Read about the Table of Hospitality in Zaragoza, Spain, which is part of the Marianist Lay Communities of Zaragoza's common mission to assist and accompany families of refugees, migrants, and international asylum seekers.
The Table for Hospitality is an initiative of the Diocese of Zaragoza that consists of providing temporary accommodation for international asylum seekers, especially families with children. These migrants often arrive in our country with hardly any means of subsistence or contact and are left in a complicated situation, sometimes for many months, until their application is resolved. Inspired by the Gospel ("I was a stranger and you welcomed me," Mt 25:35), the Bureau aims to alleviate this problem not only by offering flats ("dar posada") so that families can live in them but also through the accompaniment of its volunteers ("ser posada"). This accompaniment involves helping with the practical problems that migrants have on arrival, but above all, it is a warm welcome that makes them feel accompanied.
The Marianist Lay Communities of Zaragoza decided in January 2021 to join this diocesan project as part of our common mission. Since then we have been collaborating as volunteers in several of the inns, helping in the reception of refugees who have had to leave their homes due to war or any kind of persecution. May our support serve to make these new beginnings easier, and according to our vocation and in the image of Mary, may we together make Jesus a little more present in this world.
[Source: Marianist Magnificat Newsletter, May 2023]
What a wondrous practical ministry!!