A Holiday and a Hurricane—A New Year with Old Problems—A Welcome Arrival—A Necessary Revolution—A Birthday

By Matthew D. Ruhl, S.J.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019, Punta Gorda, Belize

Today the nation of Belize celebrates the Battle of St. George’s Caye. In 1798, between the dates September 3rd – 10th, the British baymen and their slaves repulsed the Spanish who tried to assert their dominion over this territory. The British were victorious in repulsing Spanish aggression. Hence, we celebrate the Battle of St. George’s Caye. The British reported no casualties. Of the Spanish, no casualties are known. Not a particularly bloody conflict, but historically very important nonetheless.

In 1931, there was another battle in Belize. And there were many casualties. This was not a battle between warring factions, but a battle against the elements. The Hurricane of 1931 killed an estimated 2,500 citizens, almost twice the number of lives lost in Hurricane Katrina. Of those casualties, 11 were Jesuits, the greatest one day loss of Jesuit life in the Province. Once upon a time stories were told of these Jesuits being killed while saving the lives of their students at Loyola College in Belize City. But after 88 years, these men, their stories, and their sacrifice are all but forgotten.

The school year has commenced. Our 5,200 plus kids with our 240-plus teachers have resumed their academic lives. It is both a happy and sad thing: happy because our kids are in school; sad because our buildings, teaching aids, and school supplies are so miserably deficient. Across the street at St. Peter Claver School we have two wooden buildings of five classrooms apiece that are now 60-year-old, termite-infested claptraps. Teachers and students alike complain of the termite dust that falls on them during the day from roof and ceiling. One day, God-willing, they will be replaced by cement buildings.

The backhoe has arrived! And is now working at preparing the ground for our new basketball court. This will be a 6 to 8-week process. In the meantime we shall tear up the old court in the school quad, replacing it with an aesthetically pleasing landscape of cooling green trees and grass.

Fr. Sam Wilson and I have revolutionized the decades-old manner of proceeding in Toledo District. Rather than wear ourselves out running from village to village, Mass to Mass, a manner quite detrimental to meaningful pastoral practice, we have employed buses and selected a few hub villages that we will work in. We now serve more people more pastorally and more efficiently than heretofore with three priests. So far, absolutely no complaints.

And finally, on Sunday, September 8th, St. Peter Claver Parish and School celebrated our 157th birthday. Founded in 1862 by Belgian Jesuit John Genon, he took on virtually the same territory that St. Peter Claver Parish is still responsible for and what has become essentially the Toledo District of Southern Belize. Our Birthday Mass and seaside picnic were both extremely well-attended. And if I may be so bold, I do, in fact, feel the lifting of a malaise that has gripped our parish for quite some time.

Kansas City Gets a Patron Saint

By Matthew D. Ruhl, S.J.
Wednesday, August 7, 2019, Punta Gorda, Belize

In 257 the Emperor Valerian needed money to subsidize Rome’s many military engagements. He decided to inaugurate a persecution against the Christians, using that as pretext for extorting money from the Church. Pope Sixtus was martyred in Rome the following year. As one of seven Roman Deacons, a post responsible for the material goods of the Church as well as distribution of alms to the poor, Lawrence was called before the Prefect of Rome and told he should render unto Caesar what belonged to Caesar; i.e., save your life by surrendering to us all the valuables of the Church. Lawrence told the Prefect he would need three days to inventory and collect the wealth of the Church. A date three days hence was agreed upon.

Lawrence used the three days to run around Rome collecting all the poor, blind, crippled, enfeebled, lepers, orphans, and widows that the Church supported. On the appointed day, Lawrence shepherded them in to see the Prefect.

“What’s all this?” cried the Prefect.

“These,” answered Lawrence, “are the true wealth of the Church.”

The Prefect did not find this the least bit amusing. He ordered Lawrence to be slowly grilled to death on a gridiron. At one point, so the story goes, as his flesh roasted, Lawrence told his torturers shortly before dying, “I’m done on that side. You may turn me over.”

But the story is not over. His feast day, August 10th, falls in the middle of the Perseid meteor showers (July 23-August 20 with August 13th the height). In the Middle Ages these showers were referred to as “The tears of St. Lawrence” shed for the inhumanity of the human race. Go outside tonight and look up into the summer sky. Be patient. You will see shootings stars, or the tears of St. Lawrence.

Now much of the story strains credulity, but St. Lawrence was one of the most popular Saints in the post-apostolic age. Many churches bore his name. Many a Renaissance master put him on canvas. Why this popularity? Because of the beauty of his story. Whether historically accurate or not, Catholics longed to believe the Church genuinely considered the poor the true “wealth” of the Church. Centuries before there was all this talk of Social Justice, the people of the pew wanted a Church that believed in them, believed they were valuable no matter how poor or distressed they might be. The stories around St. Lawrence gave them what they were rightfully looking for, confirmation that they had worth. That is why I love St. Lawrence.

And finally, the Church, in a rare instance of true humor, declared St. Lawrence the Patron Saint of Barbecuers. Isn’t that great?!  I therefore nominate St. Lawrence the Patron Saint of Kansas City, home of the world’s greatest barbecue.

We Did It—Mr. Tommy Goff Pays a Visit—Wind—Small World

By Matthew D. Ruhl, S.J.
Thursday, July 31, 2019, Punta Gorda, Belize

It is official. We have scared up the money necessary to accomplish our basketball court. Two things: there won’t be room enough for a five-aside soccer field; we do have enough room and money for a full-sized court that will be used for pick-up games and the games of organized programs. Through this blog we raised $24,800.00. A donor stepped up to cover the difference. Work will begin in August. Thank you all so much for your donations. I am terribly grateful and so is St. Peter Claver Parish. This is a very good thing for Punta Gorda.

On Saturday morning our Sacristan spied a tommy goff slithering into the church organ. These venomous snakes are the number-one killing snake in the region. A snake man was called. He dispatched our poisonous intruder without incident.

On Sunday night a freak storm hit Punta Gorda. The wind blew tile and chunks of concrete off our roof and sent them sailing over the roof and into our parking lot. I cannot imagine the wind speed that would carry 2-3 lb. chunks of concrete. We lost a tree or two and lots of branches. In windy storms the tiles of our indoor drop-ceilings rattle and lift. Sometimes that action distresses certain beasts who have made their home in the ceiling. On Monday morning our Local Superior, Tom Greene, who is spending a couple of days with us, woke to an irritated bat dive bombing him. Welcome to PG!

July 31st being the Feast of St. Ignatius, Fr. Quang Tran, S.J. and Local Superior Tom Green, S.J. found themselves in PG involved in a couple of summer programs here and in the village of San Marcos with a group from New Orleans. Shrimp and fish were happily consumed. As fate would have it, one of the volunteers was the brother of a woman I worked with at a Boy’s Hope summer camp 32 years ago in Canada, Owakonze.

Farewells—An Administrative Miracle—My New Home—Holy Toledo and My Jesuit Brothers

By Matthew D. Ruhl, SJ
Friday, August 3, 2018, Punta Gorda, Belize

On Sunday, July 29th, I celebrated my last Sunday Masses at St. Martin’s. After the 7 p.m. Mass the parish hosted a little farewell in Swift Hall for me and for Fr. Quang who left St. Martin’s the day after I did. At the same party the parish welcomed Fr. Brian Christopher as “the new sheriff in town.”  It was all very warm and kind and loving.  It was for me a perfect farewell.

On July 31st the Jesuits of Belize gathered at St. John’s College.  It became a celebration of St. Ignatius and our Society, but we celebrated as well the numerous transitions all of which officially took place on August 1st. Fr. Quang cooked up a great batch of delicious gumbo; Willy John Snyders baked my favorite and his, pumpkin pie, and the “new sheriff”, BC, took care of the salad. Me? I brought the bourbon.

Miracle of miracles: On Ignatius Day I became a legal Resident of Belize. I have been pursuing this for three years. My newly-issued US passport now has a beautiful red seal on a stamp that declares me a “Permanent Resident” of Belize. No more trips to the Labour Department for temporary work permits, no more visits to Immigration for temporary visa stamps—nada. Home free!!! Yeeeeeee-Hawwwwww.

On August 1st I arrived at St. Peter Claver Parish in Punta Gorda Town, Toledo District, Belize. I have been settling into my room and office, both of which face the Carribbean sea at Amatique Bay in the Gulf of Honduras. In Belize City one simply hopes and prays for a cooling rain during the summer. In PG we get lots of nighttime showers with lightning and with thunder that can knock a person out of bed. I love it. When it doesn’t rain, I can hear the waves on the seashore. Beautiful. I woke my first morning with the temperature in my bedroom below 80 degrees for the first to me this summer.

At St. Peter Claver Parish the Jesuit Community consists of me, Fr. Sam Wilson, and Fr. Penn Dawson. Under the administrations of St. Peter Claver Parish there are 34 village churches and 30 village schools. The roads to most of these villages are dirt washboards, demanding travel in first and second gears. Geographically Toledo is coastal, mountainous, and jungle forested. The dominant cultures of Toledo District are Garifuna, Maya, and East Indian, with significant populations of Spanish, Creole, and Chinese.  Also under our administrations is what is often called “the best verandah in the province.”  Our verandah overlooks the sea, perhaps 50 yards away, with unobstructed view and breeze.