Author: ANTONINO

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade: (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

In a mother’s womb were two babies; one asked the other: «Do you believe in life after delivery? ». The other replied «Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later. » …
« Nonsense », said the first, « There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be? ».
The second said «I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouth. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now».
The first replied – «That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded. ».
The second insisted – «Well I think there is something, and maybe it’s different from life here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore. ».
The first replied: « Nonsense. And moreover, if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes nowhere. ».
«Well, I don’t know, » said the second, «but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us. ».
The first replied «Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now? ».
The second said: «She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist. ».
«Well I don’t see her, so it is only logical that she doesn’t exist», said the first, to which the second replied: «Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above. ».
Sometimes we are like the two babies in the story, and we ask: “Is there life after death?”… “Does God exist?”
I have heard that even though birds are surrounded by air, they don’t see the air. Fish are surrounded by water, but the last thing they see is the water. We are so immersed in God. We are completely soaked in God like a sponge with water. We are completely surrounded by God like babies by their mother’s wombs, like birds by air and fish by water but we are so distracted by the «life» and the «needs» created by us that we take the risk of even saying and feeling that God doesn’t exist unless like the second baby says «Sometimes, when you are in silence and focus and listen we can hear HIS loving voice, calling down from above».

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

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.

2.

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

Being born poor, very early in life I felt the call to dedicate my life to the poor and the call to alleviate the suffering of the world. Very early in life I fell in love with Jesus and His project. I felt inspired by the «Mission Statement» of Jesus that is: «The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour». Luke 4: 18.

I finished my Seminary course on 1963. I was surprised, confused and hurt because my two colleagues had been invited to be ordained and I was not. My superiors were just ignoring me, my confusion and my pain. Nobody was talking with me about this strange situation. Until one day, on July 23rd, 1963, my superior called me and said: «You have to put away your priestly career because you are disorganized in doing charity to the poor». Just that. No suggestions and nothing in concrete. Not even an example of my disorganization in helping the poor. Actually he was right. After 53 years of serving the poor I still haven’t learnt how to be organized in my service to the poor. They are my Masters and every day they teach me new things.

I was 25 years old. It seemed that the world had ended for me. It’s because when I entered the Seminary my purpose was not to study my vocation. My only purpose was to be a priest. I felt lost. But I never forgot what my aunt Matilde told me after us crying together. «Don’t worry Bernardino. When men close a door, God opens a gate». It was true. God opened for me a very large gate.

Quitting is not part of my vocabulary. I asked a Bishop in Africa if he could take the risk of accepting me. After waiting for some time he said yes. On March 1st, 1964, I said good-bye to my family and I became a Missionary. Being a Missionary in Africa had always been one of my dreams when I was a young seminarian. Everything started working together. After spending five months in a very poor Mission, the Bishop called me to the city to teach religion in the secondary school and to be in charge of the youth ministry. It was a fascinating experience. Many youth retreats and the creation of the Juvenile Centre mobilized all the youth of the city, Catholics, Protestants, Hindus and Muslims working together and praying together and together helping the poor. Following my Master, the poor have been always the centre of my ministry.

Then a big jump. From one of the poorest countries of the world to one of the wealthiest countries of the world. In 1973 I left Mozambique for a period of vacation in Portugal. Then I visited the USA with a round trip ticket of two weeks. Things changed. Instead of two weeks, I spent 32 years. My Parish was always a point of reference to the poor. Even undocumented immigrants, arriving from Central America, knew about our Parish. They knew that in California there was a Parish that would welcome them. Many of them slept in my garage, in the class rooms, and in the rooms of my residence. They wore my clothes, ate my food in my dining room and took their showers in my bathrooms. It was a fascinating life. It was in my St. Anthony’s Church in California that we started the project “People Helping People”.

In 2006 I came back to Madeira where I was assigned to be the Pastor of a country Parish. After two years I became the chaplain of the Hospital. In 2010 we started in Madeira the project “People Helping People” whose main goal is to mobilize many people to help many people. (Especially those families and people who don’t qualify for help from official institutions, and especially to be an open door when all the other doors close).

Now I am 80 years old and I am celebrating my 53rd Anniversary of priesthood. I don’t know if I have been a good priest. But one thing I know: I have been a very happy priest. If I could go back in life and if I could choose, I would choose the roads I have travelled until now.

«Men closed one door but God opened a gate».

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

Part 1

Yes! It happened on June 12, 1965. It was 53 years ago this week! In a sports field, in the city of Quelimane, Diocese of Quelimane, Mozambique (Africa), the Bishop D. Francisco Nunes Teixeira, who always maintained with me a father and son relationship, imposed his hands on me and on two other young African men (Vasco and Benjamim), anointed our hands and told us that we were ordained priests forever.

Since then I have embarked on a fascinating and passionate journey. I felt like when God called Abraham, telling him: «Go… to the land I will show you» (Gen. 12:1). No maps, no GPS, no travel checks, no hotel reservations, no Insurance plans. He just said «Go». And Abraham went.

He just said «Go». And I went without knowing the roads and not knowing where I was going to. Abraham just knew one thing: Abraham knew Whom he was walking with. I knew just one thing: I knew Whom I was walking with. I was walking with God, Who is my Father and my Mother and my Abba, and Who was guiding me and had a special plan for me.

The youngest of eleven children, I was born in Madeira Island, in Ponta do Sol, on November 29th, 1937. I came from a place where very few children attended school. Most of the adults were illiterate, including my parents and my oldest brothers. It was a poor farming community. Most of the children had no shoes to go to school or to walk around. But we didn’t know that we were poor because all of us had the same way of life. Some rules and traditions like family meals, daily Rosary and Sunday Mass were not negotiable. The children had no toys but we knew games and how to play together.

The only Christmas gift I had in my childhood was an orange. I don’t remember where it came from. Also I don’t remember if I ate that orange. It looked so yellow, so beautiful, so attractive that I spent my Christmas day showing it to my friends who were surprised to see such a beautiful Christmas Gift. I never had a dream of continuing my studies after my four years of primary school. I didn’t even know why I had to go to school when I «knew» that I would have no choice in my life but digging the land, watering the plants and everything my parents and my brothers and sisters were doing.

Then all of sudden something happened. One day, without any plans, I was in my kitchen in the company of my mother and my sister, Agostinha. I don’t remember what I was doing. I was 12 years old and had finished my four years of my primary school and I was very happy that I didn’t have to go to school again.

My philosophy was that I didn’t need studies to milk a cow (my father had just one cow to milk, and one cow to work), to plant potatoes, beans, corn, sugar cane and so on. But that day my sister asked me a very unexpected question.

She just asked: – «Bernardino, wouldn’t you like to be a priest»? Without thinking, my answer was «Yes». I don’t know why she asked me that strange question and I still don’t know why I gave her that quick and strange answer. I was just 12 years old.

[One day, in America, a news reporter asked me: «But when you were 12 years old, what did you understand about priesthood? » My answer was: «Now I am almost 70 years old and I still do not understand. Priesthood is a mystery that is being revealed to me daily, through prayer, through my ministry to the world and especially to my service to the poorest of the poor. »]

My mother started inquiring about the requirements to enter the Seminary and on October 15, 1950 my father and my mother took me to the Seminary of Funchal. It was an agonizing transition. I was just a child and Ponta do Sol, because of lack of communications, was so far away from Funchal.

——- (to be continued in next week’s issue)

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

Dominic Tang, the courageous Chinese archbishop, was imprisoned for twenty-one years for nothing more than his loyalty to Christ and Christ’s one, true Church. After five years of solitary confinement in a windowless, damp cell, the Archbishop was told by his jailers that he could leave it for a few hours to do whatever he wanted. Five years of solitary confinement and he had a couple of hours to do what he wanted! What would it be? A hot shower? A change of clothes? Certainly, a long walk outside? A chance to call or write to family?
What would it be, the jailer asked him.
“I would like to say Mass,” replied Archbishop Tang.

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A CLANDESTINE MASS

The Vietnamese Jesuit, Joseph Nguyen-Cong Doan, who spent nine years in labour camps in Vietnam, relates how he was finally able to say Mass when a fellow priest-prisoner shared some of his own smuggled supplies. “That night, when the other prisoners were asleep, lying on the floor of my cell, I celebrated Mass with tears of joy. My altar was my blanket, my prison clothes my vestments. But I felt myself at the heart of humanity and of the whole of creation.” (Ibid., p. 224).

COMMUNION ON THE MOON
The Lord’s Supper ensures that we can remember Jesus from any place.

Apollo 11 landed on the moon on Sunday, July 20, 1969. Most remember astronaut Neil Armstrong’s first words as he stepped onto the moon’s surface: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” But few know about the first meal eaten on the moon.

Dennis Fisher reports that Buzz Aldrin, the NASA Astronaut, had taken aboard the spacecraft a tiny pyx provided by his Catholic pastor. Aldrin sent a radio broadcast to Earth asking listeners to contemplate the events of the day and give thanks. Then, blacking out the broadcast for privacy, Aldrin read, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.”

Then, silently, he gave thanks for their successful journey to the moon and received Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, surrendering moon to Jesus. Next, he descended on the moon and walked on it with Neil Armstrong. (Dan Gulley: “Communion on the Moon”: Our Daily Bread: June/July/August 2007).

His actions remind us that in the Lord’s Supper, God’s children can share the life of Jesus from any place on Earth — and even from the moon. God is everywhere, and our worship should reflect this reality.
In Psalm 139 we are told that wherever we go, God is intimately present with us.

Buzz Aldrin celebrated that experience on the surface of the moon. Thousands of miles from earth, he took time to commune with the One who created, redeemed, and established fellowship with him. (Dennis Fisher)

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade