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Chilean miners wait to be raised from the underworld

29 Aug 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“God gives a home to the forsaken; he leads forth prisoners to prosperity,” the psalmist says this Sunday. Thirty-three Chilean miners trapped deep underground August 5 are holding onto hope for their eventual deliverance. Drilling an escape tunnel wide enough to release them may take as long as 3 or 4 months. For the miners’ loved ones, many of whom are camping in a makeshift tent city outside the mine, the news on Sunday that all 33 miners had somehow survived a mine cave-in on August 5 was nothing short of a miracle. The psalmist describes the rejoicing of the just this Sunday, and once the miners were reconnected to the outside world they used a modified telephone to sing Chile’s national anthem to the hundreds of teary-eyed relatives celebrating above. In Santiago, the capital, motorists honked their car horns and people cheered wildly on subway platforms. Before they were found, the miners had been surviving on two spoonfuls of tuna, a cup of milk, one cracker, and a bit of a peach topping eaten every two days, family members said. Psychologists are now preparing family members to speak to the miners for the first time, cautioning them not to become too emotional or mention the estimated timetable for the rescue, which government officials still hold out hopes can be reduced to as little as a month. In another week the men will have been trapped underground longer than any other miners in history. Last year three miners survived 25 days trapped in a flooded mine in southern China. Few other rescues have taken more than two weeks. Doctors warned the real challenge would be for the miners to maintain a healthy state of mind during the long period it could take to build an underground escape tunnel. Games and pasttimes were being organized to keep the men occupied and upbeat. Antenor Barrios cooked on a small grill for the three families he shares a tent with. His son Carlos, 27, is among the miners. “This was more than a miracle,” said Barrios, 48, of the news that the miners had been found alive. “It’s like being reborn again.” A note brought up from one of the miners said: “I want to tell everyone that I’m good and we’ll surely come out OK. Patience and faith. God is great and the help of my God is going to make it possible to leave this mine alive.” Source: Articles by Gideon Long for the Miami Herald, Federico Quilodran for the Associated Press, Andrew Hough for Telegraph.co.uk, and Alexi Barrionuevo for the New York Times

chile miners
Dramatic miner rescue operation grips worldwide audience

17 Oct 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Lord will guard our “coming and our going,” promises the psalmist this Sunday. After narrowly escaping death and spending more than two months trapped in a collapsed Chilean mine, 33 miners emerged one by one in a rescue capsule Wednesday in dramatic scenes watched around the world. Florencio Avalos, 31, was the first miner to make the journey from the underground chamber in the collapsed mine towards the surface. He stepped out of the missile-like rescue capsule with a broad smile on his face and embraced his family in an emotional scene. The second-in-command of the group of 33, he was chosen to make the journey before the others because he was in the best physical condition. The last of the Chilean miners, the foreman who held them together when they were feared lost, was raised from the depths of the earth Wednesday night--a joyous ending to a 70-day ordeal that riveted the world. No one has ever been trapped so long and survived. Luis Urzua ascended smoothly through 2,000 feet of rock, completing a 22 1/2-hour rescue operation that unfolded with remarkable speed and flawless execution. The miners were trapped by tons of fallen rock in early August. They survived by rationing limited food supplies and living on two spoonfuls of tuna and a sip of milk per man every 48 hours. No one knew if they were alive or dead until an exploratory borehole reached them and a dramatic note made its way to the surface: “We are well in the refuge--the 33.” “We have lived a magical night, a night we will remember throughout our lives, a night in which life defeated death,” declared Chilean President Sebastian Piñera early in the rescue operation. Piñera was joined at the site by Bolivian President Evo Morales, who arrived to greet the only foreigner trapped in the collapsed mine, Bolivian Carlos Mamani. As he surfaced, Mamani pointed to a Chilean flag on his T-shirt and shouted, “Gracias, Chile!” "We have prayed to San Lorenzo, the patron saint of miners, and to many other saints so that my brothers Florencio and Renan would come out of the mine all right. It is as if they had been born again," said Priscila Avalos. One of her brothers was the first miner rescued, and the other emerged later in the evening. Group spokesman Mario Sepulveda erupted from the rescue capsule as if he had scored a winning goal in the World Cup, hugging everyone, handing out rock souvenirs brought up from the mine, and leading the onlookers in a victory chant of “Long live Chile!” In one of many memorable quotes from the emerging miners, Sepulveda said, “I’ve been near God but I’ve also been near the devil. They fought but God won.” Source: Article by Chris Kraul for the Los Angeles Times, Peter Hutchison, Bonnie Malkin and Andy Bloxham for Telegraph.co.uk, Michael Warren for Associated Press, a blog post by Trevor Persaud for Christianity Today, and an article by BBC

chile miners rescue florencio avalos mario sepulveda
Homily stories

23 Oct 2016 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Among the themes explored in the movie The 33, based on the ordeal of the 33 Chilean miners trapped 2,300 feet below ground for 69 days after a mine collapse, are forgiveness and humility. In the first hours after the collapse, the minors choose a one-man, one-vote democracy to elect their leaders, pool resources, and ration food very sparingly in order to survive for as many days as possible. When the government-sponsored rescue workers finally drill a narrow hole that reaches the miners, the people on the surface begin to learn the story of the miners’ ordeal and survival. The chosen spokesperson for the miners, Mario Sepúlveda, with his charismatic personality, becomes an immediate media darling. Suddenly everyone wants to know more about “Super Mario.” When the miners learn that Mario is being lionized and the other miners’ personal foibles and problems are being exploited, they become angry and resentful. Mario reacts with shock and outrage. He moves away from the group and waits alone to be rescued. But after several days in isolation, Mario realizes that family is everything, and his family now includes the other 32 miners, who will be forever his brothers. As he later tells reporters: “I was with God, and with the devil—and God took me.” Torn between exaltation and humility? Take it from the exalted 33 who spent hundreds of hours in a hole in the ground thinking about it: Humility is the choice of true heroes.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

chile miners Humility Forgiveness

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