Merida Post Trip Reflection: by Deacon Steve Washek
As I slowly return to my normal routine while still recovering from illness my thoughts constantly return to my time in Mexico. Someone asked me to share one story of my trip, and my response was: I am not sure I can say just one story. For me, the experience was more holistic. Meaning what I experienced was not a moment, but a culture, a culture where faith, ethnicity, pride, and simplicity were lived out on a daily basis. Attending church in the early morning I experienced these things all coming together. The doors of the church were wide open, the church was constructed in such a way that the outside and inside just blended together. As mass was going on inside the church, life outside was also going on with people walking to work and school, talking or singing, riding bikes. The noise from outside blended with the chants and prayers inside. It was not two worlds, but one. I really felt that their faith was the center of life. Everywhere you looked you could see the mosaics of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the side of buildings and houses. Faith was just a part of life. The churches were open and people and animals, (birds and dogs) walked in and out. To me, this is how it should be. The people too, were so generous with smiles, hellos, kisses and sharing. This is what I take from my trip to Mexico. I will never forget the hospitality of the people.
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