Brother Lucianno and a new chapel in Los Lanos

April 17th saw a member of our parish, Brother Lucianno Rivera Perez, make his final vows as a Carmelite, he will be ordained a priest in the next few months. This will make three ordinations from our humble parish in five years.

St. Theresa of Jesus in Santiago
People often ask me what I do during my time here. I like to point out it sometimes takes a lot to get a little done. To explain what I mean: The above ceremony was first scheduled at 10am on the 17th. This meant that in order to arrive at the church, St. Theresa of Jesus in the city of Santiago, we would have to wake at 6am and depart at 7am on the three-hour drive from Don Juan. Word came that the time had been changed to 8am, meaning rising at 4am to get there on time, which we did.
We arrived at the church on Latin time and it was completely empty. Yes, the ceremony was at 10am.

Last week some of the sisters and I went to pay our respects to a deceased member of the parish in the community of La Haina, which is outside Santo Domingo.
On route we were discussing how to get to the home in question, it turned out that none of us knew the address! Thankfully, we were able to find our way after a few cell phone calls.
If you are an A type person, which I tend to be, life can get to you if you let. My advice is to relax and let the sunshine in.

We recently began construction of a new chapel in Los Lanos. The image below is of the wreckage from the previous chapel.
Los Lanos is an extremely poor, distant, and hard to get to community.

Construction of the new chapel is possible due to the help of Sacred Heart parish in Auburn, New York.

The people of Los Lanos are so grateful to now have a decent home to worship in. We lack money for windows, doors, and pews, which will cost about $2000.

Outdoor mass during reconstruction of chapel in Los Lanos.

Holy Thursday and St Catherine of Siena Parish Youth Group

After indulging myself in my annual pilgrimage to Our Lady of the Snows in Vail, Colorado I am back on line in the Dominican Republic.

The DR has suffered a very intense drought since the earthquake in Haiti on January 12 until this week, leaving many areas that were formerly green, a parched dull brown. Many communities have been left without water. As a result, the rains this past week were very welcomed by all.

Holy Thursday saw the first use of the new center in L'Elmo, a gift principally of the Sigma Chi Fraternity of the University of Rochester. Click here or scroll back to a previous post to see this wonderful group of young men working on the site. They raised most of the money for the construction of the center. We still lack windows and the doors, the estimated cost of which would be $1100.

Pictures of the washing of the feet and mass, Holy Thursday as well as the old chapel.


Some members of the youth group of St Catherine of Siena Parish were here during Easter Week to paint the center.






before painting

after painting

youth group members with children


I baptized some of the youth group members when they were infants, some 16 years ago.

It was a great experience for them as well as quite nostalgic for me as their former pastor.

Sigma Chi Christian Fraternity mission work

Arrival of Sigma Chi Christian Fraternity members
On January 2nd nine young men, including undergraduates and alumni of the University of Rochester, at Rochester, NY, arrived in the DR to work on a project they sponsor in the Village of L'Elmo. The young men are members of the Sigma Chi Christian Fraternity; they traveled with their faculty advisor, Fr. Brian Cool.

Fr. Brian Cool, faculty advisor
New building site, prior to the beginning of construction
The group raised money for their expenses as well as $7000 for the construction of the chapel and community center of L'Elmo, a building that measures 7 meters by 10 meters.

They dug and constructed the foundation and all four walls of the building in eight days.



When they left us after ten days of good work, they left behind sufficient money to put the roof on and enclose the building after their departure. We are thankful for their generosity and sweat equity.


We now need about $2000 to buy windows and doors and finish the building.

I am in the United States as of January 15th for a few weeks. I wish to thank all for their prayers and concern for me after the quake in Haiti.
I am so sorry for the awful suffering and anguish of our neighbors, and I am grateful that the DR so far has been spared.

Que Dios siempre le bendiga
P.Ron Gaesser

Christmas presents for the children in Don Juan

Merry Christmas from Hato Nuevo!

Angel greets the shepherds
Mary, Joseph and the Infant Jesus
Mary and Joseph set out to Bethlehem.
Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus and the Kings
~Padre Ron

Feliz Navidad from Portal de Belen

Christmas scene at Portal de Belen
Hi Everyone,
Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo from Portal de Belen.
The photos below are from the Portal de Belen Christmas Pageant and Dia de los ninos.

Jesus' birthday cake during the Day the of Children celebration
Day of the Children with Sr. Teresa as a clown



Iris instructs parents on Christmas

~Padre Ron

Signs of success

People frequently ask me to describe the benefits of supporting the Portal de Belen daycare center, as well as the other projects of the foundation; the school in Don Juan and the daycare center and school in Hato Nuevo. Through the following photos and text, I hope to share just one example among many of the positive outcomes from your support of my work in the DR.

Last Sunday I met with some of the first children who entered the Portal de Belen program back in 1998. When they began the program in 1998 they were just 3 and 4 years old. I wish I had pictures of them then to compare with these young adolescents now. In the pictures that I took last Sunday they are now 15,14, and 13 yrs old. Not all of our first student could attend our gathering as some were participating in a program at the High School that took place at the same time.

14 and 15 year olds
As a side note, it is important to remember that one of the criteria for entering Portal is that the child must be from the poorest of the poor families in Monte Plata. My driver, Eddie, has children that are not eligible for the program as Eddie earns too much. When he is able to find work full time, his income is $400 a month.

What struck me was how bright, normal, healthy, engaging and engaged these young people now are. Nowhere in their current selves can be seen the marks of their poverty as children.

13 year olds
This is one of the principal goals of early childhood programming at Portal de Belen. Children are first enrolled between 18 months to 2 years old, a new group of 30 each year, and remain in the program for three years. We provide the children with healthy, balanced nutrition at an early age, and believe that this will help them to develop with healthy bodies, minds and attitudes, and to become contributing young adults.

Youth Group
This also the belief of the foundation.
What I can see today is how successful this program has been since I first met these children 11 yrs ago. These images of healthy, well-adjusted teenagers demonstrate the success of our philosophy.

Additionally, the sisters at El Portal de Belen meet regularly with the parents to train them in parenting and caring for their children, including the topic of hygiene. Keep in mind that in the DR water can be difficult to come by, for the poor especially.

some members of the folk choir
Most of these young people continue to be involved in their parish as members of the young group, as well as some missionaries to other young people their age, and a few sing in the folk choir of San Antonio de Padua, at their parish in Monte Plata.

misionarios
I congratulate the sisters at Portal de Belen for all they have accomplished so far, and I thank all of you who help support all the projects of the foundation!

Below are four progress photos of the construction of the new classrooms at Portal. The new classrooms will become the new home of programs for the mentally challenged and for preschool children.




The school, Santa Maria Josefa Rossello, opened in Don Juan in the fall of 2005 and the project in Hato Nuevo began in the spring of 2007. As the program at Portal de Belen started eleven years ago, we are able to record and share data on the history of programming there. As time progresses, I hope to share with you many more success stories from all three of our locations!

Que Dios siempre le bendiga
~P.Ron Gaesser