What memories do you have of your old oratory?
I am in Spain and the temperature in Madrid reaches 40 degrees. I could say that the mission days in La Guajira - northwest Venezuela - have prepared me for this stifling heat. I have asked myself many times: "How many snacks do we serve in the oratory? In the missions, how much did we do without knowing?" The oratory has surely prepared us to emigrate.
How are you living this new life?
I am open to learning about other cultures, to giving value to austerity, to the smallest items, as if in on a mission; it is not easy, however, but it is familiar; only we do not distribute the programming for Holy Week; instead, we send out our CVs to look for a job. Thanks to the Lord for what I have learned in the oratory. We are experiencing the emigrant Don Bosco who starts from I Becchi to realize his dreams and learn to be "bricklayer, carpenter, cobbler, blacksmith."
Do you feel something unites you with the Salesians?
In each city we go and contact a member of the SYM, we are sure we have a friend there. We have discovered via our own experience that where there's a Church, there is no place in the world for being alone. We sought the closest church and were welcomed, in the midst of diversity, simply because "these people are very bright." Our Salesian Family opens its doors for us, makes us enter and makes us feel part of the family.
What do you take when you go to other places?
A smile is our trench and cheerfulness our methodology, both indispensable, both our cloak and shield, though occasionally we bathe them with tears before the Tabernacle, which has become our magic portal in any place we go, which unites us with our beloved Venezuela. In talking with immigrant oratorians we always end the same way: "It is Mary Help of Christians who has done everything!"
