by Fr. Stephen Cuyos, MSC
crossposted at www.stephencuyos.com
According to the Bible, three wise men from the East traveled far and wide to find Jesus by following a star. They brought with them three gifts and after giving them to Jesus they returned home changed men. According to tradition, the relics of these wise men are found in the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.
Together with 35 other Filipinos, I am going to Cologne this Sunday not only to venerate the relics of the magi but also, and more importantly, to encounter Jesus Christ in the young people who will take part in the 20th World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations. The 36 of us will represent the Filipino Community of the Diocese of Rome, Italy.
Our journey to Cologne began many months ago. All 36 of us underwent a twice-weekly spiritual formation program divided into five modules, namely (1) The Search, (2) The Encounter, (3) Adoration, (4) Sharing, and (5) Conversion. The modules were meant to make the participants experience what the three wise men went through in their search for Jesus and how their encounter with Him led them to adore God, which they expressed by sharing with Jesus the gifts they brought for Him, and finally how this series of events ultimately led the magi to experience personal conversion.
The module that made a deep impression on me was the fourth – sharing. After the input, the facilitator gave each participant three different cutouts of colored paper. On each paper we were to write our answers to the following questions:
What gold will you bring to WYD?
What myrrh will you present?
What incense will you offer?
We dedicated ample time for reflection before writing anything on the cutouts. The more I contemplated on the questions, the more intense my identification with the magi became. Like the three wise men, I wanted to intimately encounter Jesus and personally bring Him gifts. During a sharing with some participants I found out that we had almost identical answers. The gold that we wanted to bring was our lives, our faith, and our commitment to follow Him out of love. The myrrh that we desired to present was our personal response to His call to love Him by serving those in most need, our affection for mother earth, our friends and families, and our faithfulness to the mission that Jesus has entrusted to us. The incense that we chose to offer was our fervent prayers, our hope for a better world, our wish for an end to all forms of violence, and our praise for God’s glory.
I pray that the WYD will truly be an occasion for the delegates to encounter Jesus personally and that they will be transformed by that encounter. I also hope that they will return to their homes bearing gifts of comfort to the suffering, love for everyone and peace to the world.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Encountering The Immigrants In Reggio Calabria, ITALY
by Sr. Melanie Grace D. Illana, mscs
Service to the immigrants is one of the responsibilities of the Church. Our immigrant brothers and sisters deserved her welcoming heart as well as moral and spiritual support. Thus, they need somebody to journey with them as they continue to search for their greener pastures. This reality has moved me when I did my 26 day mission-exposure in Reggio Calabria last June 25 until July 20, 2005. I was first attracted by the enigmatic beauty of the sea that surrounds the extreme southern part of Italy that gives calm environment with its warm people. Yet, inside that place are the life-stories of the immigrants who have survived for years.
I would say that my mission-exposure was different from the previous ones that I have been through. The novelty of the life-story of each migrant I have encountered have enriched my knowledge an understanding about the reality of the immigration. It is indeed a blessing that there are several parishes and centers that openly serve these poor immigrants. I and my companion Sr. Isabel from Domenican Republic have assisted our co-Scalabrinian sisters Sr. Ires from Brazil who is responsible for our “Centro di Ascolto” and Sr. Cloteldi an Italian who assists her in this mission.
A number of immigrants would come to our center for various reasons: ask for our listening ears and hearts as they share their problems, some ask for food and clothes and most of all ask our help to give them jobs by contacting good employers and friends. Most of these immigrants came from Romania, Ukraine, Africa, Morocco, some of them from Latin America, Libya, etc. Reggio Calabria is their choice to live and their place of refuge. To think that this place is said to be the poorest city in Italy. These immigrants do not mind of the poverty of Reggio for as long as they could find their way of living and to sustain their basic needs.
Our “Kababayans” are categorized as different immigrants since they do not really suffer from unjust wages nor beg for food and clothes. Most Italians love our Filipino brothers and sisters because of their honesty, cleanliness and sincerity in their works. This may be the reason why the Filipinos in Reggio are more highly paid than those other nationalities. Sad to say that some immigrants are receiving unjust wages such as four hundred or two hundred euro a month. Our two other elder sisters were even asking some Italian, Brazilian and Filipino friends to help our brothers and sisters of other races to augment their way of living and for their continuous financial support of their families left in their native lands.
We, as missionaries, are called to follow our brothers and sisters to preserve their faith and this was the challenge of our Blessed founder John Baptist Scalabrini known as the father to the migrants, who asked his missionaries to follow the migrants and to continue to nourish them with the Good News. This is also a challenge for me as a Filipina sister to give witness to Christ’s great love and compassion for the strangers especially for my “kababayans” that are scattered in the world. The Filipino immigrants are also called to be missionaries, too and they always visibly perform their specific ministries in the Church.
In Reggio Calabria, the Filipinos are greatly appreciated by the Italians and other nationalities since they are well-organized inside and outside the Church. I have heard many times that the “Filipinos are good”. They formed associations / organizations to keep their faith alive so that they continue to fulfil their role as laity. That made my heart proud. However, in spite of those good observations and comments, there is still a need of the priest and the religious in their spiritual and social formation. I have encountered Benjamin, the president of the Association of the Filipino Catholics and an active member of the couples for Christ as well. He shared with me their good status, their motivations and most of all their concerns. I was surprised to know that they badly needed the presence of a Filipino Priest who could also be their spiritual director and also the collaboration of the Filipina sisters who are present in Reggio Calabria.
Yes, they need their collaboration for their growth in their apostolic mission. They are waiting patiently for this grace. The Latin Americans, on the other hand, are still making progress of their organizations and ministries in the Church and same with the other nationalities. I was also impressed by the presence of the occidental and oriental Christians who harmoniously work with the Catholics in serving the immigrants as well as the integration of Muslims. I could see the good sign of the openness of Catholic Church to ecumenism and dialogue with other religions.
Our service to the migrants are truly without frontiers. I was moved when I encountered some Muslims from Morocco and Libya who were thought to be bad. I found out that they are nice people and sincere and have an open heart to talk to us Christians. I was asked to teach the basic Italian lesson to the young man from Libya named Ashraf. He arrived in Reggio a month ago and knew nothing of the Italian language. I accepted the service since he also speaks good in English. So, we started first with the alphabet since he has difficulties in reading, then to diphthongs, then proceeded to basic grammar. His interest to learn the language had helped him especially in his conversation. This made me happy. However, we did not finished with our lessons since my exposure was about to end.
I have left him some important notes for his everyday conversation. His choice is to learn the new language in order to live and to find a better job in the future. The immigrants must learn Italian language in order to survive but they still love to hear their own language spoken in this foreign land. This is the reality that I have lived with the migrants. We, as missionaries, continue to respond to this call: To see Christ in the faces of the migrants. The immigrants continue to bring with them their life-stories, their faith and most of all, their dignity as human persons who deserved love and respect.
One of the priests in Calabria expressed his concerns that the “priests must be aware of their service to the migrants and should have this passion and sensibility to serve them in spite of their races and religions.” We are hoping that his words will be slowly planted in the hearts of the priests and religious who are called for this mission. Indeed, it was a special blessing for me to experience living the reality of our migrant brothers and sisters in Reggio Calabria that would contribute much to my future apostolic mission. Every time I picture the place of Reggio Calabria, I always say to myself: Behind the beautiful panorama, there lies the life of each immigrant.
Service to the immigrants is one of the responsibilities of the Church. Our immigrant brothers and sisters deserved her welcoming heart as well as moral and spiritual support. Thus, they need somebody to journey with them as they continue to search for their greener pastures. This reality has moved me when I did my 26 day mission-exposure in Reggio Calabria last June 25 until July 20, 2005. I was first attracted by the enigmatic beauty of the sea that surrounds the extreme southern part of Italy that gives calm environment with its warm people. Yet, inside that place are the life-stories of the immigrants who have survived for years.
I would say that my mission-exposure was different from the previous ones that I have been through. The novelty of the life-story of each migrant I have encountered have enriched my knowledge an understanding about the reality of the immigration. It is indeed a blessing that there are several parishes and centers that openly serve these poor immigrants. I and my companion Sr. Isabel from Domenican Republic have assisted our co-Scalabrinian sisters Sr. Ires from Brazil who is responsible for our “Centro di Ascolto” and Sr. Cloteldi an Italian who assists her in this mission.
A number of immigrants would come to our center for various reasons: ask for our listening ears and hearts as they share their problems, some ask for food and clothes and most of all ask our help to give them jobs by contacting good employers and friends. Most of these immigrants came from Romania, Ukraine, Africa, Morocco, some of them from Latin America, Libya, etc. Reggio Calabria is their choice to live and their place of refuge. To think that this place is said to be the poorest city in Italy. These immigrants do not mind of the poverty of Reggio for as long as they could find their way of living and to sustain their basic needs.
Our “Kababayans” are categorized as different immigrants since they do not really suffer from unjust wages nor beg for food and clothes. Most Italians love our Filipino brothers and sisters because of their honesty, cleanliness and sincerity in their works. This may be the reason why the Filipinos in Reggio are more highly paid than those other nationalities. Sad to say that some immigrants are receiving unjust wages such as four hundred or two hundred euro a month. Our two other elder sisters were even asking some Italian, Brazilian and Filipino friends to help our brothers and sisters of other races to augment their way of living and for their continuous financial support of their families left in their native lands.
We, as missionaries, are called to follow our brothers and sisters to preserve their faith and this was the challenge of our Blessed founder John Baptist Scalabrini known as the father to the migrants, who asked his missionaries to follow the migrants and to continue to nourish them with the Good News. This is also a challenge for me as a Filipina sister to give witness to Christ’s great love and compassion for the strangers especially for my “kababayans” that are scattered in the world. The Filipino immigrants are also called to be missionaries, too and they always visibly perform their specific ministries in the Church.
In Reggio Calabria, the Filipinos are greatly appreciated by the Italians and other nationalities since they are well-organized inside and outside the Church. I have heard many times that the “Filipinos are good”. They formed associations / organizations to keep their faith alive so that they continue to fulfil their role as laity. That made my heart proud. However, in spite of those good observations and comments, there is still a need of the priest and the religious in their spiritual and social formation. I have encountered Benjamin, the president of the Association of the Filipino Catholics and an active member of the couples for Christ as well. He shared with me their good status, their motivations and most of all their concerns. I was surprised to know that they badly needed the presence of a Filipino Priest who could also be their spiritual director and also the collaboration of the Filipina sisters who are present in Reggio Calabria.
Yes, they need their collaboration for their growth in their apostolic mission. They are waiting patiently for this grace. The Latin Americans, on the other hand, are still making progress of their organizations and ministries in the Church and same with the other nationalities. I was also impressed by the presence of the occidental and oriental Christians who harmoniously work with the Catholics in serving the immigrants as well as the integration of Muslims. I could see the good sign of the openness of Catholic Church to ecumenism and dialogue with other religions.
Our service to the migrants are truly without frontiers. I was moved when I encountered some Muslims from Morocco and Libya who were thought to be bad. I found out that they are nice people and sincere and have an open heart to talk to us Christians. I was asked to teach the basic Italian lesson to the young man from Libya named Ashraf. He arrived in Reggio a month ago and knew nothing of the Italian language. I accepted the service since he also speaks good in English. So, we started first with the alphabet since he has difficulties in reading, then to diphthongs, then proceeded to basic grammar. His interest to learn the language had helped him especially in his conversation. This made me happy. However, we did not finished with our lessons since my exposure was about to end.
I have left him some important notes for his everyday conversation. His choice is to learn the new language in order to live and to find a better job in the future. The immigrants must learn Italian language in order to survive but they still love to hear their own language spoken in this foreign land. This is the reality that I have lived with the migrants. We, as missionaries, continue to respond to this call: To see Christ in the faces of the migrants. The immigrants continue to bring with them their life-stories, their faith and most of all, their dignity as human persons who deserved love and respect.
One of the priests in Calabria expressed his concerns that the “priests must be aware of their service to the migrants and should have this passion and sensibility to serve them in spite of their races and religions.” We are hoping that his words will be slowly planted in the hearts of the priests and religious who are called for this mission. Indeed, it was a special blessing for me to experience living the reality of our migrant brothers and sisters in Reggio Calabria that would contribute much to my future apostolic mission. Every time I picture the place of Reggio Calabria, I always say to myself: Behind the beautiful panorama, there lies the life of each immigrant.
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