Como Hijos y Hijas de Mismo Padre – The privilege of being with the poor.

When I told one of my friends that I would be in Peru in one of the Vicariates of the Amazon this summer, I remember her sharing how, in places like these, the voice of the Lord is so clear. I can say that this is true here in Santa Clotilde in the Peruvian Amazon, as well as from my little experiences in the past on being on mission. The voice of the Lord is so clear here in prayer, in the people, in the Amazon River, and in the surrounding nature. I can look out and immediately recognize the Lord speaking to me here. I have thought about this - Why is the voice of the Lord so clear here? What is unique about these places? I recall thinking in the past it was probably my disposition in other places that made the Lord’s voice not so clear – meaning I thought it was something in my own disposition that made the Lord’s gentle voice so clear in some places and not so clear in others.

Parochia Nuestra Señora de Ascuncion

There are many things I have loved while being here, but the experience of Sunday Mass has been so beautiful. The parish here, Nuestra Senora de la Ascension, is literally a large rectangular shed. On Sundays here in Santa Clotilde, there is no electricity until the evening. So, the parish has solar power for Sunday Mass to run one speaker and two microphones. The choir microphone is shared with the lectors; the other is for the priest. There is no electricity for lights. The Franciscan order runs the parish. One of the experiences that stays with me during Sunday Mass is when right before the Our Father. The priest says, “Como Hijos y Hijas de Mismo Padre,” let us call upon Him and pray - leading to a chant of Our Father. And as we chant/sing Our Father, the chorus fills the church precisely as sons and daughters of the same Father.

Parochia Nuestra Señora de Ascuncion

This past Sunday, as the priest said, "Como Hijos y Hijas de Mismo Padre” I remember being moved to tears. For a while, I didn’t know why this overwhelming emotion was within me. Later, as I prayed about this experience, the Lord gently helped me unfold this experience. The experience of overwhelming emotion was me realizing how Christ holds the people of Santa Clotilde so close to his heart. These are His people – Christ knows their suffering and joys, sickness and hopes, dreams and tragedies, and in all of this, He is so close to them. In a way, the Church, through her preferential option for the poor, expresses this sentiment. I believe in my experience of Sunday Mass here; I was able to encounter this closeness and intimacy of Christ with those he holds closest to his heart. In me being with the people here, I encounter the same closeness of Christ with his people. Through this experience, I encounter Christ’s affection for His people and how he keeps these people so close to his heart. In me being present here with the people of Santa Clotilde, I have become one of those children whom he holds so close to his heart. This is the privilege of being with the people of Peruvian Amazon; this is the privilege of being with the poor; this is why the voice of God is so clear among the people here because these are the people whom he holds closest to His heart – Como Hijos y Hijas de Mismo Padre.

As Christians called to missionary discipleship, our closeness with the poor is integral to our identity. Our closeness with those considered least expresses Christ's closeness with those he considers so dear to him. In living this out, we also realize how close Christ holds each of us to his heart. This is the privilege we all experience when being with those considered least in society. In each of our encounters with the poor, the sick, the suffering, the elderly, and the forgotten, we each have been given this privilege to experience this unrelenting love of the Father for His children whom He holds so close to His heart and thus for each one of us as well. One way we can rekindle and be intentional about living out this privilege is through building a culture of encounter. Very early in his papacy, and numerous other times, Pope Francis has spoken about being builders of a culture of encounter.[1] Drawn from the very actions of Jesus, in the culture of encounter, we are intentional about who the person in front of us is. This intentionality is realized through our senses, actions, and words. In a culture of encounter, we do not just hear but listen; we do not just talk but speak; we do not just look but see, and through all this, we see, listen, and speak to the person as Christ. In a culture of encounter, I am aware of the privilege of who is in front of me, a person Christ holds so close to his heart, whether that’s the poor, the sick, the suffering, the elderly, the homeless, or those forgotten by society. For me, I know that in the patients I see, in the pastoral visits I make here, and in my daily encounters with the people I meet here, I can fall into the trap of making it a task to be accomplished. But in the culture of encounter – I look into the person's eyes, listen to not just his words but his heart, touch his hand, and ask his name. This allows me to realize the privilege of who I am with and recognize the love that Christ has for each person. In doing so, I realize how much Christ loves me as well. The culture of encounter allows me to see the person in front of me not as an object of a disease but as a subject of an illness. The culture of encounter helps me conceive the burden of the illness that the person is carrying, allowing me to be with them in their burden just as Christ would. However, this culture of encounter requires concrete gestures. Whether that be intentional actions of listening or empathy or any other gestures, these gestures every day allow us to be promoters and builders of a culture of encounter. These small acts of love everyday help the other person realize their inherent dignity and value, as well as ours – Como Hijos y Hijas de Mismo Padre.

I recently read about St. Francis of Assisi’s encounter with a leper right before his conversion, of how he moved toward him and touched his wounds instead of riding away on his horse from the leper. What happened when he moved towards the leper and touched his wounds? We don't know all the details of that experience, but we know shortly after St. Francis had his conversion. I believe at this moment, as St. Francis drew close to the leper, touched him, and embraced the person in front of him, St. Francis encountered Christ’s unrelenting love for the leper and, through that encounter, Christ's love for himself. The meeting of St. Francis with the leper is the transformation that happens in the culture of encounter, in moving towards the leper, in seeing him and touching him– Indifference is transformed into love. In the culture of encounter, we become aware of the person in front of us is, how close they are to Christ, and thus how close Christ holds each of us to his heart – Como Hijos y Hijas de Mismo Padre!




[1] Pope Francis, Morning Meditation, For a Culture of Encounter, Domus Sanctae Marthae, Vatican. Sept 13, 2016. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/cotidie/2016/documents/papa-francesco-cotidie_20160913_for-a-culture-of-encounter.html