Maryknoll's Maya Indian Missions And Civil Rights Lawyer Friend, Minerva Benitez Castillo

Minerva Benitez Castillo http://www.holayucatan.com/yucatan/imparte-codhey-curso-de-derechos-humanos-servidores-publicos/ Alan: The appended newsletter was sent by friend and collaborator, Minerva Benitez Castillo, a civil rights lawyer living in Merida, Yucatan where she advocates on behalf of the Mayan people.  Maryknoll priest Father Bill who authored the reflection below is an old friend of Minerva.  Ironically, I have been singing in a rock-and-roll band these last two years and "I Can See Clearly" is one of our standbys. BTW... If "Pax" readers (or their children 17 and older) would like to live in Merida while studying Spanish (or simply visiting the Yucatan) Minerva will take "you" under her wing, providing inexpensive lodging and food at her "albergue" -- a two hundred year old mansion "frozen in time" just a block south of the zócalo (main square).  Five years ago, my 17 year old daughter Maria spent a wonderful month at Minerva's albergue, getting to know this blessedly peaceful part of the world. Albergue "Santa Luisa Marillac" also serves as home to a Mayan women's craft cooperative coordinated by Minerva. $25 - $30 for room and board. For more information, please contact me, Alan Archibald, at "Yucatan Adventure." http://yucatan.homestead.com/

Maya Monthly May 2015 "I Can See Clearly Now" Dear Friends of the Maya, At the end of April, I returned to Michigan for two cataract surgeries. They went very well. I can see distances better than I have for 60 years! I have one more week of taking drops and then will get new glasses so I can see things up close. I look forward to being back in Mexico on June 3rd. I don't know if you recognize this song.  It is the one I have been singing: "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone  I can see all obstacles in my way  Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind  It's gonna be a bright bright, bright bright  Sun-Shiny day." What I like about this song…and my “new eyes” has more to do with life ..than just sight. Maybe we all need cataract surgery! I have tended to get a very cloudy vision of life and this world. More than once I have wondered if it is all worth it, if we are really accomplishing something in Mexico. One night in Merida, I got so confused by the bright lights and the heavy traffic, I couldn't find my way. I panicked. I had to get home quick. I was afraid to risk trying a new route, I was much more comfortable with the past, safe route. I didn’t want to see or meet anyone new. I just wanted to get back home. That is not the way to live or to love. "I think I can make it now, the pain is gone  All of the bad feelings have disappeared  Here is the rainbow I've been prayin' for  It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright  Sun-Shiny day." I just returned from celebrating Sr. Terry Maksym’s funeral in Maryknoll, New York I will miss her forever, but her pain is gone. I need to be where she is - where bad feelings have disappeared, where we realize God loves us all, and we love everybody too - just like God does. That includes the Muslims and the Jews, the rich and the poor, the gays and the straights, the healthy and the sick and everyone else I have forgotten to mention. Lord help us bring your light to our darkness, your love to our hate, your hope and life to our world. Thanks to all of you for being that light to me and the people of the Yucatan. "Look all around, there's nothin' but blue skies  Look straight ahead, nothin' but blue skies  I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,  I can see all obstacles in my way  Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind  It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)  Sun-Shiny day."    Paz y amor,