Author: ANTONINO

by Fr. Bernardino Andrade
(bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

FROM A MELTING POT TO A MOSAIC

When in 1974 I arrived in the USA it was very popular the concept that «America is a melting pot». I used to hear that in songs, in churches, in schools, in restaurants, in the streets and so on. «You come to America you are supposed to talk, to live, to sing, and even to pray like Americans». Many immigrants changed their names in order to be, and to look more like Americans. It was like making a fruit juice. I put in the same juice-maker strawberries together with mangos, plums and whatever kind of fruit I want and I get just one kind of juice. I admit that it is good but I don’t even care to know what it is as long as it is for my benefit. This is the «melting pot» mentality.

A Mosaic with different colours, different kinds of food, different ways of praying and dancing …

I still remember the joy I felt in 1976 when America celebrated 200 years of independence. To celebrate that event the Bishops of the USA wrote a very welcoming letter. And in that letter they tried to change the mentality of a «melting pot» to a «mosaic». America is a «mosaic». It is a mosaic with different colors, different kinds of food, different ways of praying and dancing, different languages and different cultures. We started realizing that differences are not a problem but a blessing. Before leaving my Parish I was saying seven Masses every weekend. It was three in English, three in Spanish and one in Portuguese. My former Diocese of Oakland designed its new logos: «DIOCESE OF OAKLAND: ONE TREE WITH MANY BRANCHES». This has been always my vision: to build unity in diversity.

ONE OF MY PLANS

One of my plans is to contact the office of Tourism and Immigration in Funchal and try to find out how many cultures, languages, races, religions and countries are represented in this considered small Island of Madeira.
Just a few days ago I had the privilege of having a «cup of coffee» with a member of the Muslim Community and two days later another privilege of having a «cup of coffee» with a member of the Gypsy Community. And we are planning more «cups of coffee». How many things we have in common, however how distant we are from one another. When I shared the experience with a friend of mine he said: «I have never seen a Muslim in my entire life».

THE GOOD SHEPHERD IN BICA DA CANA

This coming Saturday, September 12, our Bishop of Funchal is going to the hills of Madeira, to a place called «Bica da Cana» (Paul da Serra) to bless and inaugurate the statue of the Good Shepherd. To all priests who celebrated their 25th or 50th anniversaries of ordination our Bishop used to offer the statue of the Good Shepherd. It was my privilege to offer this same statue to a public place where people could be inspired by one of the most moving stories of the Gospel, usually known by the name of the «Lost Sheep» (Luke 15). The civil authorities will be present. We decided to give to this humble and simple construction the name of «Cantinho do Bom Pastor» that means the «Corner of the Good Shepherd».

In this simple celebration of Mass and Blessing I am trying to involve Protestants, Muslims, Gypsies and Catholics of course. I wish we could get more. ALL ARE INVITED. Precautions to avoid corona virus contamination are going to be taken.

Fr. Bernardino Andrade
September 6th, 2020

“CANTINHO DO BOM PASTOR” – Inauguration on September 12th
by Fr. Bernardino Andrade
(bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

THE GOOD SHEPHERD IN «BICA DA CANA» – One Story In Five Pieces

1. «Bica da Cana» is a place located in the largest plateau of Madeira Island called Paúl da Serra. During my childhood, Paúl da Serra was always associated with hard work and suffering and sometimes even with tragic deaths. It had almost all the characteristics of a desert even if part of the year it was green with a special kind of fern called «feiteira». Especially during the month of August, the farmers used to spend days, nights and weeks in Paul da Serra, cutting «feiteira», letting it dry and, carrying it home pulled by cows. Usually these small farmers ate very frugally and the access to the water was very limited. It happened to me, to my father, my brothers and my neighbours. This was the farmer’s kind of life during Summer time.

2. Some people used to cross Paul da Serra by foot to go to the northern part of the island (Porto Moniz) to buy potatoes, carrying them on their backs. Sometimes it was foggy and they would get lost and some tragic deaths happened in Paul da Serra.

3. Around 1955, when I was still a seminarian, I decided to add some fun to that wonderful part of the island that had been a symbol of suffering and work only. I invited a group of five people (including me) and we made our first trip to Bica da Cana. Since then, once a year, the «Trip to Bica da Cana» became more and more popular and «mandatory». When I used to come for my Summer holidays, the way many people greeted me was with this question: «When is our trip to Bica da Cana?». Each year the crowds kept growing. After my Priestly Ordination in Africa I came to Madeira to say my first Mass. One of them was in Bica da Cana. Attending that Mass there were lots of people seated and standing on the hills. Besides these popular trips, when I was a student, together with other students we used to walk through Paul da Serra carrying our tents and camping for days and weeks.

4. Many years passed. When I celebrated the 50th anniversary of my ordination, the Most Reverend Bishop of Funchal, António Carrilho, offered me and other priests who were celebrating their jubilees, the statue of the Good shepherd. I kept that statue in my living room for some time. But I realized that the statue of the Good Shepherd is too symbolic to be confined to a private house. It is hard to believe that in Madeira there are thousands of statues of Saints, of Mary, and saints in churches and in private homes and I have never seen a statue of the Good Shepherd. I consider the story of the Good Shepherd narrated by Luke, chapter 15, the heart of the message of Jesus. It is a story of a Shepherd who had 100 sheep. When night was falling he counted all of them and one was missing. He was very sad with the absence of that one. This shepherd left ninety-nine sheep in the sheepfold and went looking for the lost one. When he found it, I am sure it was bleeding and trembling with cold and smelling like feces and urine. But he was so happy that he found it. He put it on His shoulders and came home.

5. BLESSING AND INAUGURATION:
On Saturday, September 12, at 11:00 AM.
The Bishop of Funchal, D. Nuno Brás, will go to Bica da Cana, along with the civil authorities to bless and inaugurate the «CANTINHO DO BOM PASTOR». ALL ARE INVITED.

A friend of mine, who ended his Marriage some time ago, told me that «Divorce is a passport to poverty».

Ginny (not her true name) is divorced. I have known her for many years but I don’t know a lot about her life. However I know that she is divorced, jobless, has three children, and is very poor… on the border line of misery. Ginny has survived for many years under the care of “People Helping People”. In spite of her university studies she has failed in every job she has tried.

Her son has suffered from asthma since childhood; then drugs have been part of his young life. Finally he quit drugs and is taking medicine to help him in the recovery process. But another bad thing happened that is not common. At twenty one years old, he recently, had a heart attack.

The main point of the story is that Ginny is very poor and every day is a new day full of fear and surprises. A few weeks ago she got a bag of food from the Association People Helping People. One of her neighbours approached her asking if she had anything that she could share because her family had nothing to eat. A little while later, another neighbour did the same. Even knowing that Ginny was poor, she came to her with the same request: she had nothing for dinner and asked if she could help her with something.
Ginny did something that made me think. In the bag that she had received from People Helping People she found a big potato. Ginny took the potato, and cut it into three pieces. She kept one piece for her family and shared the other two pieces with her neighbours.

With something that they could still find, three families had dinner: with one potato, and lots of love transformed into service.

«Small things done by small people in small places change the world». (Mother Teresa).

Fr. Bernardino Andrade August 23, 2020

Roger and Tony were two brothers. They grew up together and since childhood they have always enjoyed a wonderful relationship: played together, shared their toys with one another, and helped one another with the household chores. Their parents were really proud of those two sons. When they finished school they found their jobs and moved to different cities. Finally they got married and built their own families. However, they never lost contact with one another, but they missed the physical presence of one another in their ordinary life.

One day Roger’s neighbour put his house for sale. He immediately called his brother Tony and gave him what he thought would be good news for their families. Tony consulted with his wife, both analyzed the risk of changing jobs and schools and it didn’t take too long before making a decision. Yes! The decision was made. Tony decided to put his house for sale and to be the next door neighbour of his brother. Everything was going very well. Both shared the same front yard and took care of each other’s lawn and garden. The two joined front yards became a common field for their children to play together. Things were going very well and both families felt very happy about being next door neighbours.

But one day something happened. It was something very small. Situations like this always start with small things. I learned a long time ago that the difference between a good and a bad relationship is the level of communication. These small things happen, are ignored, but the feelings stay there. With this «small thing» their relationship was not the same anymore. They started being cold to one another. Their children were advised not to play with their cousins and to watch more TV instead. This was before cell phones. Finally they stopped talking with each other and as it is obvious it affected the entire family.

One day, Tony, (the youngest) decided to do something very ugly. He hired a caterpillar excavator machine and opened a trench between the two houses. What had been a beautiful garden and a playfield for cousins was transformed into an ugly trench. Revenge was growing along with pain for both families. One day Roger was at home when somebody rang the bell of his house. When he opened the door a man introduced himself saying: «Sorry for bothering you. I am a carpenter and I do small jobs. I am wandering if you have something I can do for you. People say that I am a good carpenter and I don’t charge too much. And this is my way of making a living». Roger thought for a while and then had a devilish smile. «Yes. I have a job for you». And then he told the story of his relationship with his brother and how it ended in a trench. «Come and I will show you something. Do you see that wood? I would like you to come tomorrow morning and build a fence high enough. I don’t want to see that man anymore and I don’t want him and his family to see me and my family anymore».

The following morning, Roger went to work and left everything ready for the carpenter to build the fence. Roger spent the day «enjoying» the feeling of revenge. But when he got home he was shocked by a stunning surprise. Instead of a fence he found a beautiful and artistic bridge uniting the two sides of the trench. The children were already playing and crossing the bridge. Tony was already on his side waiting for him and ran to him with a big hug, apologizing for what he had done. «I am sorry Roger. After opening that stupid trench, you have built a bridge». The two families reunited again, ordered pizza, beer and Coca-Cola for dinner, and Roger, after talking with his wife, approached the carpenter and invited him to stay overnight. But the carpenter answered: «Unfortunately I have to leave because I still have many bridges to build».