Being Sunday, John and I went to his church located at the top of this behind his house named after St. Martin. It was a wonderful liturgy, just as the rest of the Masses had been up to this point; in fact I think I was starting to take them for granted. But a new experience was the priest there, whose name I cannot remember. This priest had a fire inside of him that no one could put out. He preached at every chance he got, whether it was in the opening prayers, between the readings, during the Gospel message, and even during the Eucharistic prayers; all along with having a very lively homily. He was really getting into it and I Think hitting the nail on the head. The people, although into the Mass, would mumble a response and he would ask them again. What I think he was really trying to get at though is that we cannot be passive about our relationship with God in our prayer, especially during the sacred liturgy of the Mass. Our responses are those that go straight to God, so let God hear them loud and clear. Are we proud of what we proclaim? Do we really believe what we speak?
Afterward John took me to the bus station in Santa Rosa for a goodbye and to make sure that I was on a good bus headed in the right direction. The bus left at about 11 with plenty of room on board for nearly the entire time. This was not something I had experienced the entire trip. I sat back and enjoyed the scenery as I prayed and read. It was a pleasant and peaceful way to leave Honduras.
Last glimpse of Santa Rosa from the hill.
The border crossing at about 1pm also went very smoothly, especially since I had a taxi to take me the entire way across, which kind of sped up the passport official stuff. The bus headed for San Salvador began its trip nearly empty. Maybe halfway through someone finally sat down next to me. But as we grew closer to San Salvador, more people kept getting on until finally the bus had to turn people down for rides because there were people already too many people on board. That is if you can call hanging out of the doors as being “on board.” It was packed but we made it safely to the terminal.
The cab ride to the hotel was perfect and the hotel was cheap, only 12 dollars a night. I found my way up onto the roof as the sun went down to take pictures. As I looked out over the city I could see the Cathedral only about 5 blocks away. And then I spotted it. El Rosario, my favorite church was sticking up out of the cityscape only a few blocks away. I so wanted to take more pictures of the beauty of it so I bolted downstairs and through the streets to get their before the sun completed its setting.
I got to the church at about 5:40 and was given another surprise. Mass was scheduled for 5:30pm and since nothing ever starts on time, I was right on time. How wonderful to be able to celebrate a Mass for the second time that day in this architectural masterpiece. One to start and one to end my day. Thank you Jesus.
Below was the Station of the Cross that I thought the most beautiful this time through.
Subtitle… Soon I can stay in one place… a new day.
Border of El Salvador and Honduras at Sunrise.
Although I did not get much sleep over that evening I did get about 4 hours. My bus for Costa Rica left at 2:30am from the hotel terminal, just downstairs. I got a window seat this time, and until the last 3 hours, the seat next to me was completely empty. Plenty of space, plenty of grace… this trip was really turning out. On the same bus I met other people from countries like Germany, Argentina, France, and Australia, along with Central Americans. This included a gentleman that was hauling his bike along because he was biking around through all the countries of the world, or at least that was his plan I think. He told me of his adventures in Central America and Asia, and that he was heading now to South America, hoping to take a boat from the Panama Canal to the Colombian coast.
That is a volcano in the background. In Nicaragua.
We went through Leon, Nicaragua on the way back.
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