OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“Lenten penance is a commitment, sustained by grace, to overcoming our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the cross. We need to set out on the journey, an uphill path, a trek, that requires effort, sacrifice and concentration. What awaits us at the end is undoubtedly something wondrous which will help us to understand better God’s will and our mission in the service of His kingdom.” (Pope Francis Message for Lent 2023)
When trekking through the 40 days of our Lenten journey, it is common to feel the desire to give up on our efforts to pray, fast and do charitable acts of mercy or almsgiving. However, our Holy Father encourages us to focus on how our Lenten path enables us to experience — in a small way — Christ’s suffering, and leads us to the joy of his resurrection. Stories of Hope from others’ life journeys can also inspire us to follow Jesus on the difficult way of the Cross to the new life of Easter and sustain the Gospel mission of service in building God’s kingdom.
During a recent mission to the U.S.-Mexican border, we were blessed to talk story with a refugee family who shared their real-life journey of overcoming seemingly insurmountable barriers to experiencing a new life of healing hope and service of others. We listened to Luis and his wife Oriana, along with their two children, 3-year-old Amaloa, 5-year-old Estefan and their 74-year-old grandmother, Carmen, talk about their desperate flight from Venezuela to escape death threats.
The family trekked on foot through neighboring Columbia to the dangerous Darian Gap, where they encountered murderous thieves, lethal animals and raging rivers — even saving grandma Carmen at one point from drowning in the mud. Luis, a large man, described how he carried his two children under each arm while carrying on his back a heavy bag full of canned tuna and water bottles. Along this perilous path, they met many other hungry and thirsty migrants from around the world, who like Luis and Oriana, who was pregnant, shared whatever little they had to keep each other alive.
After passing over to Panama, they continued their treacherous trek through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico and finally to the southern United States, where thousands of other migrants and refugees were also seeking asylum at the El Paso, Texas, border crossing.
Nourished continuously by their Catholic faith, this resilient Venezuelan family miraculously arrived at the Catholic Diocesan Pastoral center (transformed into a refugee shelter) just in time for Oriana to give birth to a baby boy. They named him Adonai Kaleb, which means “gift of God.” Despite many medical complications, the newborn survived. The diocese offered the family housing that had been built for retired priests. Now, after many trips to the emergency room, Adonai is hopefully on a journey to a healthy new life.
Luis is working days and nights at the shelter helping other migrant families. Oriana is often at the hospital with Adonai, so grandma Carmen helps take care of Amaloa and Estefan who have begun a Head-Start program learning English. Luis and Oriana also decided to make their commitment official in the eyes of God and asked Bishop Mark Seitz (their new next-door neighbor) to help them get married in the Catholic Church. After intensive marriage preparation, they celebrated a beautiful wedding in a nearby full parish church, followed by a joyful reception with food and music provided by parishioners.
Luis is now fixing up an old van and applying for a work permit to support his growing family, while Oriana is helping care for another refugee family from Cuba who also gave birth to a baby girl the day they arrived at the diocesan shelter.
The inspiring story of Luis and Oriana’s refugee family, along with the CRS Rice Bowl Stories of Hope (e.g. Rebecca and Lotiang’s story of a famer struggling to survive in Kenya) can deepen our Lenten journey of following Jesus through Passion week, and crucifixion on Calvary’s hill, to New Risen Life on Easter and can help sustain the difficult but nourishing mission of building God’s kingdom in service with others.
For additional inspiring stories of migrants and refugees please visit the Vatican’s new Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development website humandevelopment.va/en.html. For more on Rice Bowl Stories of Hope and resources, please visit crsricebowl.org. May we all persevere in our Lenten journey through Holy Week to the Easter joy of the Risen Christ which “help us to understand better God’s will and our mission in the service of His kingdom.”
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
Rice Bowl Story of Hope from Kenya
To continue farming in the face of climate change, a community in Kenya learns how to use a solar-powered well. Turkana, Kenya is very hot and dry. Temperatures reach the mid-90s year-round. Most people in this area raise livestock such as goats and camels, and a few are farmers. But the climate makes this work difficult — and climate change is making it even harder.
Rebecca and her husband, Lotiang, have farmed and raised goats for years. They rely on rain and river water to irrigate their crops and feed their animals. But it is raining less and less in Turkana, and when it does rain, it can be unpredictable and intense, leading to floods that wash away the seeds. Rebecca and Lotiang participated in a Catholic Relief Services program that installed a water well in their village and trained them in new farming techniques. With the well and solar-powered pump, they irrigate their fields regularly and take care of their goats.
Lotiang learned to grow kale, which provides nutrition for his family and community because their crops can be sold for a good price at the market. Rebecca is grateful that her children can eat healthy food every day. She is also happy that she can send them to school using money from the produce Lotiang sells at the market.
Rebecca and Lotiang have become leaders in their community teaching others what they learned. “I learned much in CRS’ program,” Rebecca says. “It is a program that has changed my life. I am trying to show my community what I am able to do so that they can emulate it for a better future. Through that I will change my community.”
For more inspiring Rice Bowl Stories of Hope please visit crsricebowl.org.
