From the Heart of a Shepherd

From the bulletin for The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2026 August 09)

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Aug 9 - Postcard from Peru

As I type this, the “sounds of Lima” come filtering through the very thin windows of the community library at the “San Jose” PES house in Peru’s capital. What kind of sounds? Mostly automobile-related. The constant “call and response” of car horns. Some of which are full melodies (custom car horns here are like ring tones were back there in the early 2000s). But also car alarms, which are surprisingly popular (and perhaps more needed) here. Sometimes the drivers of those vehicles make their own contributions to the racket, with “cries of enthusiasm” and “words of encouragement” to those with whom they share the road, each indicating where the other should go, etc. Besides that, there is the constant drone of vehicle engines of all sizes passing by down the busy thoroughfare outside of the house. The interior of which is very porous to the outside world, since houses in Lima do not need to be insulated, heated, or air-conditioned given the temperate coastal climate. While in Minnesota there is an (appropriately) unspoken expectation that people move around in public in silence, that is not at all the norm here.  

Ah, Lima. After eight years, I am back. Disembarking late last night, a stewardess saw my collar and shouted (in Spanish), “Ay, there was a priest on board! He could have given me a blessing. Padrecito, throw a little blessing on me as you go!” Which brought to my attention that this was, of course, my first time in Peru as a priest (curiously, though I wore clerics in Lima as a brother, no one ever asked for a blessing. Perhaps I looked too young for anyone to believe I could give one). 

Why have I returned? 

For one, it was high time. PES was founded in Peru and here in Lima we have our roots and our greatest concentration of members. It’s a chance to reconnect with old members and meet the new arrivals… some of whom are not so new. Too long in the “provinces” and we might forget we are part of something bigger. But since escorting a young postulant Br. Evan down in 2018, I hadn’t had occasion to return. Then, spending five weeks in Detroit the last three summers made it hard to find time for more travel. But not having to travel to Detroit this summer, the perfect occasion came my way when I learned that Bishop Michael Izen was planning to spend a month with PES in Lima to have a Spanish immersion experience. I offered my services as interpreter and guide for the first ten days of the journey. Here we are on Day Two already!

Not much to report just yet, however. (Our porous house allowed a little bird inside, which I was able to catch and toss back outside, which was somewhat exciting). The arrival, thankfully, was uneventful. When our luggage finally came down the chute late last night and we walked out to the pick up area, my heart skipped a beat when my eye caught a sign that someone was holding up for the person they were waiting to pick up. While here some started to call me “Davicho” and I thought I saw a sign saying just that. They are waiting for me, I thought. And so many of them! But then I looked closer and saw that it read “Davidovich,” which was a surprisingly Russian name to be held up by a very Peruvian looking old lady. So they weren’t all waiting for me. Anyway, new glasses will be arriving to the rectory soon. 

Nevertheless, it promises to be an eventful ten days. We were picked up by Fr. Eduardo Mendoza, whom some will remember from his year stint at St. Mark’s in 2013. He brought us to the same house in which Fr. Pablo Menor lived with the very first members of PES, where we will be staying. When he is not occupied with Spanish lessons I will be bringing the good bishop to various historic, cultural, religious, and PES sites in Lima. On Sunday we plan to visit the PES novitiate just outside of Lima, currently under the leadership of Fr. Carlos Farfan, also a one-time PES-MN member. The trip will culminate, for me, in a trip to the mountain city of Puno on the shores of lake Titicaca for the priestly ordination of Br. Kevin, known affectionately in the novitiate (we overlapped for a year and half) as “Negrito” (if you saw him you would understand why). Then I arrive back to Lima just in time for my return flight to MSP in time for our Assumption festivities. 

First time back in eight years… but who knows? Perhaps this trip will prove to be a trial run of sorts. I think St. Mark’s is due for a parish pilgrimage/tour to Peru (last one, I believe, was in 2011 or 12). Imagine! Touring the PES mother Church in Lima, the novitiate where Br, Joe Barron made bread, or even the very site where Fr. Patrick was born… if not to say Macchu Picchu, or the Amazonian rainforest or the Nazca lines (but first ask Pat Shrake if he would recommend) with your pastor and twenty other soon-to-be-favorite parishioners in the summer of 2027. Just a thought!

From the Heart of the Shepherd: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time