The Real Thing

By Paola Bergami, Fr. Kolbe Missionary of the Immaculata

Originally published as "It's a Small World" Spes Nostra March/April 1998: 8-9. Print.

I think that missionaries are blessed indeed, not as tourists seeing distant lands (I've lived in three!), but because of the gift of reaching different countries and peoples. It is a gift to build bridges of love between peoples. I love Italy and its people (I'm Italian!); I feel privileged that God gave me the possibility to love the United States and its people in the five years I spent in our Californian mission, and then bringing his love to the People of Argentina. Yes, it is a small world --- or better yet --- it is a world that can fit in our small hearts!

I see, more than ever, that what divides people is external, but what unites them is interior - the "real thing." This doesn't change or pass away, it is the image of God. When we approach another person believing that Jesus Christ is alive in him, our attitudes, words and actions express love and solidarity. 

During my first mission in Argentina, in the countryside of Buenos Aires (Polvaredas), I experienced this truth. 

Polvaredas is a very small town, where the priest can go to celebrate Mass only two or three times a month. The street are just dirt roads. When it rains they become creeks of mud, and when it doesn't rain even a cat crossing the road raises a cloud of dust. It is a very simple and peaceful place. 

We were touched by the warm welcome of the people. They knew that the missionaries would visit their homes, and were waiting for us with hot water to share a mate together. 

There was, however, one family that was avoiding us. When we knocked everything fell silent. The neighbors told us that it was useless to try, because they never socialized or talked to anyone. We thought that the only we could do for the family was to pray. So, we did. 

On the last day of the mission we tried one more time, and they let us in! They opened the door of their home and their hearts. There were so many problems, and a great load of suffering. A few years prior their 13 year old son committed suicide. Since then the mom had been severely depressed and never left the house. We listened, read the Word of God, and tried to encourage them in little ways. Before leaving, the lady asked her husband to present us with a cut rose from her yard. She said, "Thank you so much; I see that you care about me." I was speechless, and felt more powerless than before - overwhelmed by God's presence. He really was reaching out to his children through us, the smallest. 

During the mission we had often reminded one another that "your faith grows when you share it, your joy increases when you give it away..." I did experience that "your heart enlarges when you embrace the pain of your brothers and sisters." So now I repeat to myself: make room for everybody in your heart, you can love more than you think. If you open yourself to Christ's love, he will love in you, and you will find that the world is not so big, and most of all, is full of God's goodness.