Fr. John Enright

On April 6,2002,the Joliet Diocesan Mission Team set out from O'Hare Field, Chicago to Sucre, Bolivia. Estimated travel time was set for 24 hours, which included 13 hours flying with 11 hours of layovers for connecting flights.

Once in Bolivia we found ourselves sidetracked in Cochabamba where a series of flight delays led to a cancellation with an over night stay at the Ceasar's Plaza Hotel. Final arrival in Sucre was one day late to the minute.

The delay was causing concern for the medical team, as they were anticipating the loss of a day in surgery at Christ of the Americas Hospital. That mood changed, however, when unpacking chores found many helping hands so that surgeries were underway by 10:30 a.m...doctors, nurses and aides skillfully engaged in their mission of healing.

The builders brigade of volunteers visited the barrios of Calancha, and San Martin, checking on the progress of previous home sites. The final visit of their first day brought them to the heights of Arranjuez where they would work during their visit. The climb to their sites was as challenging as the energy they expended while on site.

The first day of actual work for the builders produced a "Cool Hand Luke" situation, where there was a "Break-down of Communication". It seemed to be agreed that the homesite father wanted a stairway cut in a steep slope up to the second story of his house. Two big men from Joliet grabbed picks and began to hack away at the slope. By the end of the day they were rightly proud of their stairway to the upper chamber. When they returned the following day, they found that the home owner had another idea for the stairs and had knocked down their previous day's labor. Rather than abandon that site, the two men stayed at that site to help and managed to establish a great bond of respect and friendship with the family involved.

Once underway both the Medical and Construction Programs of the Mission visit progressed at an admirable pace with impressive progress.

An Easter hymn of recent years has been "The Lord of the Dance". The verses accompany the Lord through the phases of His Pascal Mystery, from the Agony, to Calvary, through the Resurrection. The strains of that hymn were very evident in the farewell salute offered by the people who were served for the visitors from Joliet. The program presented 3 dances and an emotional letter of thanks from the people of Arranjuez. The first dance, presented by the children of Calancha, portrayed life's final chapter, with dancers tapping along with canes with a group somersault into the grave at the end. The second dance was one of vibrant youth, presented by a beautiful young girl from Arranjuez. The final dance brought the adults from that community to the floor demonstrating their ancient rhythms and movements. When dancers were satisfied their movements caught hold, they swept up the visitors into their glee with a shower of confetti and streamers to decorate their guests.

After the formal presentation of their letter of thanks, presented by their youthful medical student, handmade gifts of mochilas (knapsacks) were conferred on the visitors. Finally came the presentation of their striking "Cross of Life". A giant Cross festooned with balloons, cornstalks with ears in tact, local fruits and loaves of flat-bread hanging from the crossbeam, in addition to a large gourd of "chicha fuerte", the local fermented beverage. It was presented to the coordinators of the Joliet Mission Team. As the celebration between the locals and visitors in the presence of the Cross of Life" adorned with eucharistic signs it seemed as though the spirit of the immanent divine was revealing the presence of the RISEN LORD, and He was dancing...just like the final verse of "The Lord of the Dance".

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