We live in one of many "sacrifice zones" of the so-called development. These are the hidden folds where progress builds its consequences less presentable.
may be landfill, favelas che scoppiano per l’esodo rurale di massa, quartieri inquinati addossati alle fabbriche, in competizione reciproca per chi usa l’aria e l’acqua della regione...
Sentiamo e sappiamo che questo é il posto dei missionari, inviati tra i poveri a fare esperienza e dare eco alle contraddizioni della storia. Dio nasce bambino alle periferie dell’Impero romano e rinasce piccolo ai margini di questo sviluppo sfrenato.
Piccolo, cioé preoccupato con i ritmi lenti e perenni della nostra gente: le famiglie contadine, le donne che raccolgono e lavorano i frutti della foresta, i picoli produttori che ogni giorno vendono al mercato la loro merce... sono questi i pastori di oggi, ai quali é dato ad: a child is born for you!
The church in Brazil, despite many limitations, including the secret of Christmas that happens every year. Therefore places emphasis not only on an amazing birth, but on the whole process of creation that God has placed in our hands and that the life of Jesus challenges us to renew.
While the development here, the vertical lines running back from the extraction and export of raw materials, life goes in circles and horizontal networks of relationships, guaranteed by the communities in their territories and local identities.
Celebrating Christmas means to us stubbornly believe that God created where no one knows, far from the spotlight and major projects in the communities threatened by the concentration of land in cooperatives that try to reinvent the small production, family farm-schools, folk festivals in the neighborhood or in the annual celebration of the harvest.
The new creation has begun, must defend it and disseminate it to all levels.
Today more than ever it is necessary to be born again ... down.
