Blessed motorcycle
Monday, February 1, 2021
Victor Martell
As a journalist, when I see something I like, I have no other way to express it except by writing about it. And that is exactly what happens when I see the photos of our archbishop sitting on his motorcycle to raise funds for some charitable agency —such as his annual ride to benefit Catholic Charities’ St. Luke’s Center, which is coming up this Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021.
And that reminds me of when he worked in a small office at Catholic Charities, where I went often to talk to him and to get his advice about the problems I faced in my work in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. It was there that I learned of the many acts of charity that the archbishop did, unbeknownst to most people.
We humans, when we see a gesture of that type, tend to compare it. And a comparison came to my mind with Pope Francis and his teachings on austerity, and his advice to avoid ostentation that could humiliate our superiors: the poor.
Thanks, Archbishop Wenski, for that gesture, which demonstrates that you indeed respect the poor and care about them, something I already knew from your Creole-language work on Radio Peace with our Haitian brothers and sisters. How many souls have been healed. How many work hours were dedicated to the poor without any regard for your own time demands. And that homily you gave at the cathedral in Havana defending those who have no voice, offering your love and support without mentioning the great deal of aid you always gave through Caritas.
This is our Church. It is directed by men like us, who make mistakes. But also by many priests who follow the way of Jesus, showing the entire world that we are a Church where the needy, the undocumented, those who do not have a home, all of them have our support. And those who accuse us of being ostentatious are wrong because we are Church founded by a poor carpenter who did not have a place to rest his head. And today we continue to be that same Church of the poor, a Church that truly helps the poor.
Comments from readers