In Umbris Sancti Petri

Sorry that I have not posted lately. I am currently finishing a seven week Spanish immersion program in Antigua, Guatemala. Since I posted last, besides learning Spanish, I have been blessed to be able to travel and see some of this beautiful country. I have swam in naturals pools created by a river that flows under ground, traveled deep into some caves and hiked up the side of an active volcano to get within ten feet of hot lava.

One of the other great experiences of this immersion has been seeing the indigenous Guatemalan culture, and especially the indigenous women in their beautiful traditional dress. The one thing about these women that struck me at first was the way their clothing modestly shows the beauty that God has given them, but with this I also saw them openly breast feed their children in public. This is something I had never seen before in the States, and it seems that it is an unwritten rule that this is not acceptable in the culture of the United States. Seeing this has taught me a priceless lesson that I may have never realized in the US: Motherhood is Eucharistic.

At the Last Supper, Christ said "This is my body given up for you." Then he showed the whole world what it really means to love when he died on the cross for us, and this mystery becomes present at each Mass. This is what a loving mother says to her child at every moment: "This is my body given up for you," as she carries the child in her womb, while she endures labor pains, as she feeds her child with her milk, and as she spends every moment loving her child in a way so beautifully, like the way God loves all of us. This is also true of every nun in the world, who is a spiritual mother to us all.