The Life of (Liam) Reilly: June 2011

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships, so that you will live deep in your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation, of people and the earth. so that you will work for justice, equity and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer so you will reach out your hands to comfort them and seek to change their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world, so you will do the things which others say cannot be done.
Amen.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A Contented Man

A story is told of a king who was suffering from a malady and was advised by his astrologer that he would be cured if the shirt of a contented man were brought to him to wear. People went out to all parts of the kingdom after such a person, and after a long search they found a man who was really happy...but he did not possess a shirt.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Here are some images of the progress being made on our parish church

The altar section which is beginning to take shape, albeit at an Ecuadorean pace...

A wholly sight...

The site of our new church in the community of Cerezos (meaning Cherries). This church will be built by the hands of every member of the community, the materials being bought by funds from outside. We invite you to help us and become part of this truly people effort by sponsoring a bag of cement or a few blocks. Bag of cement costs $7, the blocks $0.35 each, $350 per 1000.

Progress will be slow but the end product will be a peoples church, a product of the sweat and toil of the community. (God be with the days in Eire)

Will be keeping you updated.

Five weeks ago, six houses were burned to the ground in our parish, you will remember that most of the inhabitants of the parish are housed in cane huts and the electricity connections are almost always "home made", the result is as follows...

Thankfully, we were able to help those families with the basics including food and clothes and now the council have committed to rebuilding the houses with blocks and cement. It does not, however, take from the great pain and loss of having everything you own go up in smoke...

A typical home of the indigenous communities

This is the home of Carmen Saeteros. She has just turned ninty (she thinks). Very often they have difficulty remembering their date of birth. Her very simple house is typical of the indigenous community and made from clay and stray blocks (bloques de adobe) with the luxurious models having tin roofs, (many with stray). These homes are bitterly cold for a man from Belmullet used to the bit hearth full of good black turf. But these are a tougher people. Carmen sleeps on the floor on a large bag filled with animal coat. Inside it is just one room with a table at one end and her bag (bed) at the other. She survives on milk and eggs (dairy products in large quantities being bad and all that jazz, she must have missed that health supplement) With no shoes and no socks, the earthen floor can be well... Recently we have decided to "renovate" her local run-down chapel at a cost or between $2000-2500. She said it was the best New Year present she could have received. She (as the elder stateswoman), and the rest of the community of Rumiurco are very proud of their Christian Catholic faith. Say one for her, she is quite ill at this moment.

Our New Church at Cimientos

Ciemientos is a community in the wilds of the mountains of Ecuador, untouched until recently by the "outside" world. It is a community constituted entirely of indigenous peoples. They speak Kichwa and are intensely uncomfortable speaking in Spanish (as am I, so at least we have that in common). Thanks to the support of the people of my native Erris, Co Mayo, this chapel is nearing completion. Unfortunately because of the incredible effects of the "La Nina" and associated weather patterns, the inauguration will take place in the summer, probably September. But it is a beautiful chapel, built on the foundation of an old Inca structure. (Ciemientos means foundation) They do not rue the loss of the Inca relic because they are decendents of the Canari people who were subjugated by the Inca Empire in the thirteenth century. One back as it were, if not a little too late.