by Danilo Mendoza Rugama, nSJ
Oscar “Danilo” Mendoza Rugama is a Jesuit Novice who spent time at Day Support and Hopespring this fall. We enjoyed Danilo’s presence with us and wanted to share his reflection about what this time has meant for him.
One phrase expresses my encounter with the L’Arche Tahoma Hope Community: grateful for being held.
This phrase was one of the pearls during a late evening conversation with Anne Grass, assistant at Hopespring. That evening, I thought about the passage in Mark’s Gospel where four men carried a paralytic man on a mat through different challenges in order to get him closer to Jesus. I was the man on that mat upon my arrival to L’Arche, not knowing the challenges ahead; however, there were not four men to carry me, but a community ready to hold me.
From day one, the core members held me tight. At Hopespring, I felt a warm welcome as I danced with Debbie, walked with Sharilynn or watched a movie with Ricky. On my first day at Day Program I was amazed and moved to tears by the way each core member prayed in their unique ways. As days passed, we grew closer together with each gaze, smile, laugh, dance, hug, art project, game and even the struggle of every day’s sacred routine.
I was held by the immense amount of love, patience and dedication each assistant and leader had for all the core members and for each other. I soon realized that each day everyone, including me, faced personal and communal challenges, obstacles or fatigue, but there was not a day I did not see an openness for growth, an openness to be held.
Each encounter allowed me to see myself upon the mat, reminding me of my own inability to move if it weren’t for the hands that held me in that moment. Each encounter allowed me to offer my mat for others to rest and be held. Each encounter was an opportunity to see how love holds us all, and to be grateful for it.
