One of my first small cultural shocks, when I went to live and work in California, happened in one of my first Baptisms. I baptized a beautiful little girl with the name of Victoria. I spent the Mass and the entire ceremony calling her Victoria. When I dropped the sacred waters of her Baptism on her head I knew that I had said: «Victoria, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit». I thought, and everybody was saying, that it had been a beautiful and meaningful celebration. However, as soon as the ceremony was over I heard all the people talking to the baby and calling her Vicky. « Hi, Vicky!»…«You are so beautiful Vicky!»… «You are an angel Vicky!» That’s when I got into some kind of panic. «Oh my God. I baptized the wrong Baby». Then it was when I realized that Vicky was a nickname for Victoria.
That’s when I started discovering that, in other countries, it was OK and cute to use nicknames even with adult people. That’s when I learned that Bill is William, Manny is Manuel, Jack is John, Tony is António, and so on. That’s when I learned that it’s part of the Anglo culture to shorten people’s names. That’s when I started understanding people when they would ask me: «Fr.Bernardino, can I call you Bernie»? And my answer was: «Of course you can, but it is not my name». «Fr. Bernardino, can I call you Dino»? «Yes, of course, but it is not my name»
You see, when I was a child, changing the name was one of the ways that people, especially children, had to insult one another, and very often that would cause physical fights. But finally I discovered that changing the name was neither right nor wrong. It was cultural. And cultures can only be understood by our hearts. Cultures are a sacred ground.
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Later in my life, just to make things easier and faster, I started signing my emails and my letters to my family just like this: « Tio B. »…That means « Uncle B. » short for « Uncle Bernardino ». My two nieces, living in different countries, (Ana in the USA and Noraima in Aruba), without talking with one another, decided to see in this «B.» a short for «bee», the simple name of a simple insect. What they never knew was that, one day, in a workshop conducted by a priest from Brazil, he asked all present to introduce themselves and say the name of an animal that would most identify us. And guess what. I chose the simple insect bee. And the three of us, without talking with one another, saw the same meaning of the insect bee.
It was like an inspiration to program my life and I wish this would become a way of life. The program for my life and for the life of each one of us, would be that when I contacted people it would be like the bees contacting the flowers of the fruit trees. The bees contact the flowers, gently touch them, are nourished by them, take the best of each one of them without hurting them, and then visit other flowers, sharing with them the best of each one of them. And from that hard work, they become powerful sources of life.
From that work, the trees produce beautiful, healthy and nourishing fruits. According to my nieces, that should be part of my job description: to touch people, and try to find and take the best of their stories and share with other people to inspire them and give them meaning for their lives; helping them to live their lives in full. This could mean bringing people together to help each other, healing their wounds, alleviating their suffering. This could be called «building common-union». This could be called «building Communion». This could be called «living a permanent Sacrament of the Eucharist». This could be called «Celebrating Mass, 24 hours a day».
Love and Peace, Fr. Bernardino Andrade