Today was my first Sunday Mass in a parish since I came here this year. Generally I help out in a parish or two over the weekends. This weekend I was asked by the secretary of the seminary if I could go to her own parish as the Parish Priest would be away this weekend. Normally, they would rely on their permanent deacon but, if they can get a priest, they would prefer it as they can then have the celebration of the Eucharist.
The parish is one of the many parishes in an area of the city known as St. Miguelito (literally, Little Saint Michael). This is a vast area of the city where many hundreds of thousands live. It was, in fact, for many years, the most densely populated area in all of Central and South America. Each individual parish here will often have a population of around 100,000 people: when you compare that with a typical Irish parish which will normally have between 10,000 and 12,000, you can get an idea of the sheer scale of the challenge for parish life here.
Panama is unusual in that, right from the time of Vatican II they have encouraged the permanent diaconate. Bishop McGrath (and American, but of Irish descent) was really a pioneer in this and also in the implementation of many of the reforms of the Council - some of which never really got off the ground at all in some countries. Take, for example, the permanent diaconate: this has only begun to be introduced into Ireland in recent times - and not because it is in itself a good thing: the permanent diaconate has only been countenanced in Ireland because of a shortage of priests.
Anyway, getting back to this morning: like most churches in San Miguelito (which is a very poor area with a lot of problems with serious crime), this one is not air conditioned, unlike some of the wealthier parishes where they can afford to run this expensive luxury. The chapel was full - perhaps 300 people, and there were six babies/ children to be baptised during mass. Baptism has always been one of the celebrations that I have most enjoyed and now that I am not working in a parish in Ireland, I am not normally involved in celebrating this sacrament, so it was nice to be back on familiar territory.
We had a permanent deacon at the mass but he was leaving it to me to do the preaching and the baptising. We had a very lively celebration and, as is normal here, people really get involved in the singing (and in the after-mass activities such as cooking and selling the food to raise money; catechesis for those preparing for sacraments; youth group etc). The permanent deacon, Ricardo, has been a deacon for 24 years. Now he is retired from his "day job" and exercises his ministry as deacon most weekends as well as visiting the sick and being involved in parish activities during the week.
The mass lasted an hour and a half (I only realised this when we were finished) which is about as long as we would expect an Easter Vigil to last in Ireland. This, of course, is where the lack of air conditioning hits home - an hour and a half in a full chapel, wearing vestments etc actually turns out to be quite tiring. I was given a lovely breakfast after mass consisting of fruit and what is called here Hojaldra - this is like a sort of crunchy pancake (made from pancake batter and deep fried: about the size of the palm of your hand) which I'm sure is very fattening, but is also very delicious. Even though hojaldras are considered to be the breakfast of the poor here, they are the thing I most like to eat while I am in Panama.
Now it's almost 9pm so I am off to bed (I normally go at 8) so that I can get up at 5am to be ready for Mass in the morning.
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