EUROPE/ITALY - Catholic immigrants ‘at home’ with the Eucharist: “Since I left my family and came to Italy I try to spend some time with Jesus every day: in front of the Tabernacle I am in the company of Jesus and my parents and friends feel close”

Thursday, 20 October 2005

Rome (Fides Service) - Homesick Peter Damian Mallam aged 26, in Italy in search of work to support his family in Sudan said he finds the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist an indispensable source of comfort and strength. “Since I left my family and came to Italy I try to spend some time with Jesus every day. When the loneliness is unbearable I go to a church and in front of the Tabernacle I am in the company of Jesus and my parents and friends feel close”. Peter, who has found a job as a cleaner, says the Eucharist has always been the centre of his life. “But in Sudan people do not know enough about the faith. Most Catholics go to Sunday Mass because it is a custom, hardly anyone realises it is a real encounter with Jesus and so Mass does not have the effect it should and can have on daily life. People need help to really understand what it means to go to Mass and to receive Holy Communion. For this we need well trained catechists able to communicate with people and involve them more profoundly.”
The Eucharist also helps Isabel Costadilla, aged 24 from Colombia, working as a baby sitter feel less alone without her family: “Worries and problems sometimes become a burden but going to Mass and receiving Communion helps me find a meaning to all this fatigue. It is such a comfort to know that God really exists and that he loves each one of us dearly. I come away from Mass relieved of my burden and ready to face the day. Sunday Mass is an opportunity to meet people from my own country, hear my own language and see clothes and gestures typical of Colombia. Complete strangers, we immigrants around the Lord form a community”.
“For me Sunday Mass is most important” said Aurora Ramos aged 23 from Manila in the Philippines and in Italy as a domestic helper. “The homily helps you understand the Word of God, and the Eucharistic liturgy holds within it all the meaning of being a Christian. Holy Communion is comforting and gives strength and for me it is a confirmation of God’s presence in my life. He comes in search of us, we only have to open our eyes. Mass is also a time for meeting up with the local Filipino Catholic community”. (RF/SL) (Agenzia Fides 20/10/2005, righe 25, parole 378)


Share: