Salinas, California is known as the “salad bowl of the world.” 75 percent of the population is Latino, and many farmworkers work long hours for low wages in the fields and packing plants.
The rate of gang and other violence is also high. The city has also been named the “youth murder capital of California.”
But in that city of darkness, there is also hope. It is there that Sister María Teresa (Marité) Gutiérrez and three other Catholic sisters from Mexico bring compassion and faith where it is needed most.
Hope in the darkness
At one parish where she serves, Sister Marité knows a young mother who struggles to make ends meet. The woman lives with her two daughters in a small room in an apartment that they share with another family.
“The first thing I can do for this mother is to be her friend,” said Sister Marité. “I listen to her and to reach out to her and her children so that they can feel God’s love and care for them.”
Faith can be a small window for light, for God to enter into her life and tell her, ‘I am here and I love you.’”
Recent years have been more difficult in the community, because many families fear deportation. Parents don’t know if at the end of the day they will be able to return from their work. Children don’t know if their parents will be home when they come back from school.
“They don’t know what is going to happen to them,” she said.
It is hard for the Catholic sisters to walk down the street without being stopped by someone saying hello, asking a question or seeking their help.
But they are there to walk with the community on their journey. They embrace their role with compassion and joy.
As the Church, we need to help them in whatever way we can. The first thing is always to give hope. The second thing is to work together like one family, like brother and sister.”
