Posted by: Mr. Sullivan Peru, day 5: Everyone is walking around a little slower today than the previous days. Yesterday, after working and Mass we came back to the retreat house and showered and ate dinner. After dinner, we were taken to a beautiful high school that has athletic facilities that would rival a small university in the states. We played an intense game of basketball for about an hour and then switched to volleyball. The court was outdoors under the lights and surrounded by the shadows of giant Peruvian mountains. The group played for over 3 hours and this was after a day of very hard work moving rocks in the shanty town. We did not work in the shanty town today. Instead the group joined about a hundred high school youth from the Lima area to take children from the shanty town to the zoo! It was amazing to see over a hundred smiling faces of children who live in a treeless, dusty, dilapidated area, experience the beauty of the zoo. Each person from our group was paired with a high school student and some small children from the shanty town. We then had about two hours to wander the zoo and let the children experience the sights and sounds. What struck me the most was a moment when the six young boys I was with all stopped and looked at the same thing. One would expect it to be an exotic animal or bird. It was neither. Instead, it was a large lake that had a cascading waterfall and tall, green palm trees, rolling green hills of grass, and various colored flowers. It was truly a scene of beauty and, from personally experiencing the dust, dirt and grim of the shanty town, beauty that these young boys may have never laid eyes on before. After the zoo we came back to the retreat house and ate lunch around 2pm. After lunch we had a much needed hour of rest before getting back on the bus. We stopped at a grocery store to resupply and we are now at the church. Here we will say the rosary and then go to mass. After mass we are scheduled to go to dinner and then play soccer. Everyone is tired and sore but happy and filled with joy. As I sit here and write I can hear the rest of the group singing the rosary in Spanish. The music is powerful here in Peru. To sing to Jesus, to give Him praise through the outpouring of their voices is something these people take very seriously. I can say that I have never to been to mass where the singing was so loud and powerful and beautiful than two days ago at the ordination. I remember closing my eyes as the singing grew stronger and thought, "This must be what it will be like in heaven when the world is gathered and singing praises to God!" Thanks to all of your for your prayers! More will posted tomorrow. God bless.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 23:43:21 +0000