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Showing posts from August, 2019

"The Bread of the Church"

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by: fr. Rich Rome, OFM Conv. On our third day in Bogota, we went down to the city center to walk through the streets and see the capitol.   We visited a museum honoring those who were killed or disappeared during the civil war, two cemeteries where those killed were buried, and then past several of the major government buildings, and about a half dozen churches.   The churches were all grand: many altars, many statues, many candles, beautiful ceilings.   And at the door of every church were those begging.   On our fourth day, we went to the south part of the city, which is one of the poorest areas.   When many of the older people were born, this part of the city didn’t exist.   It was created by the influx of those from the countryside fleeing from the violence between the FARC and government.   The city didn’t build the houses, or the roads, or the pathways.   The people who lived there built them.   They maintained them.   They still maintain them – the city will sometimes