SOCIAL PASTORAL EXPERIENCE DAUGHTERS OF CHRIST THE KING IN LIMA.
Face-to-face interview with Sister. Carmen Murrieta, HCR
– Christ reigns, Carmen, in the Social Pastoral Team we have heard a lot about this social work that you carry out from the Community of Lima, it is a joy for me to be here today and experience this apostolate firsthand.
After a 35-minute drive from the Community, upon arriving I perceived a simple and receptive atmosphere, many children, adolescents, young people, women and even some grandmothers were waiting for us at the door of the Parish with joy and desire to share the afternoon with the Daughters of Christ the King. We have arrived loaded with cookies, soft drinks and work materials, both for activities with the little ones, as well as for the baptism, first communion and confirmation catechisms, and the craft workshops with the already confirmed ladies. We have divided ourselves into work groups with the collaboration of some catechists and the afternoon has flown by. Looking forward to returning, I say goodbye, since we already have to return home, but first I take the opportunity to ask you some questions:
What is the first thing you would like to share with us about this social action in Lima every Saturday?
-The experience I have in contact with the people of the “Doscientas Millas” neighborhood, about 13 km from Pueblo Libre, is one of thanksgiving to God, because I receive many teachings from each of them, more than what I give them. give. The group is made up of people who are poor in economic resources, even in study and in values, but from their reality, they are very sensitive and welcoming to what is spoken to them about God, his word, the Church, the Sacraments, they love us very much. to the HCR and fondly remember the sisters who worked with them.
– What does contact with this social reality contribute to your HCR being? What do you receive in it?
-Contact with this reality helps me to be more sensitive to the needs of others, it also makes me aware that not only the school is a space for evangelization, because the poor also need our presence, they question us and demand coherence of our actions. life. Their attitudes are one of enthusiasm, welcome, closeness, they are sensitive to faith,
Sharing with them every week helps me and all of us to relativize the events of life, to leave our comforts, to not be afraid of sacrifice, because they walk a long way to get to the parish, but they arrive happy together with their children.
They are brothers who question me, they are happy and grateful with very little they receive, because they live today from faith, without despairing about tomorrow, they trust in the Providence of God.
– I have been able to see how the first thing you do in your general greeting to everyone is read the Sunday gospel and comment on it simply by applying it to your lives. What else do you contribute from your being a consecrated HCR to the people of this neighborhood, “200 miles”?
-I do my work with great affection with each one of them, looking for spaces to share my experience of God with them. The time I dedicate to them on Saturday afternoons with other sisters in the community is an offering, because it becomes many blessings that I receive, we share small workshops such as wool weaving, embroidery, jewelry, etc. Preparation for some sacraments such as Eucharist (First Communion), Baptisms and in some cases, Confirmation.
-Finally, could you tell us some moments that have stuck out to you in the mission you carry out here?
-In 2022 we celebrated Christmas at school together with the girls from the primary class, the ladies from the Kingdom Community accompanied us and it was a surprise to see that they had a very good rhythm in the dance, both the mothers and the children, all of them. very spontaneous, it was a beautiful day. This year we played Bible Bingo to learn the books and even the adults became children for winning the small prizes, it was a very fun afternoon.
-Thank you for your testimony, and for the opportunity to be able to accompany this afternoon the group of teenagers who want to be baptized and make their first communion, it has been a new experience listening to them and sharing with them the experience of a Merciful God-Love who is always with we. We continue praying and collaborating from the Do Good Projects with that social reality that you accompany in Lima.
Rocío Pérez de Ayala, HCR
