Franciscan Reunion in the Southwest (page 2)

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On Friday, we met for lunch at a nice diner in Albuquerque...

and then headed west on I-40 to tour Acoma, "Sky City," the oldest continuously inhabited village in North America.  Acoma is on a flat mesa that rises over 350 feet above the desert floor.  Water is scarce and life is hard there, but the people have survived and held onto one of the most spectacular backyard views in the world.  Fr Antonio Trujillo ('78) is pastor of their Catholic church.  Several people naively opted to climb down the rock walls after the tour.  Some of those who risked their lives in this way saw the mud bird nests stuck to the underside of overhanging cliffs (photo below, to the right of the picture of Phillip Martinez taking a picture of someone taking a picture).

Next, we celebrated Mass down the road at Laguna Pueblo, where Fr Antonio is also the pastor.  The church was built on a burial ground, which is a very holy place, and the floor is hardened mud similar to adobe.  The floor is mud so that there is nothing between the church and the holy earth.  Parishioners wet down the mud and smooth out the floor about once a year when it becomes dusty.  Fr Antonio's homily was a beautiful blend of Gospel, nostalgia, Franciscan formation, native culture, and humor.  He had us in stitches with comments like, "when I went to the junior seminary in Ohio and visited other students' homes, it was like stepping onto the set of the Brady Bunch."  Another highlight of the afternoon Mass was Matt Jaramillo's song, "Francis", which was sung during Preparation.  The refrain, "go and repair my church, for it is falling down" speaks to us on many levels, just as it did to St Francis.  

After Mass, we enjoyed a banquet consisting of local specialties (tamales in corn husks, meats, fruits, spicy soup, blue corn muffins) prepared and served by pueblo high school students who are raising funds for a group trip to Rome, Italy.  It was a day of fascinating sights, inspirational stories, delicious food, and boundless hospitality.

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