I remember hearing a priest once say that “the moment will come in which we will have a vague memory of our passage through this world.” We have been created for eternity and if I have been convinced of something in the last few years, it is that our existence in this planet is at most a blink of an eye compared to eternity. Material life is short and our passage through this earth, a little flash of light that is consumed immediately.
Who lives a successful life on this earth? I ask myself continuously. Who most illuminates with the flash of light that he receives? Is it he who accumulates more toys and believes that because of that he is admired and even envied by his fellow human beings? Or is it he, whose life may be dull before the eyes of the world, does the most good for those who surround him with the talents that he has been given? The answer was given to me years ago by my religion. Years ago, I also was given the answer by an article about Our Lord Jesus, in Time magazine, not exactly a standard-bearer of Catholic religion. The author of this article, possibly a person completely immersed in the interests of this world, indicated that, without a doubt, Jesus’ life had been the most influential that had existed in the history of humanity. Ah! There was the response, I thought. Both my religion, like the world, at least in a moment of serious introspection, define for me the type of life that is, in its essence, valuable, and because of that, successful. Both were in agreement! The flash that illuminates the most is that which does the most good.
Under this definition, Ramón’s passage through this earth was a tremendous success. In the thirty-some years that I knew him, I do not remember anyone who had ever spoken badly about him. To the contrary!
In Saint Ignatius’ times there were beggars. The society in which we live provides such that no one dies of hunger, but who are the beggars of today? Ramón found the answer before many of us and went out to respond helping drug addicts and homeless. He went every Sunday afternoon to the Plaza in Río Piedras and brought lunch to many of the people that filled that Plaza. First he would read them the Readings of the day, trying to explain the Readings to them, and later he helped, together with others, to feed them. He wanted to start a home where he would gather all of those people and tried for a long time to organize a House for the Friends of Jesus and Mary. He dedicated time, almost all his money, and did not succeed in that project. For us, the sensible ones, the project seemed too big for him and we continuously discouraged him. If I had helped Ramón more, would he have been able to have found that home? I will know, hopefully in heaven, but maybe that was what I was supposed to have done. How sensible was I, how comfortable was I, so that I would not have to give more? What is certain is that when the homeless and drug addicts found out that Ramón had fallen ill, they spontaneously kneeled and with the simplicity of people that recognize that they are powerless to achieve anything by themselves, they prayed to God for “Pastor Ramón.”
Project “Harvest” also benefited from Ramón’s efforts. He would go around to the best restaurants in the metro area at closing time to pick up, not the leftovers, but rather the cooked food that had not been sold and was left at the end of the day. Ramón had his route that included the kitchens of several luxury hotels. During that period of his life, Ramón ended each day picking up the most succulent foods to later hand them out among shelter kitchens. Thanks to Ramón, the homeless enjoyed, at times, exquisite dishes. Legal considerations put an end to this good idea, but Ramón did not stop working. He was an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and brought Jesus to the elderly in the Vista Hermosa complex. He walked with confidence on Sunday mornings through places where I doubt I would enter.
Ramón wanted to be a priest in Cuba and a Deacon in Puerto Rico, but the Lord had other plans for him. He was a founding member in his parish of the Foundation for the Rescue of the Divine Infant Jesus, volunteer in the Fondita de Jesús, member of the New Evangelization Movement of Our Lady of Bethlehem parish, a sincere and untiring fighter for the cause of Jesus. Many doors were closed in his face, but he never tired of saying, “I continue onward, the Lord will open another door.”
Many of us will miss him in the Spiritual Exercises that the Puerto Rico chapter of the ACU organizes each February. The Spiritual Exercises celebrated 44 consecutive years in Puerto Rico in 2007. Ramón, the bell ringer, who called us to the meditations with his bell-ringing; Ramón, the head of audio; the candle-lighter; giver of the Prayers of the Faithful; the coordinator of the Readings for each day; the altar server; and even the attention-getter for Father Amando Llorente, S.J., our director, if he, for any reason, sat in the wrong seat. We will miss you Ramón, but we are sure that from heaven you will give even more of yourself because now you will not have the imperfections and defects that the flesh brings us.
With all of Ramón’s virtues and defects, the Puerto Rico chapter of the Agrupación Católica Universitaria was blessed for 38 years by his presence.