The parish priest of San Miguel Arcángel, José Antonio Buceta, held an unplanned mass in the sports centre of Las Rozas, where hundreds of people evacuated due to the fire ravaging the southwest of Madrid are staying.
Amid mattresses, suitcases, and the anguish of having left everything behind, around fifty evacuees from the wildfires affecting the southwest of the Community of Madrid found a moment of peace this Sunday in the sports centre of Las Rozas. There, without prior notice, the parish priest of San Miguel Arcángel, José Antonio Buceta, officiated a mass that arose almost as a spontaneous gesture, after noticing that material needs were already being met.
“I saw that they were doing very well with volunteers, food, and everything necessary. So I thought: I have nothing else to offer, why not offer the mass?” explains the priest. After speaking with the mayor and the councillors of the municipality, the celebration was set for twelve noon.
The date coincided with World Grandparents' Day, a particularly significant day in a pavilion where many of the evacuees belong to the generation that still remained in the villages affected by the fire, such as Colmenar del Arroyo, Robledo de Chavela, and Pelayos de la Presa.
Among the attendees was, discreetly, the national football team coach, Luis de la Fuente, a resident of Las Rozas. But the true focus was on those who arrived “with the uncertainty of not knowing what they will find when they can return,” as Buceta recounts.
During the homily, the priest invited those present to “place all their fatigue and all their anguish on the altar to offer it to the Lord.” Based on the day's Gospel —the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value— he encouraged them to discover that, even amidst tragedy, love continues to make itself present. “I encouraged them to notice that love that appears hidden, like the treasure or the pearl, and that is being seen today in the solidarity of so many people, in the charity of so many who are helping,” he explains.
“He, amidst all that we lose in life, is that treasure we never lose. Because he is faithful and merciful,” added the priest, who invited the attendees to discover his presence “in the charity and solidarity of people.”
After the celebration, Buceta approached to speak with the evacuees. “I realised that what they needed was a hug,” he recalls. “Many still did not know the state of their homes. Others spoke with concern about the livestock or animals they had to leave behind during the evacuation. One told me: ‘What will have happened to my chickens?’” he recounts.
“Fortunately, they have not lost any family members, but they live with the uncertainty of having left behind an entire life. What they needed was to feel the embrace of the Church, the embrace of the Lord, to know that someone was there with them,” adds the priest.
The coincidence with World Grandparents' Day gave special meaning to the celebration. “There were many elderly people. After three days in the sports centre, they felt a bit disoriented,” explains Buceta, who publicly thanked “their faithfulness, their love, and the example they have given throughout their lives.” “Some grandmothers shed a tear,” he recalls.
Buceta acknowledges that one of the images that has impressed him the most in recent days has been the response of society. “From the first minute, people have offered to help with everything. There are so many volunteers that, at many times, we almost had to tell them that no more help was needed.” Far from interpreting it as something exceptional, he believes that this reaction reveals the best in people. “There is a huge desire to give, to support, and to accompany. It is spectacular,” he concludes.
The evacuees remain in the sports centre waiting for the authorities to allow their return home, once the wildfires, which have ravaged thousands of hectares in the southwest of the region, are fully controlled.
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