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Santa Cruz - Good Friday - Easter 2008
What do I dream of in Santa Cruz? I dream of silence, peace, no traffic in the streets of our big city. But only exceptional days of the year look that way. One of them is Good Friday. Officially it is a holiday and people do not work. In many parishes, also in our St. Anthony parish, there were Maundy Thursday services which lasted for long hours. Today in the morning there are Ways of the Cross in the streets of the town. They are sometimes very colourful, prepared by young people from different parishes. In the afternoon the Archbishop of Santa Cruz, Cardinal Julio Terrazas, will preside over the Good Friday ceremonies at the main square in Santa Cruz, in front of the cathedral. After the ceremonies people will go in procession across the whole town. They will be holding the sarcophagus of Jesus Christ and the figure of Our Lady of Sorrows. Several dozens of people will take part in this ceremony.
The Good Friday ceremonies will also take place in other parishes. The doors to almost all churches in Santa Cruz will be open till late into the night. People are to make a pilgrimage to all churches in the city. Here, like in Europe, people fast and abstain from meat.
Despite a tense political situation even politicians who are not very religious forget about disputes and arguments and participate in the ceremonies and in procession. This is, of course, presented in all kinds of media. Unfortunately previous weeks did not bring anything positive to the critical political situation in Bolivia. The Pope Benedict XVI called for a dialogue and common problem solving. The Bolivian episcopacy offered readiness to mediate between the left-wing government of Evo Morales and the opposition. The whole dispute is about the form and the parameters of the future constitution. Regrettably, the talks have not produced the anticipated effects. These days the president has announced the possibility of censoring some TV programmes and other media. He claimed that this decision was made for the sake of the country. We know that in the times of socialist Poland the government manipulated the country through mass media. Is it a rerun of a not very successful, recent history...? And maybe the little earlier one, the one from Christ’s time, when crowds of people were also manipulated and the power was in the hands of dictators, tyrants and people who were blinded by their ideologies? Let’s hope that the “"great and ruling”" people’s participation in today’s ceremonies will move their hearts and consciences. Let’s hope...!
The situation with the "great water" gradually calms down, although not such a long time ago the rainfalls and a high water level were leading to many tragedies. The main roads were broken, the bridges were washed away, and the road communications did not function. People were risking their necks to move to different places. A few days ago our cook came back from a very risky trip to her parents to Velegrande - about 450 kilometres from Santa Cruz. While she was at her parents’, the river washed away two bridges and heavy downpours of rain washed over the mountain roads in many places. When it was finally possible to pass by, the journey was a big risk. Many cars and buses fell down a chasm and many people died. She said that her bus had been at the edge of the chasm many times and people had been praying for a save journey. The roads here are mainly made of soil and clay and the rain changes them into slippery surfaces. I also have to mention that the condition of the buses and cars is catastrophic. Faulty brakes, worn tyres are not anything strange. When I see a car or a bus all in mud I know that the driver sees the road only in the place where the windscreen wipers work. Thousands of people will have to stay in tents for many months, dependent on the help of other people. The Caritas of our Vicariate has spent large sums of money on basic food, like rice, flour, vegetables and meat. The main “"camp”" is in Los Troncos, where almost the whole evacuated El Carmen parish stays. The "“flood"” parson, Fr. Stanislaw, Brother Felix and the Sisters are with the people all the time. You can also meet there our Bishop Anthony who visits the flood victims as often as he can.
Where there are problems there is also help. People in Bolivia and outside our country sympathize with us and try to support us. Each prayer is a kind of support that all of us need. That is why I ask you for your prayers at the Holy Sepulchre.
During the Holy Week each of us has been working very hard. We have been confessing in the parishes and preparing people and ourselves to the Easter Triduum. We were also preparing and sending things needed by the Vicariate - paschal candles, food, even bread. I hope that they arrived on time.
That is the reason why we hardly ever meet. Everyone has to serve in few churches and chapels, so all people are outside the convent. But this is normal in the Holy Week. I have many things to prepare for the Easter days, or rather day because we celebrate only on Sunday.
Brother Diego has come back to Santa Cruz these days. He has been being treated in his homeland Munich for almost 8 months. And, I have to admit, the 86-year-old man is in a much better condition that before his departure. It was already his second day back in Bolivia when he got into his 18-year-old car and went to swim. As you can see, he is unstoppable.
Doctor Ellerhorst, an optician from Trier in Germany, is leaving us today. He has been coming back to Bolivia every year for 26 years to give advice, treat people, and operate on patients. He is a well known person here. When people learn about his arrival they come in great numbers to see him. He traditionally stays in our convent where he always feels well. I have taken advantage of the fact that he was here and... I have got a new pair of glasses.
Climatically, we are approaching the end of "summer", that is the rainy season. There are rainfalls from time to time and the sun still shines. It is very humid and muggy then. Around us everything is still green. But the rain will gradually disappear and cold winds will make us take out sweaters, jackets and warm blankets. But now it is warm and the temperatures often reach 30°C.
Today and tomorrow we are experiencing the Passion of Jesus Christ. I wish you moments of reverie and prayers. We believe that after moments of pain and sadness there will be joy, Resurrection and moments of cheerful Hallelujah. I wish you a cheerful time, full of joy and hope.
Happy Easter!
With Easter greetings,
Tarcisio Josef Lamik OFM
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