Each year the council of elders meets and together decides what the community needs, what they can do for that specific year in order to continue growing as a community, to make life easier or just to increase the town’s beauty. Then the people organize and everybody contributes depending of their own gifts. If someone has experience or knowledge in construction, s/he offers their expertise and directs a group to accomplish the project. If someone is good following directions, s/he becomes a helper. An enthusiastic chef can offer the food for the workers. If someone has a truck s/he offers it and their driving skills. The rich can offer money to buy the material needed or to pay somebody to do the job. Once a year everybody contributes for one week, offering their gift for the prosperity of all. I will say, this is the Thanksgiving, Mexican style-people don’t have turkey dinner or family visiting, but they have food, music, company and a lot of meaningful work. Tequio is work with meaning.

Here at the monastery we also practice a lot of work with meaning: hospitality to all who come through our doors, justice and care for the earth woven into a shared way of life.

Sojourners Paz Vital (left) and Denise West (right) display gifts they received from a friend, symbolic of their own diverse gifts.

Denise and I have a class with Sister Lynne about our gifts. At the beginning it was a little difficult for me to think about my gifts. What are my gifts? What can I offer to this community? Scientific experience in a monastery is not the most useful. But then I remembered I have something that only I have and I can offer to this community. It is the gift of diversity. I speak another language; therefore I have a different, international worldview. I have different cultural lenses to see the world. Also, I come from a poor country, so I have the point of view of the disadvantaged. What could be a disadvantage is my gift. I offer you a window to see the world through my eyes. This is my Tequio for this community.

I also think this is a good Lenten exercise-to think about your gifts and to offer them to the welfare of your community. Not thinking about this offering like we are carrying a heavy cross that is not ours, but like Simon of Cyrene, we are offering rest and refreshment to the Jesus that is in front of us.

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Read this post in Spanish. Para seguir a paz en español: Tequio, o devolver agradeciendo al estilo mexicano

Read more from Paz in her blog series, Little notes from a prairie journey.

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