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At
the
moment my feet are in Peru and my heart is still
travelling from one place to the other.
'Welcome to Peru!', said the man
who had been sitting beside me throughout the long flight and with whom,
up to then, I had only exchanged the occasional smile. That was when it
came home to me that my feet were treading on Peruvian soil – neither two
weeks of farewells, nor the journey from Seville (the community where I
had spent my postulate) to Madrid (where my family lives) nor the long
journey had made me realise what was happening, but this simple and
spontaneous 'Welcome to Peru!' did the trick.
And although my feet
are now here my heart, which is still travelling, has yet to settle down.
Last June I was
told that the noviciate would take place in Peru, along with Juceli, a
Brazilian novice. What a joy and what a great opportunity was being
offered me, so that from then until now I had time to prepare my departure
but also to live fully the present moment in Seville: the studies that
helped me to know better the God I love so much, the work in the parish
with the children and teenagers, the inter-postulate group, the
conservatoire, life in the community and in the neighbourhood…
And as
the days passed, living out the present moment fully, the time for me to
leave was arriving, a time that was particularly intense since I could not
leave without giving thanks for all I had experienced, learnt and enjoyed.
It was a
time of simple celebrations with different people, a time of giving
thanks, of placing the Lord in our midst and recognising that it is He who
gives us the gift of LIFE and also the capacity to encounter one another,
to create relations of deep friendship. It was a time for letting myself
be loved, for opening up to surprises, to gratitude and to abundance.
During those days I re-read several
times the Gospel passage: 'He then took a little child, set him in front
of them, put his arms round him, and said to them, "Anyone who welcomes
one of these little children in my name, welcomes me; and anyone who
welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me".'
And I can
see in this action a double movement within myself throughout all that
time…
On the one hand,
letting myself be embraced by Jesus, feeling that I am small and in need,
leaving with him my life and my security and letting myself be embraced
and loved for this new situation in which I am now living and where I am
being so warmly welcomed by the community, the neighbourhood and the
people there, by the Christian community …
And on the other hand,
placing the smallest, the most impoverished in the centre of my life,
embracing and welcoming them knowing that although my feet are already in
Peru it is my arms that must embrace, it is my heart that must welcome and
my gaze that must humanise.
This God of ours who lives in what is
hidden, in what is simple, who has an preferential option for the
impoverished, who breaks down borders and gives freedom, who loves
creation and entrusts it to us, this God who has brought me to these lands
so that I may meet Him here in the midst of his favourite ones, – it is He
who has given me to the Little Sisters so that among them, with them and
like them I may be happy and it is this that encourages us daily to build
up His Reign together.
It is true, my heart is still
travelling… but I suspect that this new people that I am beginning to love
will soon help it to land.
Lucia Ucela
Il est vrai que mon cœur est encore en voyage… mais
j’ai l’impression que ce nouveau peuple que je commence déjà à aimer
le fera très vite atterrir.
Lucia
Ucela.
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