Beyond What We Could Have Dreamed

If there is one phrase that has marked the path of our marriage in these 20 years of happy union, it is this one from our beloved Saint Josemaría: “Dream, and your dreams will fall short.” Going back some 30 years, I remember my first day of classes at journalism school, when I wrote an essay on why I wanted to study that career. My great passion (and concern) was educating our people in values. I knew our beloved homeland urgently needed education in human and family values. At that time I didn’t talk about Christian or Catholic values, because I didn’t know what Christ and His Holy Catholic Church meant.

Soon after graduating I met my future husband. He had been a supernumerary of Opus Dei since he was very young, and he was the first person who spoke to me about God. His way of being cheerful all the time, whatever happened, surprised me greatly, and I wondered what he had that I lacked. A few months later I discovered that what I lacked was God, and I began attending the Opus Dei formation activities, and I have never missed them to this day. Six months later we were married; nine months after our wedding our first child was born; and a year and a half after we married I was already a supernumerary of Opus Dei.

As for my professional career, I gave up my job to devote myself to my family. Providentially, my husband had a printing press and always brought me work I could do from home (writing, proofreading and so on). And we always talked about the dream we had when we were engaged of having a magazine to educate Venezuelan families in values. When our third child was born (1995) we made the idea a reality and published the first issue of the monthly bulletin Leer Entre Líneas. We began with a print run of 400 copies, and it was so well received that it grew quickly, as my children grew (and as my number of children grew: I had six in eight years). Entre Líneas became one more child; I was in charge of writing and production, and my husband printed and distributed it. It was hard for me to combine caring for my home and family with putting out the bulletin every month (on top of severe arthritis that began four years into my marriage and has required several operations). Every time I thought I couldn’t cope with so much, faxes or calls would arrive from different parts of the country asking for more copies, because the bulletin was doing a lot of good in their communities. The print run grew from 400 copies to the 50,000 or more we print today.

Thanks to God and the Virgin, Leer Entre Líneas has become a great tool for teachers, parish priests, lay people, missionaries and others throughout the country to pass on human, Christian and Catholic formation of interest to the whole family. Eighty percent is distributed free of charge, and readers like its lively, modern design and its articles, which deal with current issues in a simple, dynamic way. Entre Líneas is handed out at clergy meetings all over the country, and the priests take bundles to distribute in their parishes. It is also distributed in public and private schools, doctors’ offices, law firms, courts and so on. Something that has filled us with joy is that our soldiers receive it through the military bishop.

When we feel overwhelmed by the country’s needs, we think of Saint Josemaría’s phrase: “Let us go at God’s pace.” We would like to help much more, but in the face of difficulties we put ourselves in his hands with great Faith and Hope. He will take care of it.

Building on the bulletin’s experience, we created Fundación Entre Líneas (which received the Monseñor Pellín Award in 2005) to produce free educational materials and distribute them nationwide, because the Venezuelan people’s thirst for values and faith is very great, and much formation in doctrine is needed. We have now spent six years running rosary campaigns all over Venezuela and promoting devotion to our patroness, the Virgin of Coromoto. We have distributed booklets on Confession, the Commandments, Santería, catechisms and more. Many of our bishops and priests have told us that Fundación Entre Líneas has become a great support for our Church in Caracas and in Venezuela. We always think of what Saint Josemaría taught us about loving and serving the Church. Some of our materials can be found at www.venezuelaentrelineas.com.

To conclude, I can only say that, as Our Father used to say, God shows us with real facts that our dreams will always fall short of the wonders He can work with our smallest help. John Paul II held our materials in his hands and sent us a letter encouraging us to keep going, “bearing our witness as an evangelizing married couple among our brothers and sisters.” In 2011 we had the great joy of attending his Beatification (to produce a Special Edition of Entre Líneas) with Vatican press credentials, and we met journalists from all over the world. After so many years of having left my professional career, there I was in Rome with my camera and my computer, covering with my husband one of the most important events of our Holy Catholic Church. I could never have imagined it!

So we will keep dreaming and working, with the help of God and our Virgin of Coromoto, so that our apostolate of public opinion may reach more and more people, and so that we may, as Saint Josemaría used to say, “wrap the whole world in paper” that helps us be better. We are sure God will take care of fulfilling our dreams, and many more!