You are probably like me, wondering what Jesus really means when he says, “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” Probably I’ll spend the rest of my life wondering about the truth behind this teaching. However, I have the blessing to witness the beauty of this truth the past week when participating in a mission trip with a group of family missionaries in General Cepeda, which is not too far from Monterey, Mexico.
Coming from Vietnam, poverty is no stranger to me, but living in a materialist country like the US for a long time makes me almost forget that poverty exists and poverty is real. Some of us may never understand what it is like to be poor. In one of our visits to the ranchos, we met a lady sitting next to what used to be her house, or rather, her hut. It is now only a pile of dirt because the rain the past week has destroyed her house. She was sitting there with her little belongings, which were only some clothes, some kitchen tools and a mattress. She let us know she slept in the only room that was still standing after the rain. One of the evenings after we got back from the ranchos, I shared the meal table with a family of four: a husband, a wife, a little kid and a baby in her mother’s arm. They were among the regular visitors of our mission house every day. There were there because they had not had anything to eat for 4 days. While eating, some missionaries had to answer the door because another family needed some cash to bring their child to a surgery in a city that was one hour away. The mission house did not have enough money so all of us visiting missionaries chipped in our little contributions. The cost was only 40 US dollars. A priest just came back from a home visit and he seemed really sad and concerned. We found out later that he was sad because of the utmost poor living condition of the family he had just visited. The wife in the family was pregnant. They lived in house built of mud, so sanitary was a luxury. No one had any means of transportation to bring her to nearest clinic which was, I guessed, an hour away driving. She only relied on the visit of a doctor that stopped by each rancho every other month. When the priest was there, he had to join with other family members trying to kill a poisonous bug that was running around the bed of the pregnant woman. He said that in the US he would have called the police immediately if he had seen any animal living in such condition. Here lived a human person who was carrying the life of another human person in such a horrendous living condition.
Because of such extreme poverty, the permanent lay missionaries at the house adopt a poor life to be in solidarity with the people they are serving, and in order to have more to share. Compare to the local people’s poverty, the little discomfort of my life the past week becomes luxurious living. I had 3 meals a day. I slept on the top bunk in a small cabin with 15 other guys. If there was a breeze at night then we could fall asleep easier. If not, we just had to lie on our beds until the temperature cooled down a little. I got to only shower every other day because we were in the dessert, so everyone had to conserve water the best way we could. The temperature during the day was in the high 80’s if not low 90’s. It was cooler at night, especially toward the morning. Telephone is extremely expensive that we just did not use them. We squeezed more people than the capacity into a van to travel on bumpy mountain roads to visits different ranchos and houses everyday.
But the joy and peace in the house is abundant. Faith is an obvious existence, and the Holy Spirit is clearly visible in our daily life. At rest time every afternoon, we just hung around, sharing stories or singing or playing table games. Our day usually starts with a family-style prayer which includes praises and thanksgivings, then sharings of what has moved each person from the experience of the previous day, or what the Holy Spirit has inspired us through our prayers and meditations. We usually close the session with petitions. The faith sharings usually inspire me very much. Like my spiritual director usually says, “you know God’s grace is strongly at work in your life when you feel like the words from the Scripture just jump off the pages.” I have had so many “a-hah” moment during this week when I recognize many teachings of the Bible, or what I have learned before came to make sense.
That woman who lost her house because of the rain, she was as peaceful and joyful as a child receiving gift on Christmas Day. She was ready and quick to share with us visitors on that day the little treats that she still had in her ruined house. When we asked if she wanted anything from us, she only asked for a rosary so that she could continue praying and praising. Do you remember how Jesus praised a widow who put in the collection box in a temple only 2 pennies? In a chapel that we visited, the local villagers put together an image of Jesus that is so simple and, bluntly, ugly. But they come and pray with all their hearts in front of the image. They touch the image for blessing as a custom of the faithful here. In the US, it is common that people spend tons of money on pain-killers in order to get some peace and little joy in whatever sufferings they have in their lives. Here, their touch to the image takes place of those pain killers. They live with the joy and peace that just put you in awe when you witness it together with their sufferings. Do you remember the woman that is cured of her sickness just by touching Jesus’ cloak, and Jesus confirmed, “you faith has saved you”? You could see that the villagers are inspired when listening to the testimonies of the lay missioners or of other fellow villagers about their experience of God’s love in their lives. Then I am inspired by the whole experience. I am pretty sure this is the similar inspiration that the two disciples on the road to Emmaus had when Jesus appeared and explained to them about the history of God’s love to his people Israel. The lay missioners were not poor people, but they commit to live a poor life. Their choice of poverty is the decision to live in solidarity with the poor, the practicality of living simply so that others can simply live. They strive to live that beatitude that Jesus taught on the Mount, “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit…”
Please don’t take my sharing here as an effort to ease the reality of poverty in the world. Poverty is poverty, and it is an evil because it brings sufferings to people. God would never want his children to live in poverty. We will never understand the reason why there is poverty in the world. I came from poor country, so this week experience is not my first ever experience of extreme poverty. I am only writing this experience down to share with you that:
- poverty exists and it is real and it is painful
- we can do a lot from wherever we are to help the poor:
•the money for a cup of Starbuck coffee can send a pregnant woman to a hospital for a check up
•a prayer every day will strengthen those on the front line helping the poor
•a week spent with the missionaries will put you in close contact with the Holy Spirit
•and many more different ways …
- God has a special place in his heart and his eternal plan for the poor
- Those who commit to help poor brothers and sisters live a blessed life
- Materials are important for the quality of life, but they are not the deciding factor. We actually need very little to live a peaceful and joyful and happy life.
Here are some pics of the trip
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