By Marilu Cazares
Family Support Services Program Manager,
Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska
Are you the type of person who considers giving up your favorite food for Lent every year? If so, you are not alone. I have done that many times. However, Lent is coming, and I have been thinking about what I can do differently this year because I am so grateful for all the blessings that God has given me and my family. What can I do to please our Lord in a different way this year?
Sometimes I feel that I owe God for all that he has done for me, and I just do not know how to pay him back. Have you ever felt that? If you have, you know what that feeling is like. Like me, you may have been blessed with many things and in many ways, and maybe this time you can come up with something different for Lent, as well. The Church invites us to grow spiritually and practice our virtues not only during Lent, but Lent is a great opportunity to do so.
Ten months ago, I moved to Mexico, following what my husband and I truly believe God has called us to—to become adoptive parents of a little girl from Mexico. This is one of the greatest blessings that we were waiting for, but moving to Mexico has become a real learning opportunity and eye-opening experience of what I have and did not appreciate as much as I thought I did. Moving to Mexico was not in my plans at all, and although it’s temporary, I am still far from the people I love and all that I have in Nebraska.
As a person of faith, who sees God in everything around her, I realize that having a house, family, friends, health, work, food, etc. is a blessing. As the Family Support Services Program Manager at Catholic Social Services, I have encountered many families in need. I’ve encountered families with no support system, and individuals who are unemployed, sick, abused, helpless and at risk of becoming homeless.
It’s hard to explain, but I feel now that I have a better understanding of what our clients go through. What our refugee families, who leave everything behind to come to the United States in search of safety feel like, and how it feels waiting for immigration documents to bring a family member to the U.S. for a better life.
Thankfully, accessing food has never been a problem for me, but I see the homeless in Mexico—including entire families—sleeping on the streets, and the kids cleaning windshields or selling candy, earning at most one peso (five cents). I frequently see people digging in the trash, looking for something to eat. While I have always seen this, now I am really noticing it, and the more I see it, the more heartbreaking it is, and it makes me realize how blessed I have been.
I feel as though we have desensitized ourselves by judging and not caring for our brothers lying on the street. I am very thankful to our donors, who help us help others in need. We have each been called to come together to serve the poor and vulnerable. Being far from my family, friends, work and from all I have and cannot have, has made me want to tell everyone who has the blessing of having their families close to them, have a job, have a home, is healthy, have the blessing of choosing what to eat and how much to eat; to share with others, to pray and care for them.
I want to encourage you to see what God has blessed you with and share that with others. Caring for others by helping in whatever way I can, including praying for their needs and not wasting food, is what I want to do for Lent—and continue to do so for the rest of my life! I’ll be asking God for the grace to do so, and to be able to see Jesus in others and for others to see Jesus in me.
“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:40
