TO OUR FATHER, RAMÓN ZUBIETA

I will be a missionary,
Because Our Lady wants it
You insert yourself into the culture of other peoples,
Helping them to get out of the ill treatment that hurts them.
Evangeliser in frontier places,
Challenging dangers and threats,
You always fixed your gaze on God,
Trusting in his divine Word
Your whole life was a great testimony
The natives were your brothers
Every day you protected them from evil
Thanks to your heart and your humanity
Dear Father, it was your deep faith
that worked so many miracles
Your spirit of prayer and your trust always fixed in God
You took us to the jungle
And gave us another family,
Strength and courage you gave us to follow in your footsteps,
Bringing your love and salvation to our brothers
You are our missionary model,
Like you, make us brave and strong,
Today other brothers and sisters also need us,
May we reach out our hands to the suffering of today.
You took in your hands what God offered you,
You took strength, you took a deep breath
You sought for them the life that God had given you,
To give it so that they might have life in abundance.
Your hands Father that to further God’s work
Opened up to invite the sisters
And valuing their love and dedication
They welcomed their contributions,
Gave advice and optimism.
With your hands, Father
You caressed as one caresses a delicate flower,
The creature that was being born,
Delicate and fragile,
That was the Congregation
You stretched out your hands in times of difficulty
Until it grew stronger
And became robust.
Your hands, Father,
They knew how to push the work forward
And forgetting oneself,
They valued the personality,
The love, the dedication of mother Ascension and the sisters,
Even in the smallest details
Your hands raised,
Expressed the desire to live
To push this work of God,
That you also knew how to place in his hands.
Father Ramón, we are happy to have you as our Father, As our papa…
We are happy and we want to express the joy that we feel
For your life, active, human, mature
With what affection and confidence we place ourselves close to you!
You are our Father,
We see you projected throughout these 100 years.
We are proud of you!
With our heads held high;
With the desire to follow in the footsteps you left us!
We also want to thank you
For the testimony of your rich spirituality:
What a heart you had!
How you burned with the desire that Jesus be known and loved!
How you enjoyed and with what joy you lived these realities of your life!
How clearly you understood the mission of Jesus
and you gave yourself to it,
as a witness of solidarity and love for the people.
Encouraging Mother Ascension and the Congregation,
You opened a way for us, you valued our feminine being,
You encouraged our hope,
You bequeathed unity to us. This is encouraging, Father!
This trust makes us grow,
We have for you
A heartfelt acknowledgement.
Your example carries us forward and encourages us to go forward
Assuming the challenge with humility and courage.
Father, we are proud of you!!!!

María Nieves Elizalde Esparza
Community of “Nuestra Señora del Patrocinio”
Lima- Peru.