Corn tortillas, beans and rice

A story of response, love and abundance

Two sisters on their way back from buying bread and milk for breakfast one morning waited for the train to pass. As the train, known as La Bestia (the Beast), slowed down they saw some men appear and several yelled out, “Madre, tenemos hambre; regálanos tu pan.”

The sisters did not hesitate to give them their bread and milk. People were hungry. After sharing the story with their family and at their mother’s suggestion, the next day they prepared 30 food packets with corn tortillas, beans and rice, and then listened for the train.

That day in 1995 changed their lives, said Norma Romero from the small town of Guadalupe (La Patrona), Veracruz, Mexico. “It made us more conscious of the realities we’re living. Too often, we ignore what is happening around us.”

At the time, “We didn’t know where they were going; we didn’t know about the immigration issues; we didn’t know if they were here legally or illegally. When one wants to help, the last thing you think about is their legal status. For us they were humans,” and that is all that mattered, she said.

Romero, who visited McAllen in October, shared the story of the women now referred to as Las Patronas, denoting the name of their town. In Spanish, the word patrona also means boss or protector.  For Romero, the name reminds her they are working under the patronage of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe and doing God’s work.

For the past 22 years the women, campesinas from La Patrona, have fed thousands of migrants traveling from Central America. “Donde hay amor, no hay cansancio,” she said. Where there is love, there is no fatigue.

Listening to her story, underscores the importance of our initial response when we see someone in need. These women did not hesitate to help the moment they heard the words – “Madre, tenemos hambre; regálanos tu pan.” And 22 years later their response has not diminished. It has grown.

Las Patronas now have a shelter named El Comedor la Esperanza del Migrante. With the help of the community and other contributors and volunteers they prepare up to 300 meals daily which they toss to migrants as the train passes.

We see this response here in our own community. Close to home, we have our own Norma, Sister Norma Pimentel, director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, who one day in June 2014 responded with a yes when she heard there were immigrants at the bus station in McAllen who needed a place to rest. With her yes, other yeses followed from near and far from people who came to volunteer and provide needed supplies at the Humanitarian Respite Center at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen.

Both Normas and those who help them illustrate all that can be done when you see a need and take action. The capacity of a generous heart provides light and hope.

During her visit in McAllen, Romero spent some time with Sister Norma and visited the Respite Center.

“It gives me hope and joy,” she said, “to know there are others who are supporting our migrant brothers and sisters. Each day God is bringing more of us together, helping us grow in solidarity, not just with our brother migrants but also as a team.

“This space represents hope in the midst of so much violence and evil. There is hope, but above all there is love. I feel as if I am in my home, because these are spaces where God is, where you feel the solidarity, you feel the brotherhood.”

Romero added, “We all need to continue working and need to be conscious of all they are living and how they managed to arrive here, all the obstacles they had to overcome.”

Bishop Flores reminds us God wants our response, and this response is a grace. But in order for us to respond, we must be ready, he said. We must read the Gospels, share them with our children, with our families.

At the Diocesan Encuentro Mass on Oct. 14, Bishop Flores reflected on the image of the Virgin Mary reading, as she is often depicted in many paintings. He pointed out she is reading the scriptures, meditating on the words of God and the prophets. She was ready to respond when the angel appeared to her at the Annunciation.

"Dios quiere un pueblo capaz de recibir la gracia y de responder." / God wants a community capable of receiving his grace and responding.

“Pero tiene que tocar el corazón,” he said. It must reach the heart.

While Thanksgiving provides us an occasion to express our gratitude for the abundance in our lives, year round we need to be ready to respond where needed so that we may say yes to God’s call and be a blessing to others.

As Romero notes when she talks about her work, “We are all Church. From the moment we were blessed with baptism. We need to work in God’s kingdom.”

We don’t need great wealth. But in our response we can find an abundance to share. Let’s go listen for the train. Las Patronas show us it starts with a generous heart, and perhaps with some corn tortillas, rice and beans. 

(Originally published in November 2017 edition of The Valley Catholic newspaper)