"Escuchame Vecino"

by: friar Alejandro Arias, OFM Conv.

“Escuchame vecino!” “Listen to me, neighbor!” were the words of supplication that I heard in the Transmilenio on our way to Guacamaya, a poor town in the south of Bogota. “Escuchame vecino” this person keeps repeating with supplication and sadness. “Escuchame vecino” he repeated one more time begging for food and not for money. I will give my “chala” and kneel just for food. This words pierced my heart with sadness.

My sadness came from seeing the poverty of this Venezuelan family poverty that attack them with violence a poverty that perhaps this family will never thought of experiencing.  “Vecino, escucheme” I heard one last time and this is when my heart melted with a deep sadness. I didn't have money to give this family the only thing I had was my lunch bag. I decided to give them my lunch bag and when the lady received the lunch bag she was grateful and in her eyes I can see her sadness but also her gratitude. 

But the most important thing that happened in this encounter was not me giving my lunch bag to the lady or feeling a deep sadness. The most important thing was the way one of our brothers, Friar Jaime showed compassion to this family like Christ show compassion to the poor.  Friar Jaime  stood up and instead of giving the family money or food he gave them a blessing. This was a beautiful image because it reminds us friars that is not only about giving money or food to the poor but to give them hope and faith through our prayers. This action perhaps was more meaningful for them than the food I gave them.

As followers of Christ we need to take care of our poor. We need to look at the poor like Christ looks at us with compassion and love. We need to be among the people and not above the people. We need to get out of our friaries, our parish and be out there.  We need to be in “the present situation, then, demands from bishops, priests, religious and laymen the spirit of poverty which, “breaking the bonds of the egotistical possession of temporal goods, stimulates the Christian to order organically the power and the finances in favor of the common good.” By doing the following, we can call ourselves Christian followers of the Gospel that preach peace and justice to all people either poor in their spiritual life or material poverty. 

Christ is among us and live in those people like the family that I encounter on the Transmilenio. Christ has many faces and one of the faces that I encountered was the face of a poor, displaced Venezuelan family that was begging for food and calling us “vecino” neighbored. 

Let us become neighbors to one another that falls in love with the crucified Christ.