America

We continue to walk through this Easter season, discovering the footsteps of the Risen Lord who walks with us. Today, Mª Carmen Tomás, CLM from Seville, shares with us the life story of JJ, a true story of Easter and resurrection.

We live in a world in which migrants only find physical, political, relational barriers… It is difficult for us to look beyond what we see, what we believe, what we judge…

Today I would like to share the migration process of JJ, a 25 year old Colombian boy. He had to leave his country and came to Spain, with his hands in his pockets, fleeing situations of violence, misery, breaking ties with his family of origin without knowing when and how he could recover them.

He arrived in Madrid, and there he “had no luck”, he did not find any door, window or loophole, and as he had been a military man in his country, he went to Ukraine, to join the army, looking for a desperate solution. But the reality of the war, the destruction, the pain he saw around him, made him aware that he was risking his life and he had to leave, because the security provided by lodging and a salary (which he could send to his family) did not compensate.

So he arrives in Paris, broken, and meets three other boys (also Latin American), who like him were living on the street, without resources, without knowing the language…, and they create a new family, one of those that unite more than blood. The winter there is very hard, with very low temperatures, so they decide to come to Spain, where at least they knew the language, and end up arriving to my city, where winters are very mild, seven months ago. From the entity where I work, my colleagues from the homeless project take care of them in the street and encourage them to come in the morning for an appointment in our office. And there, little by little, with a lot of effort and perseverance on the part of my colleagues, little things are being achieved, and above all they are gradually regaining hope and illusion.

I do not want to tire you, but unfortunately the resources for homeless people are quite saturated, and it is not easy to find a place for one person, and even less for a group of four. The resource was not adequate, but it allowed them to have dinner, bed and shower. They were able to apply for street registration and medical assistance, which are the basis for access to the most basic resources.

There, other people, in their same situation, helped them to look for work in the countryside, despite how difficult it is to work when you are in an irregular administrative situation. And they did not hesitate to get up at 5 o’clock in the morning to get to the collection points for workers, as was already the case in the time of Jesus….

The relationship with the other day laborers also helped them to heal their wounds, to recover their self-esteem, … to feel that life was starting to give them a chance and to fight for it and not give up.

The cold season was coming to an end, and they had to leave the resource. During all this time we had worked with them, accompanying them in their processes. JJ was beginning to have a more regulated life, working, but without the possibility of paying the deposit to get into a room… We helped him by paying him a month’s rent, giving him the opportunity to save during that month and thus be able to continue in the room. And he succeeded.

Now he has been on his own for three months, he continues to work in the fields, he has his rented room, he has regained contact with his family, he maintains his friendship with his companions, one of whom went back to his country, but the other two are also doing well. And he keeps coming to see my colleague, to tell him how he is doing, how things are going…..

This morning I approached his table and asked him if he could tell me a story of hope and resurrection to share with you, and he told me, well look, I am going to tell you the story of JJ, who has just come out of here…..

Mª Carmen Tomás, CLM

Indeed, sometimes we see people like us and we cannot imagine the life they have behind them. In Caritas we attend to many people, almost “all” those who come expecting immediate solutions, food, help, comfort, or whatever. When many come, you run the risk of not “seeing” the person, but the number, of not seeing where they have been, nor what they have lived, but “what they are asking for”.

There are stories of families, of children who come alone, of women with children…

They come to Spain wounded and with expectations. Some by choice and others pushed by the conflicts that drive them away from their land, their homes and from the embrace of their families. When you hear stories that you can’t even imagine in a movie, you realize how big the world is and the human wickedness, but also how much we need God, and to have a willing mind and heart.

In the midst of that accompaniment, sometimes in the venting you verbalize being “at odds with God”, “how a good God, has allowed me to have suffered so much!”. “Where was God when I was threatened with death?” “Where was God when they threw me out of my house and stole everything I had?”

It happened to me…by inspiration, I was in the office and it occurred to me to invite one of these wounded people to participate in Easter in the parish. A Triduum lived in Community. She doesn’t say no, but I wasn’t sure she would come. She has the courage to do so. She sits in the last pew of the church, as if wanting to see but from afar, near the door. I respect the distance, and the space, but I remain attentive.

Holy Thursday. She gets excited and says she has been calm, after six years without stepping foot in a church. She liked it, she felt peace. She says that her problems have stayed for a moment at the door, everything has stopped. She has been taking medication for months to be able to sleep, she says she has breathed.

Good Friday. On the cross are nailed all the news that speak of the Christs that continue to be crucified every day. And her famous question “Where is God?” is answered and it turns out that God is suffering next to each person, and what we have to ask is where are the men and women of good will to bring the caress and comfort of God to those who are desperate?“

She comes out of this celebration very touched, she says she has felt that what has happened in the church ”was true”… but that she needs time to digest and understand. She needs so much time that she does not take the leap to participate in Saturday, the feast of the Resurrection.

She thanked me for inviting her by cell phone. She says she sleeps better, that she feels better. I would like to think that the door of reconciliation is opening, and on that path, in that experience, I hope she will soon meet the Risen One who never abandons us, who always sustains us, who loves us madly.

We will continue to accompany slowly and attentively.

Carmen Aranda, CLM Spain