A Catholic Man

The Shrine to Our Lady of Charity in Miami, next to Mercy Hospital, is a must-visit for local Cubans and for those that love Our Lady.  It was built by the late Auxiliary Bishop Agustin Roman from 1967 to 1973. At a time when the vast majority of local Cubans were recently exiled, and with little financial means. Bishop Roman was able to raise the needed funds, sometimes pennies, nickels, and dimes at a time.  It is a beautiful memorial to Cuba’s Patroness and one of great solace for local devotees.

Imagine the emotion felt when I was told my wife and I were to be part of an Emmaus team for a retreat being held in Santiago, Cuba, where the original Basilica of Our Lady of Charity is located!  A group of 10 Emmaus brothers and sisters from Miami, after having served in the second Emmaus retreat in Havana, boarded a bus for the 15-hour adventure from Havana to El Cobre. The distance is only 760 kilometers or approximately 470 miles.  Anywhere else in the modern world that is a 6-7 hour trip.

A fairly modern Greyhound type bus, made in China,  picked up our group and we had it to ourselves. At first, it was a very comfortable ride until we left the outskirts of Havana and the main road running from West to East became unpaved. The bus tour guide blamed the government before the revolution for misusing the funds as to why the road was not completed.  Excuse me but that was over 60 years ago! It still is not completed!

The views of the Cuban countryside were spectacular, the valleys and mountains with the lush green foliage and palm trees, seemed like a three-dimensional painting. The poor quality of the road continuously brought us back to reality. Potholes were huge and numerous. While the modern bus traveled at over 60 miles per hour, horse-drawn wagons would pop up in its way. Not a good combination!  At times it seemed like a video game where the aim was for the bus driver to miss as many wagons as possible without running them over! Same for the potholes! It was very stressful and dangerous for all involved.  At one point I made the mistake of going to the front of the bus were the cooler was with water bottles. A horse jumped in front of the bus causing the driver to slam the brakes and throw me against the driver’s window. From there I toppled over into the stairwell and was not thrown from the bus because my Guardian Angel was there to save me! Geez and the driver continued as if nothing while cursing the horse and me!

One of our fellow travelers had asked to stop at the outskirts of Camaguey, about halfway to Santiago, to visit a dying uncle in a hospital. He asked me to accompany him to give the patient a blessing. Wow. There are no words to explain, but I will try.  Horror, filth, darkness, inhospitable, unhygienic, disgusting, embarrassing and ultimately very, very sad. The “hospital” was like nothing I had ever seen. Full of insects, no lights, dirty, no bedsheets, patients in beds outdoors and in hallways, no privacy and no soap or hot water. Nurses with unsterilized equipment. Doctors without scrubs or masks. The person we visited was in an unairconditioned room, in a bed with no linens or pillow and full of flies. And that was before the coronavirus crisis! Third world slums have better facilities than this.

Oh but wait, the healthcare is free!

As we pulled away to continue our odyssey, we were dismayed and saddened by the day-to-day burdens the Cuban people suffer. We were quickly refocused when we started again to see how close you can get to pedestrians, horses, and wagons without killing them!  Soon the sun began to set and you know what means…. Darkness, going at 60 miles per hour, with no street lights and people, wagons, and horses still on the streets!  But this time we were entering the mountainous areas.

By then we were on our 9th or 10th rosary, praying to survive this trip. Going up a dark mountain at those speeds with potholes was unnerving, to say the least. But then it all became worth it, because out of the darkness and fog of the mountains the most beautiful sight you will ever see, the Basilica was lit up and standing alone on top of the mountain. What a surreal and majestic site!

Since 1687, Cubans have had a special devotion to Our Lady of Charity. In 1916, Pope Benedict the XV declared her the Patroness of Cuba.  She is displayed in the Basilica, behind the altar, two floors up. There is a private chapel on the second floor behind her statue. Once in the chapel, she is turned around and those in the chapel can see her directly and right in front of you! It was one of the most special moments in my life. The pictures here are from that moment.

The Pastor of the parish is our Emmaus coordinator in Cuba. It is such a privilege and blessing to have him involved with our evangelization efforts on the island.  Because of the coronavirus, we may not be back in Cuba until later in the year. In the meantime, we pray for those brothers and sisters enduring greater hardship than us, with a disastrous healthcare system and lack of the most basic food items.  Jesus, we trust in you!

At first, the juxtaposition of one of the most beautiful ocean causeways in the world (El Malecon) surrounded by crumbled buildings, is too much to take in. It is heartbreaking and awe-inspiring to see the past and present of the City of Havana before your very eyes. Havana is a city of mixed emotions; no middle ground here. It is at once a feast for the eyes and a punch in the gut. You cry remembering its past, cry seeing its present and cry imagining its future.

In Miami, we are experiencing the “horror” of a lack of availability of toilet paper. In Havana it is non-existent. Paper goods, in general, are an expensive and rare commodity. As is food. Each day starts with a quest to put food on the table, a quest that may take all day. The vast majority of folks in my age group, 50-65 years old are walking zombies.  They have woken up to a terrible but real nightmare where they realize all they were told for a lifetime is a lie. Many have little purpose in life except to survive another day.

Enter the Emmaus experience, brought by the “enemy”, Cubans from Miami.

My wife and I were blessed to have led the first joint men and women Emmaus retreat in Havana. We were joined by an incredible group of Emmaus brothers and sisters from Miami. Many of whom had not returned to their homeland for 50 or more years. We were hosted at the archdiocese retreat house in Havana capable of serving 100 or so guests.  The men and women were separated by floors allowing us to hold both retreats simultaneously.  The first evening was one of reluctance by our island counterparts since in their own words: what are these Miami Cubans going to teach us?

There was one couple having spent a lifetime as leaders of the Santeria cult, very prevalent in Cuba. They were part of a family considered higher-ups in the Santeria leadership. Santeria uses fear and scare tactics to keep their followers involved. For a country that has little, those in this cult somehow find the money to pay for “spiritual” protection and so-called “solutions” to whatever problems they may have. It is virtually impossible, the higher up you are, to leave voluntarily.  But leave they did! When this couple arrived Friday evening they did not even know what the sign of the cross was and knew not one Catholic prayer.  After experiencing the Risen Christ, through the Emmaus experience of personal testimonies and the power of the Holy Spirit, this couple was totally transformed in the Spirit.

Their testimony of conversion is so powerful it convinced me to write my doctoral dissertation (still in its early stage) on the Emmaus experience in Cuba. The Monday after the retreat this couple destroyed all the African Santeria saints they had at home and gave up its meager but for them significant, income.  Because of their leaving the cult they were thrown out of a home they shared with their family and now live in a homeless shelter; which by the way pales in comparison with the luxurious shelters in Miami.

This couple now takes a bus one hour each way to get to their Catholic church to serve and take CCD classes and take a two-hour bus trip each way to attend the weekly Emmaus team meetings. They will soon experience the Catholic sacraments for the first time!

Their example of conversion is just one of many in Cuba. As humble servants in this process, we are taken aback by the love and humility these new brothers and sisters in Christ show us. It is now routine for my wife and me to receive WhatsApp calls from many of them, the only way they can communicate with us. It is heartwarming and inspirational each and every time we speak to them!

In my next post, I will share our experience of the second Emmaus retreat in Havana and our wild and crazy 15-hour bus trip to Santiago to the Basilica of Our Lady of Charity, where we held another Emmaus retreat.

This past weekend we were supposed to attend our 3rd Havana Emmaus retreat but it was canceled because of the Coronavirus. We had approximately 50 men and 50 men, the vast majority young adults, ready to go. We are not sure when we will be able to go back but in the meantime, we are bolstered in our faith knowing we have a brotherhood and sisterhood now rejoicing in the Lord because of their Emmaus experience!

Below are the team pictures of our first Emmaus retreat in Havana. We are beyond blessed for this experience!  Jesus Christ has Risen!

This is the ending refrain of the Canticle of Zechariah, part of morning prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours,  prayed every day by priests, deacons, religious and many lay faithful.                  No further commentary is needed…..

“In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those that dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Amen.

Frustration, fear, faithlessness.  Sound familiar? These 3 “F” words are filling up our days.  Social distancing, isolation, quarantining. The challenges we face today bring frustration, fear, and faithlessness.  Our first reading today from Exodus, chapter 32, verses 7-14, displays each and every one of these three emotions.  Moses went up the mountain to see God for what seemed an eternity. Once he came back with the 10 commandments the Jews had already melted down their gold jewelry and created a golden calf to worship. It did not matter that God, through Moses, had saved the Jews from slavery. It did not matter God had given them manna from heaven to eat or water at Meribah and Massah. It did not matter God had told them Moses was leading them to the promised land. Once the Jews felt frustration, fear, and faithlessness, they forgot all about God. And all they did was complain and replace the Lord with false gods.

The same three “F” words can be seen in our Gospel reading today from the book of John, chapter 5, verses 31-47. The Jews were once again showing frustration, fear, and faithlessness. This time it was Jesus Christ our Lord that was astounded at their unbelief after all He had done. Jesus himself becomes frustrated at their lack of faith in Him. The Jews did not accept Him and complained about all He tried to do.  Our Lord refers back to Moses and tells the Jews if you did not believe Moses how could you believe me!

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we do not want to fall into the pattern of the 3 “F” words engulfing the Jews. Because Jesus brings us another 3 “F” words.  Faith, Fearlessness, and Forgiveness! You see we have a major advantage over the Jews, we have met the Resurrected Christ! We know this journey of reflection and sacrifice during Lent ends in the most important weekend of mankind, Resurrection Sunday!

Our Lord does so much for us. He won for us salvation; he shows us the way to eternity. He brings us the Good News and shows us that even in difficult times we are to show Faith, Fearlessness, and Forgiveness!

My brothers and sisters in Christ, as we journey through this very unusual and difficult Lenten period, let us remember we know who wins at the end. Let us always remember to live with faith in Him, to not be fearful because we know in the end He wins and along the way, to forgive others as our Lord has forgiven us. Let us remember all the blessings He has given us.

As we become more and more isolated, let us not become more and more uncommunicative. Reach out to those that may be living in fear. Share with them the Good News.  Let us be worthy through our actions of the promises of Christ!  Amen.

Deacon Jorge