Bienvanidos! Welcome to the Theology II Mexico pilgrimage blog! Eighteen of us left Minneapolis today around 9am and arrived here in Mexico around 1:30pm. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and for this first time flyer, it was a great day to get some pictures….well…as good as can be expected on a phone.
Mexico City from the air.
For our first week, we are staying with the Hermanas Marianas (Sisters of Mary) just a few blocks from the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We will spend all day at the shrine Saturday, but some of us went there this evening.
Overall, some nice accommodations with the Sisters who are excellent cooks. We got to try guava: a small pear like fruit with a tone of seeds. Very good though.
The house is built around an inner courtyard which we found fascinating. What if it rains? What if it snows? Where do you shovel it to? We just don’t make hones like this in the US.
The sister’s chapel.
With the exception of altitude headaches, everyone is doing well. Tomorrow, we go to spend the day with the Sisters of Charity.
The focus of this trip is to discover Christ in a new way through the eyes of a different culture and in ways that may be uncomfortable. Fr John Floeder, our priest formator with us, spoke in his homily about encountering Jesus in those moments we may want to run from be they sights, smells, or not being familiar with the language. But as one guy said tonight after coming back from the shrine “You know? It’s going to be okay because Mary is here.”