Mary Gill & Pat Denevan – Oaxaca, Mexico

When we met with Manny and Mary Ryan-Hotchkiss on our annual visit, Mary asked us to reflect on what we see in Portland and in Oaxaca.

Mary—First, we noted how the mood of the people in general expresses itself. Aside from activists, nobody said much about the political state of affairs in Portland or the US. Black members in our family are as vigilant as they have always been. The police bias toward racism has always been prominent. Having arrived in 1975, we remember when the police left dead possums on the doorstep of a Black restaurant. And the father of one our children’s classmates was killed with a choke hold—he stopped a robbery in a gas station, and the police automatically assumed that because he was a tall Black man, he was the robber. Now however, many people feel permission to spew hatred toward immigrants, people of color, indigenous people, and refugees. The incredibly noticeable gentrification of the neighborhoods made me sad and angry. Maryknoll Affiliate Martha Gies, who has worked in housing in Portland for years, commented that “ethnic cleansing” is taking place—the Black community is moving out to the “numbers,” far out to the east of Portland.

Guatemala Chapter – MAC 2017 Organizers

The special talents of these Guatemalans  will enrich your conference experience with an understanding of the Mayan culture, uplifting liturgies, and enjoyment of the music created for this gathering.

Mayan Cosmos Vision

Daniel Caño  – Philosopher, Pedagogue, and Bilingual International Educator

Daniel Caño is Mayan Q’anjob’al, from the aldea Paykonob’, municipality of Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango. A Mayan spiritual guide, he was named for Maryknoll Father Daniel Jensen, who was pastor in Santa Eulalia at that time.

His academic studies are in philosophy, pedagogy, and intercultural bilingual education. Daniel is presently a professor of political and social sciences at the Rafael Landivar University in Quetzaltenango and on the faculty of Humanities at the Guatemalan University del Valle in the Altiplano. He has shared his spirituality, life experiences and poetry at a number of universities and organizations in the United States.

Of the Mayan Spirituality, Daniel says “I consider Mayan Spirituality as a way of interrelating myself with my social and cosmic surroundings. I try not to reduce it to rituals but instead to apply it to all spheres of my life.”

Mayan Ceremony: Thanking the Grandfathers and Grandmothers

Lorenza Laynez Reynoso – Teacher and Psychologist

Lorenza is an indigenous Maya Quiche woman and a psychologist and elementary school teacher. Her parents immigrated to the capital city of Guatemala because of the political violence and the poverty in the country. In spite of having grown up in an urban environment, her strong Mayan identity is based on the values of equality, social justice, and respect for diversity.

In 2000, Lorenza began reflecting on the Cosmo vision of the Mayan People, in particular the K’iche.  She has studied certain elements, principles, and values of the spirituality of her people. She appreciates her origins and has a critical vision of their history as Mayan Peoples.

During this process, she has worked with organizations of indigenous peoples, women’s groups, and international and governmental organizations. Presently, she consults regarding indigenous peoples, women, and HIV, and develops workshops for healing and counseling with indigenous women.

The Eucharist

Celebrant

John Spain, MM – Maryknoll Priest

Ordained in 1970, John shared pastoral service with Salvadoran priests and participated in  Christian communities.  Over forty years ago, he lived through the persecution that claimed the lives of more than ten priests, including our beloved Blessed Oscar Romero and the four American churchwomen in December 1980.

In the 1980s, John served in Nicaragua while it was experiencing US aggression after freeing itself from Somoza. In the 1990s, he returned to San Salvador to accompany the suffering people in their search for reconciliation after the war. In recent years he has spent more time on administrative tasks in Central America, but also sharing with the Affiliates of Guatemala and El Salvador to help pastorally in the parish of Cristo Salvador in Zacamil, El Salvador.

This year he was invited to share the lives of the martyrs of Central America with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in Africa. 

Homilist

Helen Werner, MM – Maryknoll Sister, Contemplative, Lemoa Mission, El Quiché

Helen has been a Maryknoll sister for 79 years, and looks back with gratitude at the journey that brought her to this time in Guatemala. After wonderful years of formation and College education, she spent 10 years in Panama teaching children whose ancestors had worked on the Panama Canal. A call to the contemplative life brought her back to New York, where for 32 years she lived the cloistered life, reaching out to the world through prayer.

Most significant in her life was the invitation to come to Guatemala to be a presence of prayer and accompaniment in the midst of the poor who were still suffering from the effects of violence and massacres. Her life has become prayer in the midst of the world, one with the people.

Assembly Music

Arrangement, Recording, and Presentation of the Assembly Theme; and Music for the Eucharist

Miguel Angel Duarte Aleman – Teacher Of Music

Both a professional singer and a humanities professor, Miguel specializes in music in middle education and musical theater. A choral director, artistic producer, and dramatist, he is the founding director of Staccato Singers Academy, a school held in high esteem in Guatemala. He has given workshops internationally and is vice president of the Latin American Forum of Music Educators.

Immersed in the world of song since an early age, he has won multiple awards, including gold medal winner in the World Olympics of the Arts (2001) in Los Angeles, California, and the Arcoiris Award for the best youth group (2005).

He has created:

• musical stage plays
• a methodology for developing a harmonic ear
• music for the marimba. His album, “The Desire to See You Again,” was released in November 2016.
• choral arrangements for different  choirs throughout Latin America.

Miguel presently directs the City Choral group of Guatemala City, teaches vocal technique at Staccato Singers Academy, and is General Director of Casa Duarte, a meeting place for companies that work in all branches of the arts.

Music for the Maryknoll Affiliates’ 25^th Anniversary

Juan Pablo Gudiel Pérez – Music Professional

Juan Pablo teaches musical formation, specializing in practice and choral direction. He studied at  University of San Carlos and Normal School for teachers of Music Jesus Maria Alvarado.

As a member of the National Choir of Guatemala (Cultural Patrimony of the Nation), he has been a choir member, tenor soloist, accompanying pianist, and director (from 1992 to the present). Juan has sung with several other choirs, including Colegio San Sebastian (1977-1979), Victoria Choir (1986 – 1990), APG Choir (1988), Symphonic Christmas Choir (1992), and Hilos de Plata Choir (2006).

He has been a member of popular music groups: Christmas Selection, Siglo XX (1992), High Voltage Group (1990 – 1992), The Organization (1993), The Brothers Duarte Groups (1994 – 1997), Select Music Group (1990-2000), among others, with which he has participated in national tours and international festivals (Central America, Cuba, Colombia and Mexico).

Juan Pablo composers and arranges choral works, songs with a message of hope, children’s songs, group arrangements, and chamber music. He interprets varied academic and popular music, singing and accompanying himself on piano or keyboard.

He presently teaches music and directs the youth choir and marimba at Colegio Monte Maria in Guatemala City.