Theology 2 in Venezuela #7

(By Stephen Villa)

In the few days that we have been here already, there have been some beautiful moments to cherish. One of them happened on the first night that we were here. We were visited by the local group of the St. Vincent de Paul Society who shared with us some stories of the work that they do among the poor people here amidst the 11 barrios within the parish boundaries. The work ranged from bringing food to the homebound, and changing diapers and doing house chores for the invalid. The members of the SVDP Society are not wealthy people in and of themselves, but they are so generous with their time and whatever few resources they have. One recounted a story that happened in her barrio not too long ago. A fire took out completely a house of a single mother with some children. Thankfully, no one was injured in the fire, but everything else was lost. This member of the SVDP Society gave to the victims of the house burning the clothes of her own children to the children who now had nothing else to wear. It was a beautiful example of how generous these people are even with whatever little they have.

Fr. Laird made a comment about how these people were the hands and feet of Christ for the poor here in the parish. With this thought in mind, I spent a good portion of a morning meditating on Mt 25, from which come our tradition of the Corporal Works of Mercy. In a place like this, where poverty is more visible to the eye (espeically mine, coming from the United States), this particular passage has been quite insightful for me here, especially when I hear stories like the above. It is as if the wounds of Christ crucified are still bleeding today, and the work of these people is like a balm to heal the wound that cannot be healed this side of the grave. It is very beautiful to see, and it has made me think more deeply at how I can give and serve in the way that I have seen these Venezuelan people give and serve.