Father all-powerful, your gifts of love are countless and your goodness infinite; as we come before you on Thanksgiving with gratitude for your kindness, open our hearts to have concern for every man, woman, and child, so that we may share your gifts in loving service.            
(Collect for Thanksgiving Day)

Thanksgiving Greetings and Blessings from the Assumption Family!

Charles Blondin was a world-renowned tightrope artist and acrobat. On June 30, 1859, before a stunned crowd of thousands of excited onlookers, Blondin was the first person to cross Niagara Falls by tightrope. He crossed 1,100 feet on a single three-inch hemp cord, strung 160 feet above the falls on one side to a spot 270 feet above the falls on the other. The breathless assembly watched him accomplish, step by slow step, a feat most believed impossible.

But Blondin was just getting started. In the years to come, the daring entertainer crossed again and again…..seventeen times: on stilts, in a sack, even pushing a wheelbarrow! The story goes that an exuberant onlooker called out, "You could cross with a man in that wheelbarrow!" Blondin agreed and invited the man to climb in. The spectator nervously declined.

Being invited to hop in the wheelbarrow……………

My brothers in community are aware of my favorite quote from Fr. d’Alzon, one that I often repeat because I feel that better than any other it goes to the heart of what made him tick, captures what gave meaning to his life. It comes from a letter he wrote to a good friend, Alphonse de Vigniamont in 1835, just three months after his ordination:

Fr. Oswaldo at his installation as pastor

(In the summer of 2017 the Assumptionists were entrusted with a parish on the outskirts of the city of Orizaba in the eastern state of Veracruz, Mexico.  See http://www.assumption.us/news/1572-new-assumptionist-community-in-orizaba-mexico. Fr. Oswaldo Garcia Sanchez, A.A., was appointed pastor; it is his first assignment as such. Formerly he served as a formator and professor in Mexico and the Philippines. Here presents some of the challenges he is facing in Orizaba. This is second part of his reflections.)

Part II

As I mentioned in the Part One, the major challenge in the parish is fostering unity among parishioners who live in 12 separate communities, each with its own chapel…. first of all, unity within each community, unity among members of different political parties, unity among individuals and/or families that have had longstanding conflicts, etc.... Then, even more difficult, we need to create a parish identity. We have a situation in which two of our communities are quite large, the one around the main church in Tlilapan, and another that is much closer to downtown Orizaba. For a long time there have been parishioners in each community who have been working hard, buta ll of them for their own community without ever developing an awareness that they belong to one parish...Our parish is really diverse --- in terms of socioeconomic status, culture, language, traditions, history, Church involvement, etc. Nevertheless, at least now, everyone has expressed an interest in working together and pooling our resources in order to achieve common goals. So that’s what we’re trying to do.

seated: Fr. Oswaldo at his installation as pastor together with the bishop of Orizaba

Part I

(In the summer of 2017 the Assumptionists were entrusted with a parish on the outskirts of the city of Orizaba in the eastern state of Veracruz, Mexico.  See http://www.assumption.us/news/1572-new-assumptionist-community-in-orizaba-mexico. Fr. Oswaldo Garcia Sanchez, A.A., was appointed pastor; it is his first assignment as such. Formerly he served as a formator and professor in Mexico and the Philippines. Here presents some of the challenges he is facing in Orizaba.)

In general I am very happy working here in Orizaba. There are many challenges and I am learning to be a pastor for the first time. I have to listen to everyone and at same time try to resolve many differences, even conflicts, that exist between various groups in the parish. In my opinion creating unity in the parish is definitely the biggest challenge as well as forming a parish council composed of representatives of the major groups. This is an arduous and time-consuming task; but we have already begun and with some good results. I have spent time with the major groups both here at the main church and with those attached to the many outstations, discussing with them the needs of the parish in view of drafting an overall pastoral plan. To parishioners’ great satisfaction, we have already been able to assign a religious to each of the most active groups and to assure celebration of Sunday Mass in each of the largest outstations.