What Would You Do For God?

           This past Saturday, Mr. Brian and his family from the States came down to visit my host family.  Mr. Brian was a student here in Costa Rica 2 years ago when he was getting another degree (he’s 50 years old or so).  He wanted to come back and visit with his family so they, the 6 of them, have been living in our host family’s house since Saturday.  Now, with me and my roommate and my host family, there are 11 of us in the house.  Talk about busy and crowded.  Plus, since basically no one in Mr. Brian’s family speaks Spanish, I’ve been up to my clavicle in translating for them and for my host family.  But I can’t complain because it’s great practice.  

The front of the Basilica that we worshiped in this past Sunday.  It was my first ever Catholic mass too.

It’s a little strange that having ‘outsiders’ stay with us in the house makes me feel more like a part of my host family because I’m no longer the ‘outsider’ now.  Whenever I help wash the dishes or clean up around the house, my host dad tells me “It’s okay” or “Don’t worry, I can do that.”  What I’ve been telling him in return is that “This is my house too so I need to help out around it.”  It’s nice being accepted and feeling as though you are part of the family.  

A view of the inside of the Basilica and the altar way up front.

Anyways, this past Sunday, I went to the Basilica with my host family and Mr. Brian’s family.  As I’ve mentioned in some other posts, the Basilica is probably the holiest place in Costa Rica for Catholics.  It’s huge.  Well, my host parents always sing there on Sundays.  Since my host family has been singing there every Sunday for the past 11 years, they were able to give us the star treatment.  By this I mean that we sat up next to the altar the entire service, went back in the sacristy and met the priest after service, and we were given a tour of the Basilica with access to places where the public is not allowed to see.  It was a very awesome experience.  But what was even more amazing were the people who came to worship there.  Here's a short clip of the inside of the Basilica.  Sorry that it's a little wobbly.  At around the 2:10 mark you see some benches up by the altar, that's where we sat for the service this past Sunday.

These people love the Lord so much that they were willing to stand for 2 hours during the length of the service because there was no room to sit.  The Basilica was so full that people were standing in the aisles, around the back of the church, in the entryways, and anywhere else they could find.  People were sitting on the steps that lead up to the start of the altar area because there wasn’t enough room.  During the service, I started to think about how awesome it was that these people wanted to hear the Word of God so badly that they were willing to stand the entire service and not complain one bit verbally or nonverbally.  Some of these people had multiple kids they were also looking after or babies in their arms.  Even most of the children were intent on the service too.  I guess, after this past Sunday, I had to ask myself the question: “Would I stand for 2 hours to hear some pastor or priest speak about Jesus for 2 hours?”  I encourage you to ask yourself the same question and think about where you have placed the Lord in your life.  What do you value most in life and what should you value most in life?  I think sometimes we all need a little different perspective to help us see what’s really important in life.