in Boston. It all happened so quickly, and it was hard to believe, but it was clear: God showed up. He got me out of a tough situation.
Later on, I ran into a situation where I had to move out of my living situation fairly quickly. Apartments were about to get gobbled up in the August push, and I started thinking about moving in July. For a guy without a job, going back and forth to Ecuador for almost 10 years, it was going to be tough going finding an apartment.
Then, I posted something on Facebook, and a friend responded. A relative had an opening in the very same house I was living in 4 years earlier - a lot cheaper, but … underground. I went and looked at it, and immediately knew it was for me. But I still had to work out income and some other practicalities, like, would internet be installed? I was a little stressed! Well, I was helping out with a mission appeal in a parish just as I was moving out, and after Mass, a family approached me to chat. Their young son had something to share. As a budding singing artist, he had a CD in his hand that he wanted to give me. I thanked him for it, and looked at the title: Help Is on the Way.
After Jesus was baptized, he was led into the desert for 40 days. He was led, meaning God brought him into the desert. Well, after 40 days, he's still there. Now is the moment of truth. what’s going to happen next? That's where he gets tempted. The Son knows the Father, and knows that fundamental truth: the One who brought him into the desert, would bring him out. God will show up.
In a story from last Sunday's readings, God tells Abram to do something, and Abram goes and does exactly what God wants. He gets the animals just like God wanted and cut them up and laid them out. Then, he waited. And waited. Day turned into night. You might think, Couldn't God have asked me to do this when He was ready to show up? You might wonder what is going on. Or maybe, if God is going to show up at all. But Abram waited. And waited. And the way God showed up turned out to be very deep and profound: at night in a fire. Abram knew to wait for God to come. He knows that God will show up.
In a recent Gospel reading, a few apostles are on a mountain with Jesus when they see him talking to Moses and Elijah. It says they are talking about Jesus' upcoming exodus from Jerusalem. Then a cloud comes where the apostles can't see anything and they hear God's voice tell that this is His beloved Son: listen to him! When the cloud disappears, there's Jesus standing alone. What’s happening? Well, it helps to know that the word exodus means "the way out". Jesus knows the way out through death - listen to him. God has shown up.
Preparing to leave for Ecuador, how it all comes together, is a matter of waiting and trusting. Somehow, some way, the One that brought me into my situation, will get me out. It’s true for all of us, whatever situation we are in. Whatever the problems, the pains, the emptiness, the One who put us in the situation, will bring us out of it, at the right time, in the right way. It’s a matter of waiting with hope.
God will show up.
There is a way out.
“Surely, I wait for the LORD; who bends down to me and hears my cry,
Draws me up from the pit of destruction, out of the muddy clay,
Sets my feet upon rock, steadies my steps,
And puts a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God.”
VISION
After reflecting on the statement I included here in the last update, I felt I couldn’t add to it now, and that it’s worth presenting again. So here it is:
In some time stepping aside, I’ve had the opportunity to do some reflection on goals. Not just mine, but also those of others: God, church communities and leaders, Ecuadorians, United Statesians. Noting wherever there is common intersection - especially in the Scripture and the memories of God’s life with humanity - is a good starting place for moving forward with a plan.
A fruit of Jesus’ time in the desert was a bringing together, a synthesizing of his historical path - and that of all humanity - into his mission. In his Gospel, Luke describes Mary as “reflecting” on things in her heart (Lk 2:19), using the Greek word symballo. From “throw together”, it’s the base of the word symbol or symbolize. It’s to integrate together into a cohesive visual whole. And a great tangible example of that is the tilma of Juan Diego that contains the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. That image visually represents a profound, thorough integration of two peoples and their cultures, rooted in the mystery of Christ.
The Virgin of Guadalupe has always been the patroness of my mission, you might say around the hidden root of it all. And more than just something to stare or wonder at or honor, the image on the tilma gives an inspiring and effective example to take inside through meditation and action. It’s an example of integrating all that’s contained in our interior life - the people, places, things - into a reconciled whole rooted in the mystery of Jesus and the love of God, and to bring that about in our actions. This is the type of reflection that Jesus did in the desert, that gave him vision. And it’s the type that draws me in this desert time as well.
Closing
May you be available to notice the subtle movements the new growths that are preparing to come forth in your life as spring begins, and be ready for ways out of deserts in your life that God may lay before you.
Feel free to comment or reach out anytime, and I'll post again when it's time.
-Jerome