The Coronavirus pandemic crept up on us like a lion through tall grass. Nobody saw it coming and nor could we have foreseen what a change it would make to our lives.
In August 2019, I had just arrived in Chile, in the parish of Saint Matthias, in the suburb of Puente Alto, Santiago. I was beginning to get to know the parishioners and familiarize myself with the layout of the parish when the first curfew, and then, a hard lockdown, was imposed upon us all.
Being in quarantine meant we could not celebrate Mass or any of the Sacraments except in very limited circumstances. As well as this, all catechetical programmes and missionary outreach efforts were effectively halted while the Chilean Government tried to control the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. However, as the number of Coronavirus cases spiralled throughout Chile and Puente Alto became recognised as the foremost suburb in Santiago and leading Municipality in Chile with the highest number of cases of Coronavirus, it became less and less likely that we would be ending our time of quarantine any time soon. Nobody could have imagined that we would still be in lockdown six months later!
Columban Associate Priest, Fr John Greene, the parish priest of Saint Matthias, and I were obliged to curtail all pastoral activity in these early stages of lockdown though we did try to explore how we might continue celebrating Masses in some of the chapels in a limited way. However, in the end, even this was not feasible. We had to resign ourselves to being housebound.
Giving out hot meals to those living in the neighbourhood of Bajos de Mena in front of the Chapel of Saint Andrew Kim, Chile. Photo: Fr George Hogarty SSC
In my own case, this feeling of being useless was exacerbated by the fact that I had damaged my left knee climbing up a steep slope to get closer to the foot of a glacier on a trip down to the South of Chile in January. When the knee specialist recommended I rest my injured knee for a period of three to six months to cure it I gasped in shock. How was I going to bear such a long period of forced inactivity?
Nevertheless, just when we were feeling incapable of responding to our people’s pastoral needs, the parish came to life in an unexpected way! As the lockdown dragged on, our concerned parishioners began to take action when they realised that many families in the poorer parts of the parish were going hungry. Feeding the hungry soon became the major priority.
First, everyone involved had to get a special pass from the police to be able to work in the seven soup kitchens which now feed 700 people daily throughout the parish. Next, pastoral agents, who were normally catechists and active parishioners, not only found themselves helping in the soup kitchens but were urged to visit their neighbours to find others who might be going hungry.
Help in the form of food parcels began to arrive in the parish through the auspices of Caritas and the Archdiocese of Santiago. Good-hearted donors from abroad and the Columban Lay Supporters in Chile helped with money and food parcels. Fr John soon found himself being called upon to collect copious boxes of foodstuffs that were channelled through the local Episcopal Vicar of Maipo, Fr Rodrigo.
The Coordinators of the nine chapels in the parish were charged with the responsibility of giving Fr John a list of the names of needy families so that help could be directed to those most in need. With the help of an enthusiastic couple, Luis and Maggie, Fr John was able to redirect countless food parcels and other goods to the different chapels for the needy without attracting too much attention from opportunistic people seeking an easy handout.
What has been the effect of all this effort on the lives of our lay people here in the parish of Saint Matthias? Jessica, a committed parishioner in the chapel of Saint Joseph the Worker, spoke of her joy in being able to give to those in need. She explained how she felt in these words: “I just feel so happy meeting people, whom we don’t normally see, coming to our chapel, and seeing them learn that through us Jesus is at work among them.”
Another parishioner, named Sonia, who belongs to the community of Saint Andrew Kim, relates her experience of serving the hungry in the chapel’s soup kitchen in this way: “At first they all came in sheepishly, embarrassed at having to come because they couldn’t feed themselves. However, little by little, as we’ve got to know each other, they’ve come alive and now we’re the best of friends”.
In my own case, I am still limited in what I can do to help because of the need to rest my injured knee. However, it is obvious to me that God allowed our apparent uselessness to open the door for the lay people of the parish to take action in a way neither of us could have anticipated before the Coronavirus pandemic began.
Columban Fr George Hogarty has recently returned to missionary work in Chile.
Listen to "Useless for God's sake"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East, October 2020
