Favorite Things…Buenos Aires Style! (#3 - Mate)

Sharing mate around the picnic table!

A collection of mates and thermoses!

As a response to my desire to be more attentive to my call to place, I am blogging on my favorite things in Buenos Aires. (See my January 22 post by clicking here.) These favorites are in no particular order of “favoriteness.”

This February our church community enjoyed two summertime picnics about an hour outside the city. These days were a fun time of playing, eating, and relaxing together. Among other things, these days with my Argentine friends reminded how much drinking and sharing mate is something I love about Argentine culture. I have described mate quite a bit on this blog, so I won’t repeat myself. However, for my blog description of mate, click here.

The picnics began and ended with mate and snacks shared around the picnic table. As the mate gourd is passed around the circle from friend to friend, conversation, friendship, and laughter are enjoyed. I had to leave the first picnic early and everyone expressed disappointment that I would miss the time of sharing mate. I have found sharing mate to be a meaningful gesture and act of hospitality, welcome, and friendship. Go to any plaza or park around 5:00 PM in Argentina and you will quickly notice circles of family and friends drinking and sharing mate. I love it!

Sharing mate is a staple activity with the youth and young adults at the train station. Usually one of the first things our friends ask for is our thermos, so we can fill it with hot water (which is available just about anywhere in Argentina). Just about every Sunday afternoon our community gathers to hang out and play. Sharing mate is a common part of these community gatherings. Church events and gatherings always include sharing mate. No visitor to our community can escape trying and experiencing mate.

Our WMF community recently began expressing our commitments to one another through covenant, once a staff member renews his or her contract. As we discussed meaningful symbols to include in our Buenos Aires covenant celebrations, mate was one that all agreed needed to included on the table. We have one specific mate that always goes with us to the train station. Walter bought this mate when he first started building relationships with our friends at the train station. I love how this particular mate represents six years of friendship, welcome and hospitality with our friends, whether sitting on the train station floors or the grass outside in the plaza. So, this mate is a perfect symbol to include in our covenant ceremonies.

So, yep, mate...another favorite thing in Argentina!

Lent Is Coming...March 9

Lent begins in just two weeks on Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011. I am beginning to prepare and consider how I will focus my Lenten season this year.

This year I am going through the book, The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister. She introduces and reflects on the primary seasons and celebrations of the church calendar. For starters, here are some words she shares about Lent.

“Lent is a call to renew a commitment grown dull, perhaps, by a life more marked by routine than by reflection…Lent is not a ritual. It is time given to think seriously about who Jesus is for us, to renew our faith from the inside out. It is the moment when, as the baptismal waters flow on every Easter Vigil alter, we return to the baptismal font of the heart to say yes once more to the call of Jesus to the disciples, ‘Come and see’ (John 1:39). It is the act of beginning our spiritual life all over again refreshed and reoriented.” (p. 111)

Below is my annual list of Lenten resources and links. Please share any additional resources you have in comments. I’d love to expand my list.

CRI Voice: Introduction to Lent

The Season of Lent by Dennis Bratcher

(Includes other Lent and Holy Week readings and links.)

http://www.cresourcei.org/cylent.html

Godspace Blog by Christine Sine

(2011 Lenten blog series: “Following Jesus – What Difference Does It Make?” I imagine Christine Sine will include other Lent reflections and links along the way.)

http://godspace.wordpress.com/

Revised Common Lectionary

Sunday Readings for Lent

http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/lections.php?year=A&season=Lent

Lent & Beyond

An Anglican Prayer Blog

http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/

Praying Lent

Online Ministries of Creighton University

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/

Ignatian Lent Resources

http://ignatianspirituality.com/lent/

Sacred Space Lent Retreat & Resources

http://www.sacredspace.ie/lent/

Modern Sacred Family

http://www.modernsacredfamily.com/category/lent/

WMF Argentina ~ El Verbo Entre Nosotros

Last year our Word Made Flesh Argentina community revised our Mission Statement. I share them below in both English and Spanish. We are still moving forward in registering our organization in Argentina, called El Verbo Entre Nosotros. We pray this process will be completed in the months ahead.

You can read more about WMF Argentina and El Verbo Entre Nosotros on the WMF website, as well as on our brand spanking new Spanish website (Thanks Jason!). See links below.

Word Made Flesh Argentina ~ Mission Statement

WMF Argentina, in collaboration with Argentine partners, is called to serve and discover Jesus among vulnerable children and young adults living in poverty. Through mutual friendships based on love and trust, we accompany our excluded friends in experiencing and knowing Jesus and a fuller life in God. Intentional hospitality is essential to our ministry creating a space for intimacy with God and neighbor.

WMF Argentina (http://www.wordmadeflesh.org/argentina/about/)

El Verbo Entre Nosotros ~ Propósito del Ministerio

El Verbo Entre Nosotros, en colaboración con sus amigos y amigas de Argentina, está llamado a servir y descubrir a Jesús en medio de los niños, niñas y jóvenes adultos en situación de pobreza. A través de una amistad recíproca basada en el amor y la confianza, acompañamos a nuestros amigos y amigas excluidos, en su experiencia y conocimiento de Jesús y de una vida plena en Dios. Para nuestro ministerio, la hospitalidad intencional es esencial para crear un espacio de intimidad con Dios y el prójimo.

El Verbo Entre Nosotros (http://www.elverboentrenosotros.org/)

Favorite Things…Buenos Aires Style! (#2 – Walking in the City)

As a response to my desire to be more attentive to my call to place, I am blogging on my favorite things in Buenos Aires. (See my January 22 post by clicking here.) These favorites are in no particular order of “favoriteness.”

I have always enjoyed walking. Back in California several times a week I would regularly walk my neighborhoods of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach and Long Beach. When possible walking near the water is definitely preferred. The Seal Beach pier and the waterfront harbor in downtown Long Beach are still favorites when I am back for a visit. Walking is life-giving, restful and refreshing for me. It is often a time to clear my head. Many of my best times of prayer, attentiveness and reflection happen when I am walking. In many ways, it is a spiritual practice for me.

It is no different here in Buenos Aires! These past few weeks I have had some foot issues that have made walking pretty painful. I, finally, found a podiatrist here and, hopefully, I am now on the right track! But, in the meantime, I am realizing how much I miss my regular times to walk some of my favorite places in the city. I took a retreat day this past week and had to cut my plans short, which included a little walking in a park and visiting a museum. I was over ambitious and my foot just couldn’t hack it.

This all made me realize how much I really enjoy walking in Buenos Aires….another favorite thing! I enjoy my short walks (5-6 blocks) through my La Boca neighborhood to visit the Deans and Forcattos. I look forward to my 20-minute walk to church on the unusually quiet streets on Sunday mornings. I can take a 20-minute bus ride to Puerto Madero where there is a long stretch of walking along the old river docks of the city. There are many parks and plazas that are nice to walk through. The stretch of blocks on Avenida de Mayo between the government buildings of Plaza de Mayo/Casa Rosado and Congreso is another favorite stretch of walking. The beautiful architecture, the tree lined streets and the people watching are all part of the experience for me.

So, today I am grateful to live in a place where I can enjoy walking.

More Prayers & Creeds Favorites

I continue to post weekly prayers on the Prayers and Creeds blog. Last April I posted links to some of my favorites. You can see that list of favorites by clicking here.

I decided it was time to post some favorites I have posted since then. The prayers of hospitality have been, especially, popular. I will try to compile some favorite Lenten and Easter prayers soon.

Just click on the prayer title and it will take you to the original post.

Anima Christi

A rephrasing of this ancient prayer, a favorite of Saint Ignatius by David L. Fleming, SJ.

A Prayer of Blessing for Potters

By Sarah Baldwin

Celtic Prayer of Hospitality

Prayer for Our Neighborhoods

Prayer for Hospitality & Compassion

Prayer of Wayfarer

By Calvin Miller

Calm Me Into Quietness

By Ted Loder

Prayer of Sabbath Rest & Shalom

By Christine Sine

Celtic Prayer of God’s Presence

An Evening Prayer

Each Thursday night our community continues to go through the Evening Prayers written by Christine Sine in the prayer book, Light for the Journey. Here is a portion of the Evening Prayer liturgy we prayed tonight.

As this night descends, Christ be with us.

Be in our hearts and in our minds,

Be in our souls and in our spirits,

Be in our thoughts and in our dreams.

As the night descends, Christ be our friend and our companion.

Show us the love only you can give,

Show us the light only you can provide,

Show us the wholeness only you can reveal,

As this night descends, Christ surround us.

Circle us with your presence,

Keep protection near and danger far,

Bring us the assurance of your love.

The God of life with guarding hold you;

The loving Christ with guarding fold you;

The Holy Spirit, guarding mould you;

Each night of life to aid, enfold you;

Each day and night of life, uphold you.

Christ our protector, guard us this night.

We commit our bodies, and our spirits into your hands.

Christ our companion, shield us this night fill us with your peace,

May your Cross keep us from harm and protect us as we sleep.

Christ our rescuer, bring us this night to the nearness of your love.

The peace of the Creator of joy be yours,

The peace of the Christ of hope be yours,

The peace of the Spirit of grace be yours,

The peace of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be yours,

The peace of all peace be yours this night and evermore.

Taken from: Light for the Journey: Morning and Evening Prayers for Living Into God’s World by Chrisine Sine. (“Christ and the Call to Love and Compassion,” Evening Prayer)

To read a little more, click here:

http://wheresdavebayne.blogspot.com/2010/09/light-for-journey.html

To order the book, click here:

http://msainfo.org/promo/available-now-new-prayer-book-by-christine-sine-light-for-the-journey

Favorite Things…Buenos Aires Style! (#1 – Fiestas!)

For the past few weeks I have been meaning to compile a list of favorite things I love about life in Buenos Aires. This is a result of my recent reflection on “Attentiveness and Call to Place,” recently posted on This Ignatian Life blog. You can read the reflection here: http://ignatianlife.org/attentiveness-and-call-to-place/.

These first weeks of 2011 I have often found myself out and about thinking, “Oh yah, I love this about Buenos Aires!” But, I neglect to make a note of them. So, instead of waiting to make a list, I will post favorite things as I recognize them (in no particular order).

So, #1…FIESTAS! Argentines know how to throw a party and it usually involves lots of food, music and dancing into the wee hours of the night (or morning). While I have now acquired quite a few favorite Latin dance tunes, I am afraid I still lack the moves. I was reminded of how much I love Argentine parties just this past week when we had a despedida (farewell party) for our WMF intern, Matt. Parties here don’t really get going around 10:00 PM and go until at least 3:00 or 4:00 AM. And if you leave at 1:00 or 2:00, you are the first to leave. After three years in Argentina, this party timeframe has become my new normal and I even try to be one of the last to leave (a goal not always reached). I still have a lot to learn about hosting a party myself, but I will keep working on it. The Deans and I recently hosted a sabbatical despedida for the Forcattos. We laughed at how often we huddled together to try and be good hosts. (How many norteamericanos does it take to throw an Argentine party??)

Our church and circle of friends really know how to celebrate well community, friendship and big life events! All one has to do is scan my FB pics for highlights of these fun celebrations.

So, thank you Argentina, friends and community for the celebrations of friendship and life together!