“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” is the familiar cry of Jesus on the cross.
In our own lives, we may also sometimes feel abandoned, with hope seeming to disappear. As we cope with the serious illness of someone close to us. As we face economic challenges, perhaps even the loss of our job. In the gray loneliness that follows the death of a beloved wife or husband.
God does not abandon us
And yet, in the midst of our darkness, we remember that God did not abandon His beloved Son and the suffering of Good Friday transformed into the hope of our Lord’s Resurrection. God does not abandon us.
This was the message that Father Anthony wanted to bring to the poor and abandoned he saw wandering the streets in southern India. There were physically and mentally challenged adults and children, and others rejected by their own families — all without hope.
“We find our brothers and sisters in need, and bring them to this place,” Father Anthony explains, speaking of the village he established in his homeland. “Together, the Sisters and I offer all here the experience of God’s tremendous love for each one of us.”
Mission homes and families
The first three homes in the village opened in 2000; today there are seven homes where men, women, and children receive loving care. Children are given an education. Those once abandoned — frightened, alone — now live in hope.
Throughout the missions, there are many such stories — times when the service of local priests, Religious, and lay catechists brings renewed hope to the lives of the poor and suffering.
Consider, for example, our mission family in Jos, Nigeria. During last year, repeated conflicts in the area seemed to make peace — let alone hope — a far-removed reality. After one attack, in fact, Pope Benedict XVI prayed “to vigorously ask the Lord to touch the hearts of men and bring hope, reconciliation, and peace.”
The local church in Jos became the “bridge builder,” explained Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos, as the Catholic community helped more than 600 families affected by the fighting. The faithful reached out to those families with comforting prayers or just a listening ear.
At a Mass in Dogo Nahawa, where children and infants were brutally murdered in an attack, worshippers asked for forgiveness for those who had committed the violence.
Local priests and Religious Sisters organized the community to provide basic necessities for those in need, and distributed crop seedlings as well. They also reconstructed the area’s only health clinic, which had been destroyed in the fighting.
“The fact that life is gradually returning to normal in villages that lost so much is nothing short of a miracle of love,” Archbishop Kaigama said.
Renew love for God and neighbor
“We keep encouraging Christians not to lose faith in God nor be paralyzed by fear and anger, but rather to renew their love for God and neighbor,” Archbishop Kaigama concluded. “In Jos, every Catholic is called upon to be an agent of peace and reconciliation — and then hope will surely live.”
This Lent, through the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, you can be a part of “helping hope live” in India, in Nigeria, and throughout the missions.
I ask first for your prayers — your greatest gift! — to support and sustain the work of Father Anthony and the Sisters serving with him in India, of Archbishop Kaigama and all the faithful in Jos, as well as of local priests, Religious, and lay catechists throughout the Developing World.
Helping hope live
And too I ask your financial help. Perhaps you could offer $40, equal to $1 for each day of Lent? If you are able, could you give even more? Through your gift, you are telling the poor, “God will never abandon you” — and you are helping those who invite them to live in the hope of our Lord’s Resurrection!
Know that your own sufferings are also the prayer intentions of your brothers and sisters in the missions. May you and those you love experience abundant hope, peace, and great joy, especially at Easter!
Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer is director of the Propagation of the Faith for the Diocese of Madison. Contributions to the Propagation of the Faith may be made at the parish or may be sent to: P.O. Box 44983, Madison, WI 53744-4983.