Testimony

My exposure to the social apostolate of the Society of Jesus began in high school. Through immersion trips to Honduras and El Salvador, I encountered some of the poorest and most vulnerable people. Along with the incredible witness of women and men who have stood with those on the margins. However, June 28, 2009, was a memorable day. I had recently returned from Honduras with deeper convictions, profoundly affected by the people’s cries for the end of violence and marginalization in their country. I was consoled by their resilient commitment to struggle onward, often against those determined to further their oppression. That day, however, marked the U.S. and Canadian-sponsored coup. A coup that ousted the democratically elected president, sending Honduras into over ten years of political, social and economic instability. A decade’s worth of corruption, impunity and state-sponsored violence. And a decade of collective mobilizing among grassroots organizations nonviolently resisting the destructive forces at play.

In the years that followed, my journey in the social apostolate was kindled and rekindled through deep, personal transformation. Exposure to the structural causes of many global issues was intertwined with my work, study, and accompaniment in Central America for significant parts of my undergraduate years at Georgetown University. Prior to entering the Jesuits, I worked in the Office of Justice and Ecology for the Jesuit Conference in Washington, D.C., focusing primarily on Honduras, which led to forming a relationship with Radio Progreso and the Reflection, Research and Communication Team (ERIC), especially with their director, Fr. Ismael Moreno, SJ, known as Padre Melo, who has become a dear friend and mentor. Over the years, I have accompanied Padre Melo and his team, collaborating in various advocacy efforts. During my philosophy studies in Peru, I worked with Servicios Educativos El Agustino, a Jesuit social center, in a marginalized periphery of Lima, supporting local youth organizations in their efforts to strengthen their participation in the district. And prior to starting my theology studies at Centre Sèvres in Paris, France, I worked for nearly three years with JRS in Maban, South Sudan, accompanying Sudanese refugees in the largest refugee camp in the area.

Through these experiences, I have witnessed amazing humanizing efforts in the social apostolate: empowering women in a society where they are excluded, violated or killed; denouncing the destructive political-military-business establishment and their friendly Northern backers who seek their interests at all costs; and announcing the Gospel values of justice, solidarity, hospitality and love amid a broken and searching world. These edifying undertakings demonstrate how the Spirit continues to urge and invite us into a more authentic commitment.

Our choiceto remain, permanecer, with the excluded is deeply incarnational. Jesus did not pilot out of the poignant realities; he landed the plane and remained grounded. He chose to stay with us, in the thick of the struggle, in the depths of our pursuits for a more just world. Jesus invites us – in our diverse works and settings – to “go and do likewise,” to explicitly stand with the forsaken, oppressed and outcast. And to commit ourselves to their struggles. People honoring that commitment, struggling to fulfill it, giving themselves for the victims of the world and their causes, are clear signs of God’s presence and support in our efforts. And these personal and collective commitments give me hope. That we will journey onward with countless people who give it all, who surrender generously their comforts, working toward a society where the virtues of justice and solidarity reign.

Desolation, however, can creep in subtly or enter like rushing floods. Injustices and indifference permeate social and political structures. Hardened human hearts can overwhelm the desired outcomes of our actions. The task at hand can seem insurmountable. And God can appear absent in the equation. Then I am tempted to do it alone. To bear the burdens of those I am journeying with and to attempt to alleviate their suffering on my own. It can lead to a feeling of loneliness and insufficiency, defeat and despair.

Shortly after arriving to South Sudan, Fr. Victor-Luke Odhiambo was murdered in a different Jesuit community in the world’s youngest nation. In my bedroom, I had a “go bag” ready to be taken at a moment’s notice if danger became imminent or we need to be evacuated. Some of my dearest friends at Radio Progreso and ERIC live amid delegitimization, criminalization, and even death threats. The high levels of violence and insecurity are not only alarming, they are also desolating. They run contrary to the liberation that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel, crippling human flourishing and ripping apart our bonds of solidarity that we share with one another.

I am often asked how I am able to maintain a positive, passionate attitude in this mission of faith and justice. While the well of hope is deep, there are three elements that sustain me in our partnership with God and fill me with gratitude. First, being with the poor and oppressed. Permaneciendo with the Sudanese refugees, accompanying Central American migrants, struggling with urban Peruvian youth. There is a deep grace of permaneciendo, of making our home in Jesus, in the people he has entrusted to us and those we have been entrusted to.

Second, my liberation is tied to yours. Structural and personal transformation is a collaborative endeavor. I am not doing this work alone; rather, as Jesuit and lay collaborators in God’s mission, we coordinate and articulate actions, not only among ourselves, but also with those from other religious organizations, civil society, social movements, etc.

Third, the past and present cloud of witnesses. Witnesses who stand with those harmed by unjust policies, those bearing the brunt of environmental degradation, those excluded due to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Witnesses who manifest God’s tenderness and preferential option for the forgotten, oppressed and marginalized. Women and men who exercise the Christian commandment, as there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

The invitation is clear. Remain in me as I remain in you, Jesus says. Permanecer with Jesus is to deepen our accompaniment, service, research and advocacy to transform our societies and our common home. I pray that you and I continue to respond joyfully, creatively and magnanimously to Jesus’ summon to “go and do likewise.”