WHERE HEAVEN TOUCHES

Where Heaven Touches Earth

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PART I
mounttabortecateThe Monastery of the Trinitarians of Mary, Tecate, Mexico

 

ONE might be forgiven for thinking that Tecate, Mexico is the “armpit of Hell.” By day, temperatures can reach nearly 40 degrees Celsius in the summer. The land is pocked with massive rocks making agriculture nearly impossible. Even so, rain rarely visits the region, except in the winter, as distant thunderclouds often tease on the horizon. As a result, most everything is covered in a relentless fine reddish dust. And at night, the air is saturated with the toxic stench of smoldering plastic as industrial plants burn off their by-products.

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Where Heaven Touches Earth

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PART II
michael2St. Michael in the foreground of the Monastery at Mount Tabor, Tecate, Mexico

 

WE arrived in the early evening at the monastery just before sunset, the words “Mount Tabor” emblazoned on the side of the mountain in white rock. My daughter and I could sense immediately that we were on holy ground. As I unpacked my things in my little room at the novitiate house, I looked up to see an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on one wall, and Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart above my head (the same image used on the cover of the “Flame of Love” book.) I had a feeling that there would be no coincidences on this trip…

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Where Heaven Touches Earth

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PART III

morningprayer1

 

IT was 6am when the first bells for morning prayer rang out over the valley. After slipping into my work clothes and grabbing a bit of breakfast, I walked up to the main chapel for the first time. There, a little sea of white veils capping blue garments greeted me with their ethereal morning chant. Turning to my left, there He was… Jesus, present in the Blessed Sacrament in a large Host mounted in a huge monstrance. And, as though seated at His feet (as she surely was many times when she accompanied Him in His mission in life), was an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe carved into the stem.Continue reading →

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Where Heaven Touches Earth

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PART V

agnesadorationSr. Agnes praying before Jesus on Mount Tabor, Mexico.
She would receive her white veil two weeks later.

 

IT was a Saturday afternoon Mass, and “interior lights” and graces continued to fall like a gentle rain. That’s when I caught her out of the corner of my eye: Mother Lillie. She had driven in from San Diego to meet these Canadians who had come to build The Table of Mercy—the soup kitchen.

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Where Heaven Touches Earth

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PART VI

img_1525Our Lady on Mount Tabor, Mexico

 

God reveals Himself to those who wait for that revelation,
and who don’t try to tear at the hem of a mystery, forcing disclosure.
—Servant of God, Catherine de Hueck Doherty

 

MY days on Mount Tabor were drawing to a close, and yet, I knew there was more “light” to come.Continue reading →

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Where Heaven Touches Earth

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PART VII

steeple

 

IT was to be our last Mass at the Monastery before my daughter and I would fly back to Canada. I opened my missalette to August 29th, the Memorial of The Passion of Saint John the Baptist. My thoughts drifted back to several years ago when, while praying before the Blessed Sacrament in my spiritual director’s chapel, I heard in my heart the words, “I am giving you the ministry of John the Baptist.” (Perhaps this is why I sensed Our Lady call me by the strange nickname “Juanito” during this trip. But let’s remember what happened to John the Baptist in the end…)

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