I was a stranger...

There were people who welcomed me even though I was a stranger, who invited me into their homes, who made me feeel like I was one of them

By Fr. Ron MacDonell, S.F.M.
December 2007

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My missionary vocation has roots that stretch from my native Canada to Chile, on the other side of the Americas. In 1973, Chile suffered a coup d’etat when President Salvador Allende’s government was overthrown and Augusto Pinochet came to power. When I started university a year later, I became aware of the plight of many Chilean refugees through my involvement with the Canadian Catholic Organization for DEVELOPMENT & PEACE. About 10 percent of Chile’s population of 11 million had been either killed or exiled because of their support of Allende’s Socialist government. I was inspired by a talk given by Fr. Buddy Smith, a Scarboro priest who worked to have Chilean refugees welcomed into Canada. I got involved in organizing petitions to pressure our government to help these refugees. This participation made me think of what Jesus teaches us: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35).

Josenildo and Fr. Ron MacDonell carry food for the participants during a language workshop for the Apurina people living in the modern urban context of Manaus, Brazil. Fr. Ron does linguistics and language training to support indigenous people’s efforts to maintain their language and culture.

During my university years, I learned more about Chile and other Latin America countries through my participation in the Student Christian Movement. After my studies, I worked in Edmonton for a year and spent time on the weekends helping Chilean refugees learn English while they taught me Spanish. Many were Christian, others were Socialist or Communist. Some had been tortured for their political beliefs. None had wanted to leave their country and all were now strangers in a strange land. “By the rivers of Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion...How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:1-4).

The more I learned about Latin America, the more I felt called to go there. I joined Scarboro Missions and worked for two years in Southern Mexico among the Tzotzil people. There I experienced for myself what it was like to be “a stranger in a strange land.” I was the gringo, the outsider, the oppressor. It wasn’t easy. I felt different from everyone, often stared at, even laughed at. But there were always people who reached out to me, who welcomed me, who showed me kindness. I also witnessed what the Tzotzil natives experienced. These original inhabitants of the land were now strangers in their own land, exploited by business people who bought their coffee beans at low prices.

On becoming a priest, I was assigned to the Brazilian Amazon. Again, I experienced being a foreigner, a stranger. My work eventually led me to live with the Makuxi people. Like the Tzotzil of Mexico, the Makuxi were like strangers in their own country, forced to fight ranchers to gain ownership of their traditional lands. But again, there were people who welcomed me, who invited me into their homes, who gave me gifts, who made me feel like I was one of them. Their generosity always overwhelmed me.

Our Christian vocation is quite simple: to welcome others, and to accept the welcome and kindness of others. In a way, we are all foreigners in this world. Jesus calls us to be in the world, but not of the world: “…I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it” (John 15:19).

In the midst of war, violence and hatred, we are called to be persons of love, light and hope. This is our essential vocation, whether we live it at home in Canada or in some foreign land, whether we live our call as a lay person or as a priest. God is love and Jesus invites us to live this love: “…love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love one another” (John 13:34).

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