A Banica Epiphany

Summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily from January 13, 2008

"I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind..." Isaiah 4:12

Two weeks ago, Lulun brought me straight from the airport to Banica our sister parish in the Dominican Republic. We made it in 5 hours, avoiding a thousand potholes. There I was greeted by Fr. Dan Gee and Fr. Chris Murphy, our diocesan priests who are assigned there. They were getting ready for the Tres Reyes, the Three Kings and the bishop's pastoral visit.

I assisted Fr. Dan in the early morning Epiphany Mass in Banica. The church itself, its lights, decorations and newly painted stations were a revelation. The singing of the congregation was miraculously on key. Dominicans can often be tone deaf... The community was inspired by the choir, directed by a diocesan volunteer, Mrs. Kirby, whose tonic sulfas awakened me long before mass time. I officiated at a spirited and beautifully coordinated Mass at Sabana Cruz, where the songs of praise for Jesus, the light to the nations, strained the rafters.

I also visited Bienvenido, Omero, Crucita and a host of other friends. They sang the praises of our diocesan priests and volunteers. When I was previously assigned in Banica, Bienvenido had been my companion on our long journeys to the hill communities. A neuro-muscular disorder has now confined him to a wheelchair. The chair did not have a foot rest. His mother would wheel him around the neighborhood, if they had a better chair.

But it is the manner of my departure from Banica that I would like to share more on. My trip back to the capital, Santo Domingo, was a journey to the light. Christ enters our world as its light. The light enters the heart. In our baptism we become children of the light, called to bring that light to others, to the end of the cosmos, to rich magi and poor shepherd alike. I was about to leave for San Juan with Lulun where I would meet with Bishop Grullon, bishop of our sister Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana. My plan was then to take the bus from there to Santo Domingo. Fr. Dan brought a challenge to our attention. A Haitian couple who had missed their ride earlier arrived with a sick child, Jean Pol. The child had a patch over his left eye. A swelling indicated that the treatment he had received some weeks ago for a cancerous tumor in the DR capital was unsuccessful. He needed to return to La Posada del Buen Samaritano, the Inn of the Good Samaritan, to keep an appointment with a doctor that had been arranged for the following day by Sr. Beatriz, a sister from Rockville Center serving the Diocese of San Juan and Director of La Posada.. Fr. Dan had confidence that if the mother and child could get to San Juan with us, Bishop Grullon would find a way to get them to Santo Domingo. Lulun, my driver, was not so sure. In his view Haitians are not always welcome guests in “La Republica” and he shuddered at the thought of leaving them without a plan for transport or a word of Spanish.

Presented with three guests, only one of whom he expected, Bishop Jose Grullon was unflappable. He would not hear of me taking the bus. He sent Lulun home saying he would somehow find a driver to chauffer me and my Haitian companions to the capital three hours away in a diocesan jeep. While we awaited a driver, a tall order I thought on the afternoon of Epiphany Sunday, he brought us by the Carmelite convent for lunch. The sisters set up extra chairs at their table for Isabelle and Jean Pol. Referring to his own first name, Bishop Grullon assured me that "There will always be room at the inn for Jose, Maria and Jesus!" Dia de Los Reyes is a traditional time for gift giving in Latin countries and Sr. Ann offered Jean Pol a toy bear, which frightened him. She replaced it with a truck that filled him with joy and diverted him from any pain he may have felt... “Beep! Beep!”

Bishop Grullon spoke of the great work done in Banica using a pictorial approach to catechesis. He repeated to me his request for a Low Boy vehicle to transport his bulldozer from one community to another to build new mountain roads. I was able to share with him that I had an interested donor. His cell phone rang, a driver was ready! Hours later, to conclude a day of minor miracles, we encountered Sr. Beatriz as she was about to leave on an errand. She leaped with enthusiasm when she saw Jean Pol. She had been anxious about his missing an appointment with an oncologist.

After a few days of golf spoiled by unseasonable rain, I returned to the Inn of the Good Samaritian. Sr. Beatriz reported that Jean Pol had had surgery for an aggressive tumor. The doctor said it would give him a few more years of life. Jean Pol had a larger patch over his right eye. But with the other eye he smiled. He said "Beep! Beep!" He would drive on.

"See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds the peoples, but upon you the Lord shines." Isaiah 60:2