I call you blessed

In their struggle for life on the land, the rural poor of Brazil are realizing that they are the blessed of whom Jesus spoke

By Sr. Clarice Garvey, O.L.M.
May 2006

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As I begin this article, it is raining. Raining so hard that not even the securely laid roof tiles are able to prevent a splash here and there on the walls. People are smiling again and “Graçias a Deus” (Thanks be to God) is the greeting called out in the streets. These showers are only the second of the rainy season in this parched area of Brazil. We are told that there are 159 municipalities here in the state of Ceara that are experiencing an extreme shortage of water.

L-R: Raimundão, Luizinha and Sr. Clarice Garvey at a rainwater cistern, a rare gift for poor Brazilian farmers’ in this arid region of the country. These three friends work together on the land pastoral team of the Archdiocese of Fortaleza, Brazil, assisting landless peoples in their struggle for life.

Over the years, in the articles I have written for this magazine, I have included the names of many of the land pastoral team with whom we work. We accompany Brazilian farmers in their struggle for land and livelihood. This year I have asked two members of the team to tell you something of their life and mission.

Luizinha

I first met Luizinha on Christmas Eve about 20 years ago. We were in front of a jail in a nearby town where several farmers were being held for protesting police violence against a group of families. We had gone there with pastoral companions from different regions of the archdiocese to plead for the farmers’ freedom. Fortunately the prisoners were released, not so much because of our presence but rather because the guards wanted to be home for Christmas.

After a few whoops of joy, we paused to celebrate a most precious gift of that Christmas—the gift of family and of a caring community. Today Luizinha and I laugh about the origin of our relationship.

I asked Luizinha to write a few words about herself and the history of her commitment to Land Pastoral work.

“In my teens I joined the Base Christian Communities that were being founded in our parish and diocese. The Church’s commitment to the option for the poor led to the organization of committees in the parishes to promote justice among the poor.

The land pastoral work has strengthened my faith, helping me to understand the importance of freeing the land from the greed of those who treat it as a commodity to be bought and sold. I have learned that the struggle for life on the land demands a new relationship. We humans need to understand that God has given us the privilege and responsibility to know and to love, to defend and to respect, and to care for all creation. We believe that whatever one loves one takes care of, and so we need to transform our present unjust reality into God’s kindom of freedom and equality.”

Raimundão

Raimundão came into my life and the life of most Our Lady’s Missionaries in Brazil as a young man with a mission. He was often called a new Moses. As a member of a Basic Christian Community, Raimundão did a leap from reading the catechism to reading the section on agrarian reform in the Brazilian Constitution. From there he was off and running.

However, his commitment to justice came at a price. As a result of efforts to obtain ownership of land from a landowner, Raimundão’s family and 13 others in his community were expelled from land they had worked on in near-slavery conditions for more than 10 years. After a great struggle they were given a farm about 100 kilometres away. Since then Raimundão has been influential in almost every acquisition of land for landless peoples in the diocese.

Raimundão tells us:

“I believe that the present situation of vast tracts of land being held in the hands of a few rich families is a crime against the land, which is being treated as a commodity to satisfy their greed. And it is a crime against the millions of poor people in Brazil who have nowhere to live.

We who have suffered and see the suffering of others are committed to helping people become aware of their power to change unjust structures. We are committed to educating the poor to understand that they have the capacity to participate in bringing about equality, justice and freedom. In this way we all share in the life of the universe that God created. We can do this together if we want to.”

I believe that I have been called to live and work with people like Luizinha and Raimundão so that together we can grow in our understanding of the Beatitudes. May we learn to live the meaning of Jesus’ words as we share life with those who are indeed the blessed of whom Jesus spoke.

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