Saturday, March 26, 2005

Bro. Vito

The friend who I went down to Mexico to help through his operation is a priest. Over the last decade he has become a very good friend. He is a member of a Catholic order called the Legionnaires of Christ. I am not a Catholic. But as I have gotten to know him I have also become acquainted with many in his order. They are smart and resourceful. Their mission is the evangelization of leadership. This is a Mexican order but with a lot of people from outside Mexico.

One person, who is still in formation, is named Bro. Vito. He was assigned to help care for my friend as he worked through this set of problems. Bro. Vito has a certain innocence that is wonderful. He comes from Brooklyn and you would never be confused about where he comes from. But he is intensely committed to becoming a real minister.

His ministry, to this point, has been with kids. His genuiness and his honesty must be an inspiration to parents and kids. We've talked in the past about his kid's clubs. One afternoon, I took him out to lunch, in part because I wanted my friend to get some rest. I found in his briefcase, a Dummy's book on Magic. He thought it would be a good idea to learn some magic. So I bought him a couple of decks of cards. There are three kinds of card tricks - counting ones (based on some mathematical principle), mechanical ones (where you set up the deck) and slight of hand. In slight of hand there are some fairly simple moves that can be quite amazing to the unitiated. So I spent some time teaching him about the three kinds of tricks and some of the moves in slight of hand.

For the next couple of days, he worked to perfect his technique - I am sure some kids in Xalapa will be amazed when he gets back to work at meeting the Amazing Bro. Vito.

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