By Father Dan Stack

The Guatemalans have come to St. Bernadette's in Cedartown and St. Mary's in Rome. They are lovely people, quiet, dignified, gifted and generous. They are not wealthy, but they give.

At St. Mary's they were willing to do the lawn care and landscaping free of charge and the grounds look lovely. At St. Bernadette's, Teodoro Hernandez Chum spent his entire week of vacation after July 4 weaving altar cloths. He offered them to the Lord and the parish as his gift of time and talent.

Pablo, as he is called, is a Quiche-speaking native from the state of Hueheutenango in Guatemala. Born into an agrarian family in 1967, he was apprenticed to a weaver for nine months in 1984. When he finished his course he could not begin to weave because he could not buy a loom. He returned to his family and worked nearly three years to save the $350 necessary to buy the loom and begin weaving. He came to the United States about a year ago and to northwest Georgia last October.

Mr. Hernandez Chum spent the week of July 5 to 9 at the rectory in Cedartown weaving on the pastor's loom. He worked nearly 10 hours a day and was very pleasant company. As he was preparing to return to his friends in Rome after working more than 50 hours on altar cloths, he asked, "How much do I owe you for food this week?"

Father Stack is pastor of St. Bernadette's in Cedartown.