Reflections on Cotija 2018:
Once
again I have come to this small town located in the foothills of the Sierras
here in Central Mexico, to relax and unwind from the stress of everyday life in
California. This is my wife’s hometown and we have been coming here almost
every year since we were married in 1986. We built a house here about 15 years
ago, so we have both our “hotel” and eventual semi-retirement home here.
The
people of Cotija are some of the friendliest people one could find in Mexico,
or anywhere else in the world. So many speak English because they have worked
or are still working in the U.S. and especially in December, many return for
vacation and the various feasts that happen at this time of year. I have known
some of the people here for more than the 32 years that I have been visiting,
since my college days in the late 70’s early 80’s when I worked at a dairy
store that happened to deliver product to the many taco shops in the San Diego
area, this is also how I met my wife, whose father owned one of the shops I
delivered to.
The
weather in Cotija in December is cool, but not cold. Evening temps can dip into
the low 60’s and daytime temps into the mid 70’s. Like Mary Poppins would say,
“It’s practically perfect.” Although the last week the temperatures at night
have dipped into the mid 40’s, but daytime highs have remained in the mid to
upper 60’s. We are in the highlands after all and we get a breeze coming into
the valley that cools things down.
One
of the perks I have at the present time is that, as a deacon in the Catholic
Church, the Cure of the town parish invites me to celebrate Mass with them. One
would usually need a letter of good standing from the diocese where they are
serving, in my case San Bernardino, but the priest has known me and my wife for
many years, and I have full faculties from my Bishop to serve in all capacities
as a deacon. I was privileged to assist in the Sacrament of Baptism the last
time I was here two years ago. The baptismal fount is hundreds of years old and
has seen at least two saints baptized in it, one being St. Rafael Guizar y
Valencia, the other, my wife (although she is not yet canonized…). Noted, I
assisted, I did not do the actual baptism, but assisted with anointing and
proclamation of the Word, etc. Saturday night I assisted with the last Mass of
the day, 7:30 and before the dismissal, we had Eucharistic Adoration. Usually,
the priest would raise the Monstrance to bless the people, but he motioned for
me to do it, so with a great sense of pride and humbleness (I know they are
contrary, but this is how I felt), I raised Jesus in the Monstrance and blessed
the people. The feelings of inadequateness in the minister does nullify the
effects of the blessing, or in the case of Mass, the Sacrament of the
Eucharist.
Continuing
on the spiritual life of the people in Cotija, many of the “hijos ausentes”
(those who live in the United States, but come here for the Religious feasts in
December including Christmas, so they are the “missing” sons and daughters of
Cotija) many of them will also use this opportunity to get married in the
Church, or to baptize their children, or to get Confirmation in the Faith, or
even to celebrate a Quinceanera (15th birthday blessing and
traditional introduction to society for a young lady). These are done all
through the week at the parish church, Nuestra Senora del Popolo (Our Lady of
the People). December truly is the busiest time for our priests, between all of
the masses that are celebrated, the baptisms and the Quinceaneras, weddings and
funerals, they are practically non stop in their service to the people of
Cotija, and this parish has only three priests to do all the ministries and
Sacraments that are needed to be done. We had a Quinceanera at the 7:30 pm Mass
last night. It is quite a sight to see a weekday mass, especially at night, to
be almost full of people as it was last night. It is also a blessing to see it.
I was surprised that there was a Quinceanera scheduled at an evening Mass, and
the Celebrant mentioned to me before Mass that he too, wondered why one was
scheduled at this hour. God works in mysterious ways I suppose, because this
girl was very moved by the priest’s words to her about her life and her
responsibilities to both herself and her family and to God. I have to admit,
that in my 6 years since my ordination, I have celebrated many of these
celebrations and for the most part, it seems like the girls are almost just
waiting for it to be over so they can get to the “party” part of their “quince”.
It is sometimes disheartening to perceive that attitude in these young women,
then just at the point where I feel like telling my pastor that I don’t want to
celebrate these anymore, I get a young woman for whom the Eucharistic celebration
is the highlight of her day and the party is just icing on the cake. I had one
such girl who was very involved in her service, even to the point of singing
the “Ave Maria” when it came time to place the flowers at the image of Our Lady
of Guadalupe and to ask for her help in becoming the woman that God wants her
to be. I was moved to tears. It was after that Quinceanera that I changed my
attitude towards the ritual and saw that I was there for God and to do His will
in giving the best homily to encourage and challenge the young women who are
celebrating this transition in their lives. How they take it, or their attitude
towards it, does not matter, at least to me.
We
took a day trip to a National Park in a neighboring town about 2 hours away
(about 50 miles, but through mountain roads and traffic…). This park is home to
a natural source of pure water, in fact, you can drink water straight from the
rock without fear of getting sick, it is that pure! The state of Michoacán is
home to the world’s best hass avocados, and Uruapan (where the park is) is the
Capital of the avocado empire. We depend so much on Mexican avocados (even
though we have the largest avocado growers in our own backyard in San Diego
County), that when the workers went on strike last month, there was a major
disruption in production and distribution and avocado prices went through the
roof, so much so that we had to stop selling guacamole except on the menu items
that came with it. Don’t let anybody fool you into thinking that the avocado
growers in California don’t want or are afraid of the Mexican avocados. Two
major California distributors, West Pak and Calavo, are invested heavily in
Michoacán. Both have packing and distribution centers here and make money hand
over fist with their product.
We
took another trip, this time only for the afternoon, to a mountain town in
Jalisco, about 45 minutes from Cotija. Mazamitla is a town in the Sierras, just
as Uruapan is, however the difference with Mazamitla is that it seems to be
frozen in time. It is a tourist town, but it still looks like it did 50 years
or 100 years ago. Clean streets, flagstone roads throughout the center of town
and quaint shops selling just about anything you might want, from waffles and
crepes to fine art. We usually just go for lunch at a nice restaurant/resort
that overlooks the valley below, as we did today. I remember the first time I
was at this particular restaurant and was surveying the surrounding landscape
with the plethora of pine trees in these mountains, the scent surrounds you as
you breathe in clean mountain air, and I remember thinking that I was going to
see the Cartwright clan come riding over the hill and I heard the theme to
‘Bonanza’ playing in my head. I have been to many small mountain towns in many
places, but none have the authentic charm as Mazamitla has. This is a town I
need to return to and spend a number of days exploring it’s charm and beauty.
No
vacation is complete without at least one minor emergency. We had ours with a
flat tire on our rental car. Now, it was a minor emergency because we were
returning from a neighboring town and it went flat at a most inconvenient time.
A long downhill curving road with no place to pull over. Once we did, we
changed it with the spare and drove back to Cotija where we had the tire
patched and reinstalled. It now remains
to see it the patch holds to take us back to the airport rental office. Other
than that, the only other emergency is running out of bottled water at 6 in the
morning so I can’t make another cup of coffee. The water from the tap is not
clean enough to drink, but is good enough to wash dishes and clothes and for
general cleaning, bathing and personal hygiene, but not for personal
consumption. There is only one house here in Cotija that has water clean and
pure enough to drink from the tap, and that is at the home of the previously
mentioned Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia which has a well as it’s source of
water, not the city’s supply. This water has been laboratory tested and has
been certified as some of the purest water in all of Mexico. Now, is it because
it is a well? Or is it because it is at the house where a saint lived while he
was growing up? I do not know, all I do know is that I have drank from that
well also and did not get sick. Like I posted in a video from Uruapan, who says
you can’t drink the water in Mexico? Heck, there are places in the US where you
can’t drink the water from the tap because of some kind of environmental
contamination that has come as the result of our failure to care for our world,
and in some cases the pure greed of companies that build infrastructure from
inferior material so that over time, it corrodes and poisons the water coming
into the home, just so they can make a fast profit.
Last
night was the “Midnight” Mass for Christmas (which started at 9 and finished
around 10:30 pm), the Gospel reading from Luke of the Birth of the Savior in a
humble stable. As our priest reminded us, the subtlety of God coming into our
world as one of us, born in Bethlehem, which means ‘House of Bread’ and being
laid in a manger, a place where animals would eat their food. Jesus, the Bread
of Life, which we are to eat in the Eucharist for us to have life, and that we
might have that life abundantly. Again,
the priest sang most of the Eucharistic Prayer, with the people in their parts
with a sung response. I think a Mass sung, is a Mass prayed twice, which St.
Augustine would agree with me, “He who sings, prays twice”. I honestly don’t
know what incense they use, but I need to get some for our parish because the
priest would put inly a small amount and the smoke just kept coming and coming
(like the Energizer Bunny), raising the prayers to Heaven with the smoke from
the Thurible.
Today,
Christmas Day, marks our last full day here in Cotija. It will be a day of
washing clothes, cleaning house (why, I don’t know, we have a lady that takes
care of the house throughout the year) and of packing our suitcases. Of course,
we will go to the 12 noon Mass, my last one assisting and I will have to pack
away my alb and stoles after Mass. It has always been an honor to serve the
people of God in the Mass, regardless of where that Mass takes place. That is
what makes us Catholic, Universal, that the Mass is the same readings
everywhere in the world on the same liturgical calendar. The bread and wine
offered on that altar, regardless of the geographical location of the parish,
still is transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ by the
prayers offered by the priest for himself and the people at that Mass. For this
reason we affirm through the Creed that we are the One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church.
I
wish everyone who reads this reflection a very Merry and Blessed Christmas
season and a Joyous New Year. May God bless you and yours in the coming year as
we continue on our journey back to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
