Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
July 31, 2002
San Alfonso Mission: of perils, pearls and passion
By Father Peter Urban
Gratefulness abounds in my soul as you allow me to talk to you about our mission, San Alfonso, in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Why is it you, dear reader, would allow me to write to you? Thank you.
There is a saying in Spanish: "Ir al grano" — go for it, get to the root, don't mess around, say it like it is, be clear.
Ir al grano. A root problem in Juarez is health: sanitation, living without disease. This is hard to do because of many reasons but let me capture for you, pounce upon for you, the subject of bathrooms — toilets. Ir al grano.
Among the 2 million people who live in Juarez, few have bathrooms or toilets. This is a health problem, no bathroom. Sometimes the people have pits, outside shacks or outhouses — and sometimes not.
When I was a little tiger (burning bright) we had an outside toilet on the farm, but it was way out, like a block away, and I can remember going out there in the middle of the night. What courage I had to face the giants of the night.
But in Juarez, the pit — the outhouse — is right next to the little house, and sometimes when the children have dysentery and diarrhea they don't make it to the privy. Diarrhea is a constant in Juarez. I get it myself when I go there. But that's because I drink bottled water. I don't dare drink the tequila; I would die on the spot.
But in Juarez, the pit, the outhouse, is right there. You can see it. You can smell it. You can feel the microbes crawling. You hope the wind will change: those little tiny animals, the microbes, right there in the air. God bless them; I guess they have a right to live too.
You should see it, the little structure. The door is hanging lose, it is crooked. The walls are made of cardboard. Inside there is a makeshift commode. You have to go to the bathroom but you wish you did not have to. You wait and wait and then you give in; there is no other way.
We people in Juarez — May I put myself into the heart of this people?—we are people of God. We are very modest; we don't want to be unseemly. We have morals and want to be delicate, and we are. We do everything be to moral and modest — and we succeed.
Could things be different? Could there be a better bathroom? A better mousetrap? A dignified bathroom? Yes! A thousand times, yes!
You can participate in providing a Dry Sanitary, ecological bathroom. In these days of drought and dryness — may it end soon; may our prayers be heard, and I think they will be — a bathroom that does not use water is a miracle.
In these days of improved health a sanitary bathroom is upper class. In these days of greenhouse effect (nothing green about it) and lack of ozone layer and pollution and contamination, a bathroom that is ecological is indeed a welcome pearl.
And speaking of pearls: Are you still thinking of that Gospel of July 27? It's the pearl of great price story. The reign of God is for us who want it so. We have a desire for it. We have an avidity. We look insane because we want it so much. We have a passion that is burning. We want the kingdom. We want the reign of God to come.
I wonder if you would like to provide a bathroom because you think of it as a pearl? Or would you provide 10 bathrooms or 10,000? Now that's passion, that desiring the pearl of great price. I know you are a person of passion, compassion, concern.
If you want to talk to me about pearls and passion and bathrooms, please call me, Father Peter Urban, at 303-604-6125. We will talk. We will find the pearl. We will build bathrooms and we will change the face of the earth.
Father Peter Urban is in residence at Immaculate Conception Parish in Lafayette. He has a special love for San Alfonso Mission.
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