Category Archives: Patzún Mission

I’m going out on a limb here but I do claim that, in striking respects, heaven is a lot like my evening of April 24th, 2013. That is one day before my sister’s birthday, just two before my son’s and, … Continue reading →

There is a perfectly good explanation as to why a few weeks ago Roger and I sat in my office fighting back tears. We met in 1979, the first year for both of us at Carnegie Mellon’s Computer Science Department. … Continue reading →

“I’m not a religious person but I decided that my family and I will spend Christmas day at an orphanage in the slums”, explained Andrew Lewela Mwanyota to a group of people who gathered at the pilot offering of the Software … Continue reading →

One of the things that I learned right away at the missions is that the faithful in Patzún are quite ernest. Being very Catholic one of the matters of faith is the presence of Jesus Christ, the real presence of … Continue reading →

The previous July week was just perfect, among the very best that I ever spent in Guatemala. Fr. Fleckenstein was the first of the Pittsburgh seminarians to return to Patzún after ordination. Young but mature and faith-filled Bob Waruszewski was with … Continue reading →

Water filters, roofs, a restroom with running water, soccer balls and a play area are some of the projects that Holy Sepulcher Parish has tackled and completed in its first two years supporting San Bernardino in Patzún Guatemala. The restroom … Continue reading →

This is a nice looking Guatemalan family, posing at the main door to San Bernardino, the school in Patzún that is supported, in part by Holy Sepulcher Parish. Some of you will recognize the name, Ana Cecilia Jimánez Arreaga or just … Continue reading →

Bill Clinton tells the story that in his first run for the White House he prominently displayed a sign that read, “It’s the economy, stupid”. What he meant was that he needed to focus on the obvious. My personal mantra is … Continue reading →

Early in my mission days I learned that whenever a child came into the orphanage, Hogar Para Niñas, there were worms to eliminate; always. From Ascariasis and Cholera down through Typhoid contaminated water, the norm for Patzún, brings problems. Until I met the … Continue reading →

There are many people who have made it possible for people of the Diocese of  Pittsburgh to support the orphanage, hospital and school in Patzún, Guatemala. These two, Padre Justi and Sara Merdes, are foundations on which all the rest … Continue reading →