Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade
(bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)
I went to Brazil for the first time in 1983 when I was working full time with the Portuguese Community of the Diocese of Oakland in California.
Fr. José Marins, a great Pastoralist and Theologian, who had been an expert during all four sessions of the Council Vatican II had told us in California that Latin America was the laboratory of the Church of the future. I was anxious to learn about the Church of the future. Before leaving to Brazil I asked permission to stay there for three months exploring the «laboratory» of the Church of the future.
I visited Parishes, talked with priests, with people, Bishops, visited shanty towns (favelas) and especially talked with the poorest of the poor that I could find around me. At a walking distance from the place where I was staying (my sister’s house), there was this super-miserable and filthy shanty town, one of the famous «favelas» of Brazil. No running water, no electricity; the walls of the «houses» were made of cardboard and pieces of plastic. Right on the corner of that «favela» there was a room under construction by the Parish, where people could have meetings. It was in that room with little mountains of sand and wood that I was asked to talk about God. It was in that room under construction that a little five-year-old girl, Sandra, changed my spirituality when she taught me that God is our Mother.
There was a Bible group made up of women who used to meet on Wednesdays to share the word of God. I don’t think that any of them had studied beyond their primary school; not even my sister, Matilde, who was the leader of the group. I found interesting that usually a reading was given and there was always one of them who would say: «Can you please read it again»? Sometimes the same text of the Bible was read two or three times. Then they would start sharing. Not an intellectual discussion but a simple sharing from their heart. «What word or sentence or verse touched me most?».
They were aware that the Word of God is the «salt of the earth and light of the world» (Math. 5; 13, 14). That’s why the biggest challenge was «What does this Word have to do with the reality where we live». I had no idea that in that small room, under construction, a group of almost illiterate «subversive» women were building something more powerful than the atomic bomb.
One day I saw a group of women walking in the direction of the city hall. Again, Matilde was leading them. They had posters in their hands upon which were written their requests to the President of the city. They were asking for three things only: Water, Electricity, and Safety without violence. This last one was referring to police assistance in that surrounding area to avoid crime. But they added «non-violence». The reason was that in general, to avoid violence, it was normal for the police to use violence. Sometimes they would kill in order to prevent killing.
These same women would visit the street markets and would ask for vegetables that were not good for sale, like potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and green leaves that had been damaged. They would bring those products with them and cook big pots of soup, especially for the children. Those big pots of soup were able to transform every day into Christmas day.
This was one of the many things that I saw in Brazil before returning to California.
Years later, I visited Brazil again. It was very hard to believe my eyes. That filthy, dark and violent shanty town was completely transformed. In the place of the shanty town there was what looked like a little city with beautiful and attractive houses, a school and a church where I said Mass and baptized babies.
The Bible in the hands of a small group of «crazy» Christians is more powerful than an atomic bomb. Love is more powerful than indifference.
Love and Peace
Fr. Bernardino Andrade