A shared moment with people in Crisis
José Miguel Jaramillo SJ (province of Ecuador), Chile
My arrival in Chile, on the way to theology studies, could not have been more “earth- shaking” than it was. Two hours after I arrived, there passed from this world Renato Poblete SJ, who bore witness of the social apostolate to this province as it was meeting to reflect on the apostolic frontiers to which we are all called. Soon after that came the earthquake, so strong that that it caused damage even as far as Santiago, so that we had to suspend the province retreat on the sixth day, during the Third Week of the Exercises. Then, torn between the uncertainty of someone disoriented because his destination was not the way he expected it to be and the impotence of wanting to help out but not knowing what to do or where to go, I spent several days working at home, getting the computers ready for the start of the academic year. Finally good news arrived: the Bishop of Rancagua was requesting help for the pastor in Pumanque, a town much closer to the quake. Rodrigo Poblete SJ, the superior of my community, decided that I should go, along with Beto Michelena SJ, to help the priest out.
He had no assistants, his church was in ruins, his car was crushed, and his vast community was desperately in need of basic assistance and consolation.
We set off on our journey in a rented vehicle on the afternoon of Wednesday, 10th March. As we drove I was impressed by the orderly way in which traffic was being directed, so that we were able to move along quite normally despite the nocturnal darkness and the incipient efforts at rebuilding. Arriving late that night, all we could see were the ruins in the street and the fallen church. The next morning, however, the scene was desolate. You could count the old houses in the town that were still in good shape on the fingers of one hand. When we went out into the surrounding regions – Nilahue Cornejo, Nilahue Barahona, Nilahue Santa Teresa, Camarico, Colhue – we found that there the destruction was much greater: some 60% of the houses were destroyed, 30% were uninhabitable, and the remaining 10% were to be shaken again by the earthquake at noon on Thursday the 11th, just as the new president was being sworn in. This would necessitate still another re-calculation of damages.
In speaking with the people, we saw that their distress at having lost their houses was mixed with the joy of having survived without greater loss, though they shuddered with each new tremor. Given such a terrible reality, our hands felt more empty and useless than ever, but still they opened up to embrace and soothe that magnificent display of human fragility. Our words conveyed little, but our ears were expanded by the simplicity of the stories and the confessions of faith we heard. Our very presence, which at first seemed so impotent, ended up being enriched by that tragic reality, which revealed – as if God had before been hidden away – the divine power present in the profound humanity of so many simple folk. As food and clothing were being distributed, we heard people insisting, “I already got some, and there are others who need it more than I” or “I’ll just take this. Why take more? Other people are in need.” During those days Pumanque overflowed with a sense of shared solidarity and warm humility.
This grace of having shared these moments of crisis with the people of Pumanque has been for me a powerful ecclesial experience. It was a great blessing to accompany Fr. Manuel and to share in the work of the Church groups and so many people of good will who came to the aid of this remote town. Evident everywhere was a strong faith energizing people to rebuild their houses and give new dignity to their lives.
I give thanks to God for manifesting himself so clearly in the midst of this fragility, and I am reminded of the words of Fr. Arrupe: “Perhaps the Lord has never been so close to us as when we have felt most insecure.” In this way, our experience of the Third Week of the Spiritual Exercises takes on a new reality as we accompany these many suffering people and help them to live the Paschal mystery and to build up a new Chile. May their faith give birth to a more just, coherent, and inclusive Chile, such as the one Fr. Hurtado longed for.
José Miguel Jaramillo SJ (ECU) San Joaquín, Región Metropolitana Santiago de Chile
Chile [email protected]
