Fr Ben Garren

Dear Siblings in Christ,

Often our daily reflections have us looking back centuries to context far afield of our own. The lives of the saints, even ones that exist within the historic record, readily becomes myths. The biblical narratives are more like literature than real life. The details and nuances of stories are lost as everything becomes about overarching themes, or religious conversations no longer relevant to our lives. What we must remember is that underneath all that we have real people, in the midst of struggles to go about their daily lives. Today I want to highlight a very recent Saint of Argentina whose feast has only been celebrated for a few years.

We are all, I believe, aware of the rising cost of housing and how landlords are now, quite often, large corporations whose interest is not in providing housing but profiting amidst the housing market. In the 1970s in Argentina the situation was exceptionally more dire than we currently experience and the government and the police were fully sided with the wealthy landlords. Amidst this the people facing eviction and ever rising rents organized, and the clergy worked in solidarity with them to help ensure their basic dignity was valued by the landlords. Father Carlos de Dios Murias stood with them, as threats of violence and intimidation against him continued. When asked if it would be better to leave for safety he said "It is better to die young having done something, than die old without having done anything.” On July 18, 1975, he was eating dinner with some nuns he had been visiting when he was abducted by some strangers hired by the authorities. He was tortured and murdered that night.

We need to reflect on the martyrdom of Carlos for two reasons. Firstly the struggle for affordable housing is one occurring in our own community. The eviction of marginalized and poor communities in the name of progress and profit is occurring all around us. As Christians we are called to ensure everyone's dignity is valued with shelter. Secondly it is to remember that the same visceral reality of a struggle for justice exists in the story of every saint we encounter, every narrative of the Bible, and we must remember this always and not be lost in the theory we place around each of these stories.

Pax,

—Ben