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Convent of Visitation graduate focuses on children in El Salavador |
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By The Catholic Spirit
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Wednesday, 07 October 2009 |
 Maggie Mattaini
Maggie Mattaini is serving at San Francisco de Asis parish in the city of Mejicanos in El Salvador with the Volunteer Missionary Movement, which is an ecumenical Christian organization whose U.S. office sends volunteers mainly to Central America to accompany the poor and oppressed in their struggles to create a more just world. A graduate of Convent of the Visitation School in Mendota Heights and Amherst College, where she majored in mathematics and religion, Mattaini is the daughter of Steve and Rita Mattaini of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul.
The following is taken from a newsletter that Mattaini wrote about her missionary work in El Salvador.
Brief background on the parish where she is working.
In 1979, two successive diocesan priests were assassinated for standing
up for the dignity of the poor. The first priest was killed about two
months before Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated while
celebrating Mass in San Salvador, El Salvador. The second priest was
killed about two months after the archbishop died.
Mattaini writes: “During those difficult years the parish also lost
numerous catechists and leaders as well as many parishioners. Yet, none
of that suffering deterred the community from continuing to struggle
for what they believed in.”
Children in Chancala Baja color pictures during a violence prevention workshop.
What she works on at the mission.
Mattaini works in the Attention to Children program of the Passionist
Social Services. She assists with the violence prevention program for
children 3 to 12 years old. She also teaches math and English classes
and helps to receive delegations from the U.S. church, including a
delegation that will visit the mission June 13 to 23 from the
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
What is a missionary?
“Missionaries, as I understand them, are Christians who are sent by
their communities to work toward the expansion of the kingdom of God
either abroad or domestically. Their job is not to expand the church as
an institution or to convert people to Christianity. Their job is to
work toward the establishment on earth of the kingdom of God that Jesus
preached — a vision of a new humanity and a new society that is based
on justice, peace and solidarity.
“In the Gospel of Matthew, we are told that ultimately, we serve God by
feeding the hungry, welcoming the outsider, and being in solidarity
with the sick and imprisoned. That is, we are here to serve one another
and particularly to serve the vulnerable and the oppressed. Thus, the
foundation of my missionary work is to humbly accompany the poor and
the oppressed in their struggle for justice. In this mutual struggle
for a more just world, we are transformed and our lives gain meaning in
playing our own small part in God’s plan to bring about a better world.
“Thus, I am not here trying to save souls or convert people, nor am I
here just as a volunteer. I am here because I feel that God has called
me to accompany the poor of El Salvador in this way, and I hope that
the work that I do here will be my own small contribution to building
up the Kingdom of God.”
Why she is a missionary in El Salvador.
“I’m very excited to be a part of that struggle for a better society,
which is just as urgent today as it was 30 years ago. The problems have
evolved somewhat in those decades, but the issues of poverty, violence
and oppression remain powerful elements of the Salvadoran reality.”
How are Mattaini and the VMM making a difference?
“Investing in children is just that — an investment that will produce
benefits, including economic benefits, in the long run. Investing in
the education, health and nutrition of young children eventually
creates a healthier, better educated, more productive work
force. . . .
“Investment in children is not just about caring for the adult that
they will become, but also about looking out for the rights that they
have now as children. That is, children are not just the future; they
are also the present.”
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