No matter where we go, poverty is poverty, misery is misery, injustice is injustice. Now I am in the Far East Island of the Philippines; a few months ago I was in Brazil. In a couple of months I will be in another Island far west, Haiti. Next week I will be in downtown Chicago.
It doesn’t matter where we go — Haiti, Mexico, Brazil, Chicago or here in the middle of the slums in the Philippines — the suffering Christ is everywhere; we just need to open our hearts to see it.
One will think that after seeing it so much, one will become numb to it. But for me it is the opposite. My heart aches and starts burning, the zeal grows, the impotence of not doing more kills me, the desire to do something grows stronger and stronger.
I want to conquer the world, end poverty, build a civilization of justice and love…but then reality hits. I’m one small, tiny (for those who know me, this is in a literal sense) poor consecrated women with nice and kind ideas, or like someone told me recently: a dreamer and idealist. But that will be it: nice dreams.
Discouragement arises, the enemy starts having a feast of negativity, disillusion arrives. But after some prayer, reflection and talking to the Big Guy, all starts to clear out, the gloomy clouds start to vanish and the sun starts to shine. The purpose of your and my baptismal call starts to unfold.
We are called to be salt of the earth and light of the world. We are called to be the saints of tomorrow. We are called to be the builders of the Church, living stones like St. Peter said. We can do that in a literal way, in a Mission Youth summer mission here in the Philippines or in Haiti or Mexico, but also, and more important, we can do that in a figuratively way by being who we are called to be, men and women who live and preach the Gospel of love, of justice, of freedom, of self giving.
We need to live the ordinary days in an extraordinary way, and that can be as simple as smiling, saying a kind word to the clerk at the gas station, by being witness of our Catholic beliefs in a pagan world; like Pope Francis’s challenge to young people in Brazil, “Go with no fear and serve”.
