Juan era un muchacho muy bien educado, trabajador y con la enorme responsabilidad de ayudar a su madre con sus 4 hermanos menores, por lo que a edad muy temprana tuvo que dejar la escuela para poder llevar el pan a la mesa.

Como su madre era muy devota a la Virgen, le enseñó a Juan que un acto sagrado era ir todos los domingos a la misa, sin importar lo que pasara. Así lo cumplía Juan, cada Domingo antes de salir el sol, ya estaba vestido con su mejor ropa y desayunando para ir a la misa.

Una mañana, en plena misa dominical, el sacerdote comienza a dar su sermón y menciona que los hijos naturales, los hijos que no nacían dentro de un matrimonio bendecido por la iglesia eran hijos del pecado y que por lo tanto él les pedía que no regresaran a la casa de Dios. Les pidió aquella mañana, que se pusieran de pie y abandonaran la iglesia.

Juan sentía que el espacio de la catedral comenzaba a reducir su tamaño y los muros empedrados lo asfixiaban. Sentía la cara roja y la vergüenza de que todos los feligreses voltearan a verlo era como sentir una aguja tatuando lentamente en su frente "hijo del pecado". El padre de Juan nunca quiso casarse con Eva, una hermosa mujer que se enamoró y creyó las mentiras de aquel hombre que la embarazó y se fue, después de esto Eva redujo sus posibilidades de casarse ya que era joven y tenía un hijo no reconocido por su padre, así que sus romances eran clandestinos y entre mentiras y promesas que nunca se cumplieron tuvo de la misma forma a los hermanos de Juan. Podría decirse que simplemente Eva no tuvo suerte en la vida y ahora con lo único que contaba era con el apoyo de Juan para sostener a la familia. No eran malas personas. No merecían ser expulsados de la iglesia.

Juan se levantó, con la cabeza metida entre sus hombros y mirando las baldosas de granito pulido, salió de aquel templo. Lo siguieron otros hijos del pecado y se reunieron en el atrio de la iglesia a comentar lo sucedido.

Nadie podía creer lo que había pasado, ahora eran excomulgados por los errores de sus padres y no podrían recibir la bendición de la eucaristía. Se sentían confundidos y se preguntaban ahora qué iban a hacer?

María Luisa caminaba en círculos dándose golpes en el pecho y repitiendo "por mi culpa, por mi culpa, por mi gran culpa". Isaías le intentaba explicarle a su hijo que no podría regresar a recibir clases de catecismo ya que si él fue expulsado de la iglesia su descendencia tampoco era bienvenida en la casa de Dios.

Juan, en cambio, estaba tranquilo y trató de transmitir a sus compañero esa tranquilidad. Miró al cielo y como inspirado por la providencia les dijo que esta situación no sería por mucho tiempo. Todos se miraron y le preguntaron que cómo sabía él esto?, A lo que Juan respondió que ellos no eran los que estaban actuando indebidamente y que todo lo que se haga de mala voluntad en esta vida se paga.

Regresaron todos cabizbajos a sus casas. Así pasaron los meses y "los hijos del pecado" se reunían cada domingo a escuchar la palabra de Dios desde el parque que estaba frente a la iglesia. Y desde lejos se sentían purificados después de la eucaristía.

Para cuando llegaron las fiestas patronales, la gente estaba muy entusiasmada en el pueblo. La algarabía se podía sentir el día que tuvieron que llevar a la Virgen a desfilar por las calles. La procesión, la encabezaba el párroco que vestía con aquel hermoso traje que humildemente las ancianas de la comunidad bordaron a mano para él. Pero parece que la humildad solamente la portaba en el traje, ya que la arrogancia y la amargura se podía notar a simple vista en la expresión de la cara del sacerdote.

Al salir de la iglesia, el sacerdote vio que en el parque se encontraban reunidos lo "los hijos del pecado", dijo unas palabras para iniciar el desfile y cerró con una frase hiriente:

-"Que entren al templo de Dios, solamente aquellos dignos que obren con el amor y no los que nacieron y viven en el pecado"-

Desfilaron por todas las calles. El sol y el calor se apoderaron de los feligreses que cargaban la Virgen en hombros. Por más que tomaran agua sus cuerpos se sentían débiles y algunos no podían más. El párroco insistió en seguir hasta llegar a la iglesia, parecía que se le dificultaba respirar pero el orgullo de aquel hombre era tan grande que no causó ni sospechas de su malestar.

Subieron a la Virgen por las escaleras del atrio de la iglesia y el sacerdote se desmayó antes de pisar la entrada del templo. Los que estaban a su alrededor intentaron ayudarle pero era muy tarde. El párroco había perdido la vida trás un infarto fulminante. Y no pudo volver a entrar al templo, a la casa de Dios.

Toda la comunidad quedó impactada con la noticia y el grupo de expulsados estaba aterrado, las palabras de Juan se habían cumplido, no fue por mucho tiempo la situación de su expulsión.

Al domingo siguiente, un sacerdote fue asignado para la comunidad y al dar inicio a la misa, la tercera banca del lado derecho del templo estaba llena de "los hijos del pecado" que estaban felices por poder recibir una vez más la bendición dominical.

Juan was a very well educated, hardworking boy with the enormous responsibility of helping his mother with his 4 younger siblings, so at a very young age he had to leave school in order to put bread on the table.

As his mother was very devoted to the Virgin, she taught Juan that a sacred act was to go to mass every Sunday, no matter what. So Juan complied, every Sunday before sunrise, he was already dressed in his best clothes and having breakfast to go to mass.

One morning, in the middle of Sunday mass, the priest began to give his sermon and mentioned that the natural children, the children who were not born in a marriage blessed by the church, were children of sin and therefore he asked them not to return to the house of God. He asked them that morning to stand up and leave the church.

Juan felt the cathedral space begin to shrink in size and the cobblestone walls were suffocating him. He felt red in the face and the embarrassment of all the parishioners turning to look at him was like feeling a needle slowly tattooing on his forehead "son of sin ". Juan's father never wanted to marry Eva, a beautiful woman who fell in love and believed the lies of that man who impregnated her and left, after this Eva reduced her possibilities of marrying since she was young and had a son not recognized by her father, so her romances were clandestine and between lies and promises that were never fulfilled she had Juan's brothers in the same way. It could be said that Eva simply had no luck in life and now the only thing she could count on was Juan's support to sustain the family. They were not bad people. They didn't deserve to be kicked out of the church.

Juan stood up, with his head tucked between his shoulders and looking at the polished granite tiles, he left that temple. He was followed by other children of sin and they gathered in the atrium of the church to comment on what had happened.

No one could believe what had happened, now they were excommunicated for the errors of their parents and could not receive the blessing of the Eucharist. They were confused and wondered what they were going to do now?

Maria Luisa walked in circles beating her chest and repeating "because of me, because of me, because of my fault, because of my great fault ". Isaiah was trying to explain to his son that he could not return to receive catechism classes because if he was expelled from the church, his descendants were not welcome in God's house either.

John, on the other hand, was calm and tried to transmit this tranquility to his companions. He looked up to heaven and, as if inspired by providence, told them that this situation would not last long. They all looked at each other and asked him how he knew this, to which Juan replied that they were not the ones who were acting improperly and that everything done with ill will in this life would be paid for.

They all returned home with their heads down. Months went by and "the children of sin " gathered every Sunday to listen to the word of God from the park in front of the church. And from afar they felt purified after the Eucharist.

By the time the patronal feast arrived, the people were very excited in the village. The excitement could be felt the day they had to take the Virgin to parade through the streets. The procession was led by the parish priest who was dressed in that beautiful costume that the old women of the community had humbly hand embroidered for him. But it seems that the humility was only in the costume, since the arrogance and bitterness could be seen at a glance in the expression on the priest's face.

When leaving the church, the priest saw that in the park were gathered the "the children of sin ", he said a few words to start the parade and closed with a hurtful phrase:

-"Let only those worthy who work with the love of God enter the temple of God and not those who were born and live in sin "-.

They paraded through the streets. The sun and the heat took over the parishioners who carried the Virgin on their shoulders. No matter how much water they drank, their bodies felt weak and some of them could no longer bear it. The parish priest insisted on continuing until they reached the church, it seemed that it was difficult for him to breathe, but the man's pride was so great that he did not even cause suspicion of his discomfort.

They took the Virgin up the stairs of the atrium of the church and the priest fainted before stepping into the entrance of the temple. Those around him tried to help him but it was too late. The parish priest had lost his life after a fulminating heart attack. And he could not re-enter the temple, the house of God.

The whole community was shocked by the news and the group of those expelled was terrified, the words of John had been fulfilled, it was not for long the situation of their expulsion.

The following Sunday, a priest was assigned to the community and when the mass began, the third pew on the right side of the church was filled with "the children of sin " who were happy to receive the Sunday blessing once again.

This is my entry to Hispaliterario 6 / Hive-in-movement invite @tere.alv and @nellyhope to participate.