Interview with Juan Antonio Muñoz, volunteer in Syracuse

The Intercultural Center for Assistance and Orientation to the migrant population (CIAO), in Syracuse, is the main pastoral activity of the international Marist community LaValla200> of Sicily, Italy, made up of brothers and lay Marists. The center provides education and literacy programs, school reinforcement, legal assistance, and shelter for young immigrants/refugees living in the city and surrounding areas.

Juan Antonio Muñoz Cruz, 27, from the Province of Mediterránea, was a Marist volunteer in Syracuse from September 2022 to August 2023. He is a catechist, a teacher at the Cervantes Marist School in Cordoba and animator of the Christian Life Groups.

In the interview below, Juan Antonio talks about what motivated him to become a Marist, his experience of community life and what he has learned as a volunteer at the Syracuse center.

What was your first contact with the Marist institution?

My parents put me in a Marist school when I was 6 years old. My father, in fact, was a former student of the Marist school in Cordoba. We lived very close. That’s where I got to know the Marists.

How did you become a Marist?

Well, because I joined the (Marist) youth movement at a very early age. At that time they were already Christian Life Groups, but they had another name. Today I am still part of it as a catechist. For me, being Marist has always been closely linked to being a member of “Groups”. I discovered the faith thanks to “Groups”. My faith has been built on the pillars and teaching inspired by Marcellin. On the other hand, my work vocation is education, education as an instrument, as a tool that can change the world. And because of that, my being Marist also means being part of a school team, as a teacher.

Have you always wanted to be a teacher?

As a catechist I was very involved in education, and in the end I decided to study for a master’s degree in education. I studied it in Jaén, and I was also involved in the pastoral ministry of the Marist school in Jaén. Wherever I go, I try to be involved in something Marist. I could do it in a parish, of course, but if there is a Marist presence, it calls me.

How did you decide to come here to Syracuse?

I was returning home in the morning and I received a call from a person very close to me, a schoolmate who was also a teacher of mine, and he told me that a brother had called him because he needed a person, a lay person, willing to go to Syracuse. This community is composed of two brothers and two lay men and women. Nina, a laywoman, was leaving at that time.

What made you say Yes in just a few hours?

I wouldn’t say that there was a reason to say Yes, but that there was no real reason to say No. That is, if you have a short time to make a decision, it is very easy to find the definitive answer in that time, because you really think about the things you have to think about. If my mother asks me for help, I go. If my sister asks me for help, I go. If the Marists ask me for help, I go.

What were your first moments here like?

I was met at the airport by Ricky and Quique, because Giorgio stayed behind to make a pizza for when I arrived. And from the first minute I felt very natural. I felt welcomed from minute one.

Juan, how would you define community life?

I am living with the same people with whom I have a shared mission. Therefore, for me, life in community means making every day and every moment part of that mission.

Each one has his individual freedom, his space, and at the same time we look for moments to be together, to continue building that mission, which is not only built in the CIAO, it is also built here at home. Because if we didn’t cook every day, and ask each other what dish we like, or make a surprise for someone, or the little details… it wouldn’t make sense.

If you had to highlight a moment of this year…

We always have a community meeting every week. And it is not a meeting to talk about work, the CIAO or the apartments, this is a community meeting, about us. And I keep those moments in particular, where we can share a more intimate moment of community.

And what is your day-to-day life?

The first thing we do when we get up is to come to prayer, which we have in this space in the living room. We start the day with a very simple time of prayer. One of the things I have discovered in community is that you don’t need to get so complicated to pray. And the truth is that I really like that moment. A moment of prayer, then we have breakfast together and we go to the CIAO.

What do you take with you from this experience in Syracuse?

One of the things I take with me is the reflection that in the past I found excuses for not having moments of prayer, for having too much work, being too busy or whatever, horrible excuses. I’ve realized that here I am working 24/7 and I find 15 minutes to pray, and not just me, but I share that moment with others. And I also take away… the need to be closer to the brothers. I have a great desire to share moments with the brothers in Cordoba. I have already thought of some ideas and shared with them, in fact, about how to participate in community life, in a different way from the way I participate here, of course. But I think that as a lay Marist I feel a bit called to that, to try to share time with other people in the Marist world. And I take with me, obviously, the people, all that I experienced here with the people, my brothers in community and so many other things.

From the mission I take with me a change for the life I have planned in Cordoba. I do not know if tomorrow life will take me in other directions, and my service will have to be for my family, of course; but I want to continue to be active in the mission beyond my work.

_____________________

*This interview is a summary of the interview conducted by Anabel Abad, head of communications of Maristas Ibérica, as a volunteer of SED, in July 2023, in Siracusa, Italy. Read the full interview in Spanish.