REFLECTION


THE BREAD OF LIFE DISCOURSE (I)

Martí Colom

 

 

Food that endures forever

In the Sunday Masses of these last few weeks we have heard portions of the “bread of life discourse,” in which Jesus insists over and over again that he is food for all. It is a long section of John’s Gospel, one that begins after the scene in which Jesus feeds a crowd with five loaves of bread and two fish (Jn 6:1-15) and then covers the rest of chapter six until its ending (6:71).

I would like to reflect a bit upon two moments of this chapter.  The first is Jn 6:27, when on the day after the multiplication of the loaves Jesus talks to the same crowd he has fed and tells them: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life”.

Beyond the more spiritual (and certainly appropriate) interpretation, according to which with these words Jesus wants to underline the importance of living with our eyes fixed on horizons that go beyond the present world, it seems to me that the text also allows for a more practical or “earthly” interpretation.

Jesus sees the crowd: they have gone after for him because they had been given to eat. He immediately understands that a relationship of dependency has been created between the crowd and himself. They are, let us remember, the same men and women from whom he moved away because “they were going to come and carry him off to make him king” (6:15). Jesus knows that no dependency is good, that the Father wants us to be free, autonomous. That is why he encourages them to work for the bread that endures forever. “The food that perishes” is the nourishment that others have to give you, for you do not know how to generate it. Someone offers it to you, you eat it and right away you need to extend your hand again asking for more. The food that endures forever is the nourishment that one knows how to produce, which therefore allows someone to be autonomous. The food that never ends is analogous to the interior spring of living water that Jesus promised to the Samaritan woman (Jn 4:14), which will free her from having to go to the well day after day. Jesus is inviting those around him to discover their own dignity, to experience God’s presence in themselves, and thus to understand that they have no need of any king, chief or charismatic leader with answers to every question, since they have in themselves the potential to move on, in their own right. To make this discovery is to find the bread that endures forever.

This passage can thus shed light over the way in which we live our faith and carry out our ministry. It can help us to understand that every time that we, as priests, religious or committed lay people create dependencies from those whom we serve towards us, then we are using criteria that are very different from those of the Gospel. Our mission is the same mission that moved Jesus: to help those we serve so that they can discover their own capacities to grow and evolve (as difficult as this may be). To proclaim the Gospel is, above anything else, to help individuals become aware of their own worth as loved sons and daughters of the Father. That is why our message is a liberating one: because it implies the realization of God’s presence in oneself –the living bread that endures and the spring of water that never ends.

Obviously, it will then be desirable that from a situation of healthy autonomy we may be willing to link our lives to the lives of others, forming community with them. It would indeed be very sad if we were to use our newly obtained autonomy to lead selfish and individualistic lives, with an air of “since I am capable to provide for my own needs, then I am interested in no one else.” But this is a risk that we must run, because what is undeniable is that only free persons, working for the bread that endures forever, will be able to create a Christian community worthy of this name. Individuals who are dependent on the bread that perishes may form tribes, clans, gangs, sects or caricatures of family, but never authentic communities living the Gospel of Jesus.

In a later reflection we will meditate on the other moment of the bread of life discourse that we wanted to comment.

 

 

 

HAITIANS IN THE CROSS HAIRS

On June 17 a registration period established by the government of the Dominican Republic for thousands of undocumented Haitians, living in the Dominican Republic, ended (It is said that there are 300,000 to 500,000 affected by this registration requirement.) All undocumented Haitian immigrants were required to register in Dominican government offices. To that end some were able to provide, at least, some type of current documentation from their country.  Many, however, had no documents whatsoever.

Beginning now and in the immediate future, those men, women and children, who do not have any document can be taken by security forces to hundreds of trucks destined for camps located on the other side of the border.  It seems that these people will have to leave with what they are wearing; they won’t be able to take their belongings.

How sad and hopeless it is to see the faces of anguish and fear of the people and families directly affected by this situation. They are men, young people, mothers and children that have established their lives in the Dominican Republic with much work and effort, many for a long time. It is distressing to see the extreme vulnerability with which they live these days. It is also infuriating that Dominican as well as Haitian people and institutions take advantage of someone else’s desperation to obtain some benefit by means of different corrupt practices.

The Dominican authorities have guaranteed the respect of human rights and civility in this process. We are left to trust in this good intention and that in the middle of this very delicate situation wisdom, justice, and respect for the dignity of all will prevail.

A Good Heart in Danger. Help is Needed!

Altagracia Pujols is a lovely 27 year old Dominican woman who has a critical heart problem: severe mitral valve insufficiency. This is a disorder in which the mitral valve does not close properly when the heart pumps out blood. Altagracia needs surgery urgently, but the family's insurance only covers 80% of the medical expenses. They need $3,500 in order to have the operation.

The Pujols family lives in KM 8 of Azua, a community of only 50 families, which belongs to the parish of La Sagrada Familia. The father, Alfonso, a mild-mannered but very active leader of the community, earns his living from a small produce farm and grazing a few cows. He has spent all of his savings on Altagracia's diagnostic testing. Now, humbly, the family is seeking financial help from businesses, public sources and private individuals so that Altagracia can have her operation.

Several generous people have already given financial support and, at this moment, only US$1,750 is needed to cover the cost of the operation. We hope and pray, with trust in the Lord, that this goal will be reached. If you can help, this is an opportunity to truly make an immediate difference in the lives of one family in need. You can contribute by clicking this link: DONATE

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support!

A LITTLE WORM FOR FATHER´S DAY

This year, to celebrate Father’s Day at San José Center (located in Ajusco, south of Mexico City), we conducted a special activity with the teachers, parents, and children. Its purpose was twofold: first to show the parents all the skills their children have acquired throughout the school year, by means of early stimulation, and, secondly, to involve the parents themselves into a teaching role in the development of their little ones. This demonstration involved making a little worm using a recyclable material, egg cartons, plus paint, glue, and a bit of imagination.  With this simple worm, the parents appreciated how the instructors were developing the psychomotor activity, especially the sense of touch, in their little ones. Fathers and mothers enjoyed creative moments interacting with their children and appreciated their most recent learning experiences.

INAUGURATION OF THE NEW CULTURAL INTEGRATION CENTER 

IN SABANA YEGUA  (Dominican Republic)

In April the blessing and opening of the new Cultural Integration Center of La Sagrada Familia parish in Sabana Yegua took place.  This Center is located next to the chapel of Los Cartones neighborhood.  For several years, the chapel itself has been the meeting spot for the Catholic community of the neighborhood, which has a large immigrant Haitian population.  Additionally, this small chapel was the primary site where the entire parish welcomed the growing Haitian community of Sabana Yegua.  In the chapel the parishioners have celebrated the Eucharist and have also shared God’s word during the week.  It has been used for catechism lessons to the children and adults and to provide literacy classes for both Haitians and Dominicans. We clearly needed a larger and more adequate space than a chapel for all these activities.

 Therefore, at the beginning of this year, and thanks to generous donations from several friends and benefactors, we were able to remodel and expand the chapel itself and build two classrooms and an office to its side, with a bathroom and a back patio for larger meetings.  This annex to the original chapel is what we now call the Cultural Integration Center of Los Cartones.

Our idea is that the Center may be a welcoming meeting point for the Haitian and Dominican communities.  This will become, hopefully, a place where worries and complaints that arise as a result of a coexistence that, as we all know, isn’t always easy, can be dealt with and where as a result reconciliation can be achieved.

In the Center Haitian Creole language classes will be offered for the Dominicans interested in learning it. Furthermore, we reached an agreement with INFOTEP (an educational institution of the Dominican Government) to use the center’s classrooms to offer technical formation classes to vulnerable groups (and again, both Dominican and Haitians will be learning there together).  We began with a basic cooking class that started on May 25.

Let’s hope that this new Center will be a welcoming place where formation for all those living in our region may increase and where, at the same time, integration between peoples from different origins and ancestry may flourish.

WHEN BRUSHING YOUR TEETH IS FUN

The boys and girls of the Catholic School in Meki (Ethiopia) have been having fun recently with three simple things: a toothbrush, a little toothpaste and water. Three basic things that are nonetheless unattainable for the majority of children in Meki. After two classes on the theory of dental hygiene and the brushing of teeth, we gave toothbrushes to the students so that they could put into practice what they had learned.

It was a very hot afternoon, but in spite of that, the children went out to the courtyard running toward the fountain to use their brushes for the first time. With great joy, they removed the covers from the new brushes, approached us so that we could put toothpaste on the brushes and began, with smiles on their faces, to brush their teeth. “My teeth are bleeding a lot” told us Berekat, a frightened fourth grader. “I don’t want to do it... the bleeding is bad!” We calmed him by explaining to him, “It is normal to have bleeding gums if you’ve never brushed your teeth before. Brush carefully each day and you will see how the bleeding will soon stop. You shouldn’t worry about it; continue to brush daily in order to have strong and healthy teeth!”

Teaching fundamental knowledge and skills regarding hygiene is basic to changing bad practices and beliefs among the children. This health program, with medical attention and health education provided to the students takes place in our three schools in the Meki area, in Southern Ethiopia. We are convinced that investing in education and health is essential in the fight against poverty.

Do You Know How to Read? “un chín”

This is what an eight year old boy in the little community of La Altagracia, located in the southwest of the Dominican Republic, answered me recently. “Un chín” means “a little” and is a very typical Dominican expression. This particular little boy wanted to become a member of the new library we have started in his village. Although he hardly knew how to read, we accepted him, since it wouldn’t be long until he has learned. In the meantime, his mom and dad will read with him the books he gets out of the library.

A few weeks ago we inaugurated the Altagracia Library, that for now, consists of a big box full of children’s books, kept at the home of one of the young people of the community. It is the seventh in a chain of mini libraries that we are creating to promote reading for all ages, but especially among children in the region. We have been able to establish these libraries thanks to multiple donations, the last of them from the companies DHL and Ordesa Laboratories, and from several friends in Barcelona. The central one, that now has more than 600 members, is located in La Sagrada Familia parish in Sabana Yegua (Azua), where the project originated. Others are cabinets or closets in chapels in rural communities... and where there isn’t a chapel, the library is a book box in the home of a volunteer who looks after it, as in the case of La Altagracia.