“In El Callao I feel very near to the Father”
“Right now, I am the only person of Opus Dei in this Venezuelan city, but I feel very close to the Prelate and to the people who come here to provide spiritual help. I know that, from here, I can help make Opus Dei a reality”.
Many people have heard of “El Callao” just as a reference from a popular Venezuelan song, and maybe because of fine metals mining. But, in Estado Bolívar, some 14 hours away from Caracas and barely 4 hours from the Brazilian border, lives Katiuska Ron, a teacher, mother of 3 girls.
Katiuska is a Supernumerary member of Opus Dei.
Katiuska with her children
How is your typical day?
I get up at 5:10 in the morning. I offer my day to God and do some mental prayer. Then, I prepare breakfast. I wake up my children so they can be ready by the time the school bus comes to pick them up. Thanks to the Lord, they are growing up, and it is becoming easier to take care of them. Later, my husband -he works as a mechanic in a mining company- takes me to the school in his motor bike. I return by 3 pm, to do my housework and help the kids with their homework. Sometimes it’s 11 pm and I am still working. On Fridays I try to leave everything ready, because I travel to Upata, where I am studying -a university degree in Preschool teaching- and I stay there until Sunday: just a few more months till I am finished.
Are you a teacher?
I have been working as a teacher in a “Simoncito”, an early education center for preschool children. I have been a substitute teacher since I was 17, but now I teach at this school, run by the government.
How did you hear of Opus Dei?
Right here in El Callao. A woman of Opus Dei did some publicity for a school in Caracas, Resolana: it is a Center for Professional Training for Women. I was interested and told my mother I wanted to go study there, in Caracas; I was about 13 or 14 years old then. My mother said, “then, go”. Now I realize there was this young boy who was after me, and he was no good. Being in Resolana was really helpful for my working experience, and the contact with the reality of the big city also helped: taking buses, coming and going by myself. I got to know Opus Dei better, although I thought it was not for me. I used to fight with my friends at Resolana, who decided to join Opus Dei. I thought it was being inside the house all day long. The truth is that I did not really understand it. They used to laugh at me. I had just an adolescent’s point of view. I couldn’t see the other factors, the reason for that vocation. Now that I am a member of the Work I understand, and I pray for my friends in Opus Dei, and I beg forgiveness for telling them not to join.
How did you know of your vocation to Opus Dei?
I used to think the call to Opus Dei would come to me like in a dream, or that someone would come and tell me: Listen, you have a vocation. And it’s not like that at all: your vocation is inside your heart, you discover it, you begin to see it and then you answer. The people of the Work help. I went to a workshop and told the priest: I want to be a member of Opus Dei, but married. Although I did not know anything about the Supernumeraries, I did realize that God was calling me through a family. Now I belong to Opus Dei, and I know that it is not the same to be or not to be a member of the Work, even here, in El Callao.
What do you do when facing difficulties?
We have good days, as we also have bad days. I try to offer everything to God. For instance, today I was scheduled to receive the school’s food allowance from the feeding program called Paez; but the food, supposedly to be delivered by 4 pm, has not yet arrived. This means I will probably have to wait until late evening, which alters all my plans for the day, including the sacrifice of not being there for my children, who are expecting me to pick them up at school. I tell the Lord, This I place in Your hands. I have learned not to dwell in complaining. Some times, you have to laugh at situations a bit.
How is that, about a “plan of life”?
I believe every person has a plan. I have a plan for everything: for work, for my home. Likewise for my norms of piety: saying the Rosary, attending Holy Mass, offering all I do. It is all included in my life, and you go ahead with it, avoiding routine.
How is the relation of your family with the Work, what do they think of your vocation?
When we were dating, I told my future husband that if he wanted me, it had to be “married” to Opus Dei. And so it has been. He respects it; anyway, he gets the best of the deal, because I offer everything for my family, and whenever he is in some kind of trouble, I tell him to pray to Saint Josemaría. For example, when he was looking for a job, he prayed. In particular, he prayed for a magnetic resonance test to come out right, for the job depended on it: everything went well thanks to the intercession of Saint Josemaría.
How is your relationship with Saint Josemaría?
It’s very nice, he grants me favors every day. I always think about “the best place to live, and the best place to die: Opus Dei”, as Saint Josemaría used to say. At this moment, I am the only one of Opus Dei here, but I am very close to the Father and to the people who come to see me, because I know I am doing Opus Dei from here.
NOTE: Originally published in Spanish @ http://opusdeit.org/2009/10/en-el-callao-estoy-muy-unida-al-padre/
