“This is the Good News of which I have become minister by a gift of God,
a grace he gave me, when his power worked in me. This grace was given to me,
the least among all the holy ones: to announce … the immeasurable riches of
Christ.” St. Paul, (Letter to the Ephesians 3, 6-8)
St Paul underscores the power of Gods grace in overcoming the many obstacles
that life can throw at a person. On Sunday Jan 25th, the feast of his
Conversion to the faith of Christ, we saw once again proof of Gods grace
acting in the lives of three young men that finished their novitiate year
and professed vows as Augustinians of the Vicariate of Chulucanas. Each of
their stories is unique, as all human stories are, but they highlight in a
remarkable way the power of Gods grace that St. Paul humbly wrote about.
Klever Mondrogon comes from a small village 2 hours walk from the town of
Pacaipampa. It is not a flat easy walk, rather it is straight down the
mountain, and then straight up again. It
is
thus no surprise that no one from his town every finished high school. The
closest high school is in the town of Pacaipampa, so between him and a high
school education is that daily walk down the mountain beginning at 5am and
that daily walk back up the mountain arriving as the sun sets. Over the
years many anxious to continue their schooling started out in that daily
routine, but little by little they gave up either because their primary
education was so deficient that the high school studies required extra
efforts to catch up, or because the walk each day took its toll and the
desire to make it to the end evaporated under the afternoon sun.
Like many before him, and like several other of his classmates, Klever began
with the desire to finish high school. They all heard the stories of earlier
groups that it wasn´t worth the trouble and difficulties involved. However,
eager to try they began. One by one they stopped showing up and the group of
friends going to high school dwindled until it was Klever alone. For five
years (Peru has 6 years of primary education and 5 years of high school),
Klever faithfully made the march back and forth and became the first one to
finish high school in those circumstances. During those years he also
developed a relationship with the parish in Pacaipampa and began to think
about a religious vocation. A high school education is the basic requirement
for entering a seminary in Peru. This
animated
Klever even more and upon his graduation he asked to attend the center of
vocation discernment that the diocese runs in the town of Santo Domingo.
From there he was able to see the difference between diocesan life and
Augustinian religious life and opted to enter the Augustinians. After three
years of philosophy studies in Trujillo he was admitted to the novitiate and
is now a professed Augustinian ready to begin his theology studies.
Such a great obstacle stood in his way, but such is the power of God´s
grace.
Sabino Pichen comes from a mountain town several hours away from Trujillo
called Cascas. Augustinian religious sisters from Spain minister in the town
that every so often has a resident priest and then may go several years
without
one. His mother is a deaf and mute, abandoned by his father. In a poor
country like Peru there are no social safety nets, so there is nothing to
give a hand to the deaf. Faced with the burden of trying to raise a son in
an environment harsh to anyone that is deaf, it only seemed that Sabino´s
fate would be a dark spiral down with his mother. However, the Augustinian
sisters extended a hand to bring in the mother and to make sure the son was
feed and got an education. That act of solidarity marked Sabino´s life and
opened his eyes to the transformative power of love that the Gospel invites
even strangers to show one another. Overcoming the great difficulties that
life had given him, Sabino saw the power of God at work in his life and
decided he wanted to try to share that experience with others as an
Augustinian. His
profession day once again showed the power of amazing grace.
Elevi Santos comes from a semi-tropical region that lies in a remote part of
the country between Chulucanas and Trujillo on seldom travelled roads.
Because it was remote, it became a haven of one of the terrorist movements
that wrought tremendous damage in Peru from 1980 to 1995. As a child playing
in the streets, each day the terrorists armed with machine guns walked the
streets of his small town. The police and army, in charge of security, did
not dare enter that region because of the many valleys and mountains that
made ambush a certain fate. So the zone was considered to be a terrorist
zone by the government and left to its own fate.
In
order to have men serve as terrorist it was very common that they would
enter a town and then kidnapped young men in their early teens. They would
then indoctrinate them, train them, and under fear of a death sentence, make
them comrades in the attempt to bring down all social order. As Elevi grew
older into his teen years, he and his friends knew this was always a
possibility. They had to keep a vigilant eye always open, so at the first
sign of terrorist coming into town they would flee into the underbrush and
hide until it seemed safe. Several of Elevi´s friends did not make it and
were scooped up in this evil strategy of terrorist recruiting. Most of them
died in the years of guerrilla warfare that followed. However, Elevi did
make it out of the town when he was old enough and headed to Lima to work
and make a new life for himself. He had one aunt in Lima and headed there
finding work as a cook in a restaurant in the area that surrounds the
Augustinian house in Lima. In the parish where his Aunt lives he
participated in the youth group and there was told about different lives of
the saints. He read about St. Augustine’s conversion and was immediately
drawn to it. One day while working he mentioned to a friend about St.
Augustine and the friend told him that the Augustinian friars were just
around the corner from the restaurant. He decided to stop by and talk to the
priest in the community and little be little wondered if he was also called
to that lifestyle. He eventually decided to make the leap of faith and
entered the Augustinian formation program. Finishing first in his class
throughout his philosophy studies he continued on to the novitiate and made
his profession of vows. To walk on the edge between a free life and a life
of imposed terror, to go to the country´s capital city with no ties and look
for work, and to mysteriously be brought into the Augustinian family, is
surely a sign of the great victory of God´s grace in the life of Elevi.
So Jan 25th, the liturgical feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the
paradigmatic Christian story of the victory of God´s grace, these three
young men, overcoming obstacles that to many would have been insurmountable,
made their profession as Augustinian religious. With Sabino was his deaf
mother making the first trip in her life to Lima, accompanied by one of the
Augustinian sisters. With Klever was his sister making the long trip to
celebrate with him. And with Elevi was the aunt whose welcome mat made his
stay in Lima possible. They and the many Augustinians who participated in
the mass were witnesses as each of the young men came up in front of the
altar and kneeled to profess their vows. All were witnesses once more of the
grace of God overcoming darkness and inviting new Augustinians to follow his
light.
is
thus no surprise that no one from his town every finished high school. The
closest high school is in the town of Pacaipampa, so between him and a high
school education is that daily walk down the mountain beginning at 5am and
that daily walk back up the mountain arriving as the sun sets. Over the
years many anxious to continue their schooling started out in that daily
routine, but little by little they gave up either because their primary
education was so deficient that the high school studies required extra
efforts to catch up, or because the walk each day took its toll and the
desire to make it to the end evaporated under the afternoon sun.
animated
Klever even more and upon his graduation he asked to attend the center of
vocation discernment that the diocese runs in the town of Santo Domingo.
From there he was able to see the difference between diocesan life and
Augustinian religious life and opted to enter the Augustinians. After three
years of philosophy studies in Trujillo he was admitted to the novitiate and
is now a professed Augustinian ready to begin his theology studies.
without
one. His mother is a deaf and mute, abandoned by his father. In a poor
country like Peru there are no social safety nets, so there is nothing to
give a hand to the deaf. Faced with the burden of trying to raise a son in
an environment harsh to anyone that is deaf, it only seemed that Sabino´s
fate would be a dark spiral down with his mother. However, the Augustinian
sisters extended a hand to bring in the mother and to make sure the son was
feed and got an education. That act of solidarity marked Sabino´s life and
opened his eyes to the transformative power of love that the Gospel invites
even strangers to show one another. Overcoming the great difficulties that
life had given him, Sabino saw the power of God at work in his life and
decided he wanted to try to share that experience with others as an
Augustinian. His
profession day once again showed the power of amazing grace.
In
order to have men serve as terrorist it was very common that they would
enter a town and then kidnapped young men in their early teens. They would
then indoctrinate them, train them, and under fear of a death sentence, make
them comrades in the attempt to bring down all social order. As Elevi grew
older into his teen years, he and his friends knew this was always a
possibility. They had to keep a vigilant eye always open, so at the first
sign of terrorist coming into town they would flee into the underbrush and
hide until it seemed safe. Several of Elevi´s friends did not make it and
were scooped up in this evil strategy of terrorist recruiting. Most of them
died in the years of guerrilla warfare that followed. However, Elevi did
make it out of the town when he was old enough and headed to Lima to work
and make a new life for himself. He had one aunt in Lima and headed there
finding work as a cook in a restaurant in the area that surrounds the
Augustinian house in Lima. In the parish where his Aunt lives he
participated in the youth group and there was told about different lives of
the saints. He read about St. Augustine’s conversion and was immediately
drawn to it. One day while working he mentioned to a friend about St.
Augustine and the friend told him that the Augustinian friars were just
around the corner from the restaurant. He decided to stop by and talk to the
priest in the community and little be little wondered if he was also called
to that lifestyle. He eventually decided to make the leap of faith and
entered the Augustinian formation program. Finishing first in his class
throughout his philosophy studies he continued on to the novitiate and made
his profession of vows. To walk on the edge between a free life and a life
of imposed terror, to go to the country´s capital city with no ties and look
for work, and to mysteriously be brought into the Augustinian family, is
surely a sign of the great victory of God´s grace in the life of Elevi.