In this missionary month the Church encourages us again to be witnesses.
We, as missionaries present in various continents, are witnesses of a humanity that wants to live fully and be happy.
We are witnesses of the inequalities that are spread over all continents, of the accumulation by some who do not want to look towards their brothers and sisters, as well as the difficulties of many to have the most basic things.
But above all we are witnesses to the generosity and solidarity that exists among people. When we share the difficulties we also open ourselves to share the way out of it, to share the possibilities of improvement, to share what we have and above all what we are.
As humanity we need human warmth, one from another. This pandemic has forced us to physically separate ourselves at many times to protect ourselves, but we know that nothing is as comforting as an embrace. In an embrace we express closeness and complicity with each other’s lives, with each other’s suffering, with each other’s joys.
We witness how generosity emerges in the midst of difficulties. Of course, we are overwhelmed by the miseries to which so many people are subjected, but we cannot be paralyzed by this vision. We must not close our eyes but act.
But we cannot reduce the person to his or her difficulties and forget how much we have experienced in so many countries and with so many cultures. The generosity of those who offer everything they have, the openness of their homes to those who come from abroad, the joyful welcome of those who feel they are foreigners, the capacity for recovery and resilience that makes people go out every day to look for a better future for their families, the effort to study and learn every day….
That is why in this month when we turn our eyes to the mission we want to be witnesses of the God of Life, of how his Spirit becomes present and fills with Life the communities of the peripheries of the world. We want to be witnesses of Jesus of Nazareth who walks every day with those who need him most, even when sometimes we are not even able to perceive His presence.
We encourage all of you to take a step forward and commit ourselves to life. Life in abundance that Jesus brings to all humanity.
Let us each do our bit.
We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard. Acts 4,20. Alberto de la Portilla, CLM
