Title: THE CROSS OF LIBERATION AND HOPE

Grade: Appropriate for use with any grade level, including adult participants, or in a retreat setting.

Background/Overview: Crosses of Hope are made by refugees living on the border of El Salvador and Honduras. The crosses are an expression of the faith and hope of the people in the midst of their suffering.

The images of life depicted on the cross are things that give the people meaning in their everyday lives—sun, land, village, family, home, animals, etc.—and where they find God present to them. The cross is their sign of liberation and hope. It is also a sign of their belief that the future will be better.

Using bright colors—yellow, red, green, blue—conveys their hopeful spirit.

Objective:
This activity will enable the participants

• to examine the signs of faith of the Salvadoran people depicted on their Crosses of Liberation and Hope
• to reflect on where God is in their own lives as they create crosses of hope using symbols and images from their experience.
  

Suggested Time: 45 minutes to one hour

Resources/Materials Needed:

Salvadoran cross, real or sketched
Outline of blank cross
Colored markers or paints

Procedures:

• Show an actual cross made by a Salvadoran refugee, if one is available; otherwise have the group examine the sketch of a cross and describe what they see
• Ask what’s different about this cross (there are colorful pictures instead of the body of Jesus); what are the pictures or symbols used by the Salvadoran people? What might these symbols tell us about their lives?
  

This is an opportunity to provide information about the suffering of the people of El Salvador: in the 1980s, 80,000 innocent poor people were killed by so-called "death squads," in a 12 year long civil war. Among the victims of this armed conflict were Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, four Churchwomen, two of whom were Maryknoll Sisters, one an Ursuline Sister and one a Maryknoll lay missioner. In addition, six Jesuit priests who taught at the University of Central America, their housekeeper and her daughter were killed. The 10th anniversary remembrance of their deaths can be seen at http://www.creighton.edu/collaborativeministry/10th-anniv.html.

Many Salvadorans fled to the borders of Honduras or to the United States, if they could afford it. In recent years, El Salvador has suffered terribly from devastating earthquakes, leaving thousands homeless or living in squalor. See http://www.maryknoll.org/GLOBAL/ALERTS/quak_elsalv3.htm.

Vivid pictures of the Salvadoran countryside, and its people, customs, churches, plants, and animals can be found in the photo gallery of a native Salvadoran at http://www.datapillar.net/elsalvador/INGLISH.htm.

Further information about El Salvador can be found at the following web sites:

http://www.catholicrelief.org/where/el_salvador/index.cfm

http://www.catholicnet.com/elsalvador.htm

• Using the outline of a large empty cross, have the group members make their own crosses of hope. Ask what gives them meaning in their lives. Where is God present to each of them? Allow time for quiet as the participants use words, sketches, symbols and colors to make their crosses. Play reflective music as they work.
• When enough time has lapsed, invite participants to share the meaning expressed on their crosses.
• Most likely they will have objects similar to those of the Salvadorans. Draw the observation of those similarities out of them. Point out how much we have in common with a people we have never met, but whose deepest core values are so similar to our own.
  

Conclude with prayer for peace and healing for the people of El Salvador.

As a possible follow-up action plan, suggest a fund-raising drive to help the Salvadoran people recover from the devastating earthquake in January 2001.

Adapted from Focus on Central America with permission from the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.