This is Teotihuacan Evangelization

That's "tee oh tee oo wah kahn"...

Today we visited the ancient, but not terribly ancient, city of Teotihuacan. Click here for a more in-depth, although I cannot guarantee completely accurate or unbiased, article. Some Cliff Notes for you:

Teotihu... is located about 25 miles to the northeast of Mexico City and about 50 miles from where I live. Teot... is in a fairly remote-- but not too remote-- part of the country. It is just beyond the city; farms and mountains begin to be easily seen. Without traffic (wow! no traffic today!!! a miracle!!!!), we made it in about one hour.



Teo... was a huge city in its hay-day and, from what I've heard in lectures and read in museum signposts, it was the hub of a pretty advanced civilization. The Te....'s did, however, like to engage in a human sacrifice now and again, as a means to "feed the sun" and, as well, to dedicate their temples. Pretty gruesome at times.

In and of itself, Te... is pretty interesting. What is even more interesting is that the civilization disappeared in the 800s. I haven't found a really convincing reason why, either. At any rate, when the blood-thirsty Aztecs arrived on the scene years later, they found the abandoned city and gave it its name: T........

Yet, somehow (I'm not sure how), T..... and records of T.... were lost. It was overgrown and covered-- only to be re-discovered again in, I think, the early 1900s. Imagine un-earthing one of these things on an archealogical dig.

Ummmm, I think I got something over here......



The pyramids themselves are huge. They aren't as huge as the mountains that surround them, but they are enough to make one seminarian quip that "I nearly lost my lunch" after finishing the stairs to the top. I leisurely ascended the ol' cozy place of human sacrifice in my dress shoes.



At the summit of the Sun Pyramid (not to be confused with the Moon Pyramid-- really), the view is spectacular. No picture can adequately convey the beauty of the landscape surrounding the pyramids (7-9,000 foot mountains in the area) and the sheer, steep drop to the bottom. As I took pictures, I was amazed by how steep the climb to the top of the pyramid was. There were a couple times where I had to scramble (that is, put my hands down to keep balance). And, had I lost my balance backwards... well, let's just say that there would be no more blog.

While in T..., I was surprised by the number of foreign visitors. It is a tourist spot, yes, but there were quite a few Americans around. You can tell them out very easily-- not only because of their language or their skin color or their dress, but mostly because they are loud. I'm guilty too. What was interesting, though, was that at the top of the Sun Pyramid, some people were engaging in some New Age seance mysticism kind of stuff.


{A view of the steep descent down}

And what was really disturbing was that shortly after they began offering whatever it was to whomever it was they were offering, clouds began to form and the wind began to pick up. In short order, a thunderstorm was on the way and I found myself heading down the pyramid. I could literally sense something demonic going on.



For the next hour, it showered and drizzled and showered some more. I became pretty wet and concerned with protecting my camera as I explored the ancient grounds. It was perfectly dreary. Eventually, I made my way over to the Moon Pyramid. For some reason, you can't climb all the way to the top, but only to the halfway point. There, I found some more New Agers doing things that people in their right mind shouldn't be doing. They were speaking in English. Great. (*sigh*)


{Looking towards the Moon Pyramid in the distance}

I stood there, half looking at them and half looking at another amazing view; the climb to this point was even steeper than any of the stairs of the Sun Pyramid. Yet, as a I looked out and imagined what must have been going years ago in this very spot on which I stood, I began to get one of those tugs on my heart:

Tell them about Jesus.

Who?...

The people next to you that do not know me.

But, we're tourists-- and who wants to hear about religion and all that at a time like this?


I descended the stairs and began busying myself with other things (this is a nice picture-- and oh, look at that!)...

You're being called to talk with them.


I did a lap around the general Moon Pyramid area, all the while being pursued by Moon Pyramid Gifts and Accessories vendors.

No, gracias (I do not want a rock with an ancient mythical polytheistic deity, thankyouverymuch).

Do you believe that I am more than these? Doesn't Love motivate its beloved to tell all the world that he has found Love?

I stopped. I looked back up at the pyramid.

Ok, then what am I supposed to say to them?


I was truly frightened by this endeavor. I was about to climb back up a long flight of steep stairs and talk with people I didn't know about a topic that is hardly P.C.: namely, J.C.

As I ascended the steps, I prayed and I formulated "in-lines"-- quick statements that can get you "in" to a group and gain their attention:

A little while ago, I saw you up here praying... and I was wondering if you wanted to pray.... Hi, are you American-- where are you from?.... Quite a view, eh? Come here often?


{Looking down from the Moon Pyramid. In the distance is the larger Sun Pyramid}

This was not going to work. I felt like I was practicing pick-up lines. But, too late: I'm standing next to the group now.

Where are you guys from?-- that's how I started it. Pure plunge. Simple vulnerability. No games. Confidence.


They were from El Paso and studying in Cuernavaca-- not too far from where I'm at. We exchanged pleasantries about Mexico and where we had visited and why we were in the country anyway. They were studying spanish and archaeology (go fig, there's archaeology at T....). I asked about what they knew of the history of the place. They gave me the low down on it-- pretty well educated-- and stopped their summary at about 1525 AD.

Huh, that's interesting. Do you know about the conversion of millions of indians shortly thereafter?

No, they said.

Have you heard of Our Lady of Guadalupe?

"I've heard something of that-- like apparations that told a man to build a church...?"

Yeah, Our Lady of Guadalupe.


They were looking at me with squinting eyes. And the sun wasn't out. I froze. What do I say about her? I'm starting to come off as one of those "religious freaks." I was like Ralphie in A Christmas Story, holding on to the slide as he tried to remember to tell Santa about Red Ryder: Think, stupid! Think!


{An inclined wall of the Sun Pyramid, looking upward. This and all the walls were once covered with stucco. A nice parallel for my mind at that moment}

Not a single thing. All the classes, all the reading, all the prayers, and all the insights-- none of it was there. I mentioned how I thought it was interesting how she wasn't mentioned in their studies, what with millions of converts shortly after her appearance (thanks be to God that that was there).

They again were still looking at me in that "well, thanks for interrupting us, now you're being awkward" kind of way. And so I wished them well, a safe journey down the pyramid, and all the best in their studies.

Complete Humiliation.


The walk down the stairs was pretty tortuous the first time-- now it was just torture. What had I accomplished? Ok, God, I went and talked with them and I bombed-- now what? What am I supposed to learn in all of this?



A few things. Twelve to be exact.

1) Evangelizing people who do not want to be evangelized is really, really tough.
2) Evangelizing people who may be thinking that your talk about religion is not PC and an exercise in "forcing one's beliefs upon them"-- evangelizing them is really, really, really tough.
3) Even though this took place on the Pyramid of the Moon, it could have happened on any street in the USA-- which leads me to
4) When you are called to talk with someone about Jesus, you must follow that prompt of the Holy Spirit, because
5) Who knows what may happen
6) We're being obedient
7) We may learn something from the experience
8) We may become more confident for next time, and
9) other may learn something about Jesus and Mary and the Church-- if even just a simple little detail like how, after Mary's appearance, millions of people were converted.
And, 10) the most important lesson I learned: have a pure intention. Evangelization is not motivated by wanting to change someone. At no point can our motivation be to change. This sounds counter-intuitive, I know. But if we look at a person as someone to be changed, we are not looking at them as they are now-- we are not looking at them as God sees them now.

Evangelization is not the process of changing someone. It is, instead, announcing to someone the vision with which God-- and you!-- sees them. A vision that is powerfully pure and purely loving.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

This gaze causes change. It is life-changing.



In the little evangelization this afternoon, I was initially motivated by the power of God, that is, by love (the only motivator, it seems, for true evangelization). But, as time progressed, my motivation became sheer obedience (which is still ok), but it became forgetful of the original motivation-- I forgot the original motivation: that I love Jesus; that Jesus loves them; and that Jesus wants me to love him so much and them so much that I tell them about this Love, Jesus.

The message may be simple: Do you know Jesus? He is God, a personal God, who loves you, personally!

Or it may be complex. But whatever it is, Jesus wants you and me to be able to see others as he sees them. With mercy, with tenderness, with devotion, and with love. And to proclaim that!-- that He is mercy, tenderness, the fulness of devotion, and love!

And this comes to Lessons #11 and 12:

11) Evangelize. You must. It's like speaking a foreign language at first, but you get better with each time you try.

12) Don't lose hope. So you think that you fail-- often... have hope that God is doing with you precisely what he wants with you. And keep working hard, keep praying hard, continue being purged and refined. And don't lose hope!


"Hear and let it penetrate into your heart, my dear little son: let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you. Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance. Also do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?"
{Our Lady of Guadalupe}



Missionaries of the world, unite!