Cairo – After many long months of drought, rain has finally arrived in Cairo. It took just five minutes of light rain to fill the children with joy and the parish school with shouts of celebration. Just. “A truly unique event: everyone out on their balconies to admire this little miracle, a blessing capable of purifying the air and clearing it, at least a little, of dust and sand,” says Deacon Anselmo Fabiano of the Society of African Missions .
“Here, the mission continues both in the classroom and on the crowded streets of this city.”
Having returned to Cairo last October , the missionary shares with Fides some aspects of his experience in the working-class neighborhood of Shoubra, where he continues his missionary service.
“A few weeks ago, we were delighted to welcome a new confrere of the SMA into our home, Father Pequice, who will be sharing the mission with us here in Egypt,” he says. Meanwhile, he continues his journey of learning classical Arabic, with some encouraging initial progress. “Every evening, before Mass, with the help of a few parishioners, I practise reading the Gospel more fluently. I feel as though I am a child again, struggling to put syllables together to read certain words and then, once I reached the end of the text, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.”
“It is indeed true that mission also means knowing how to become children again, learning everything from scratch and finding joy in the little things of everyday life,” the deacon highlights. “Every day I discover that mission also means patient waiting, a time of preparation, and silent, discreet service. It consists of small gestures which nevertheless remain living signs of the presence of the Risen Lord.”
Anselmo is not alone on this journey. “There are nearly twenty of us at the school, including men and women religious and laypeople from all over the world. It is a true experience of universal fraternity, with every continent represented. We are united by a common desire to learn such a difficult language so that we can serve the Churches throughout the Arab world. We support one another and walk this journey together. It is a beautiful experience of the Church: we are all different, yet united by one mission.”
Compared with the other students, the deacon can count on an ever-increasing familiarity with Egyptian Arabic, which enables him to engage more easily with the local population. “I can hold conversations with people, make myself understood, build relationships and friendships. Because mission also happens over a glass of tea shared with the elderly residents of the neighborhood, through a few kicks of a football with the children playing in the street, or a friendly chat with market vendors or the underground ticket inspector.”
The daily life of Shoubra unfolds before his eyes, prompting him to observe the world around him with attentive and compassionate eyes. “I watch the people I meet with curiosity: children making their way to school in minibuses packed to capacity – or rather, overcrowded; poor people searching through rubbish for something to eat; market vendors shouting out the prices of their goods to earn a living. Life rushes past before my eyes, and I try to treasure every moment and turn it into prayer.”
“This, too, is mission: allowing life to become prayer and prayer to become life,” the missionary concludes.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.