On Friday, June 16th, Sr. Elsa, Harvey Homan, Amy O’ Mullan, Lynne Vreeland and I will be
traveling to visit the parish of St. Paul in the region of Nanpol, Haiti. I am sure that we will return with
many stories and experiences. For me this will be a return to Haiti as I had travelled there several times
before while assigned at other parishes in our diocese that had twinned with Haitian parishes. It is timely
that as we go Pope Francis released on Wednesday his message for the First World Day of the Poor, which
will be celebrated in November of this year. Pope Francis has done much to raise our awareness of the
responsibility of the church to the plight of the poor. In establishing this First World Day of the Poor Pope
Francis hopes that it “should become a powerful appeal to our consciences as believers, allowing us to grow
in the conviction that sharing with the poor enables us to understand the deepest truth of the Gospel. The
poor are not a problem: they are a resource from which to draw as we strive to accept and practice in our
lives the essence of the Gospel.” In following the tradition of his predecessors who also established
particular days to focus on a variety of ministries/devotions with the Church, for example World Day of
Peace, World Day of Prayer for Vocations, and others, Pope Francis wrote a letter to help us place the day in
a particular context for our study, reflection and implementation. We will look at this letter more closely in
the months ahead.
In that letter he wrote the following: “We may think of the poor simply as the beneficiaries of our
occasional volunteer work, or of impromptu acts of generosity that appease our conscience. However good
and useful such acts may be for making us sensitive to people’s needs and the injustices that are often their
cause, they ought to lead to a true encounter with the poor and a sharing that becomes a way of life. Our
prayer and our journey of discipleship and conversion find the confirmation of their evangelic authenticity
in precisely such charity and sharing. This way of life gives rise to joy and peace of soul, because we touch
with our own hands the flesh of Christ. If we truly wish to encounter Christ, we have to touch his body in
the suffering bodies of the poor, as a response to the sacramental communion bestowed in the
Eucharist. The Body of Christ, broken in the sacred liturgy, can be seen, through charity and sharing, in the
faces and persons of the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. Saint John Chrysostom’s admonition
remains ever timely: “If you want to honor the body of Christ, do not scorn it when it is naked; do not honor
the Eucharistic Christ with silk vestments, and then, leaving the church, neglect the other Christ suffering
from cold and nakedness” (Hom. in Matthaeum, 50.3: PG 58). We are called, then, to draw near to the
poor, to encounter them, to meet their gaze, to embrace them and to let them feel the warmth of love that
breaks through their solitude. Their outstretched hand is also an invitation to step out of our certainties and
comforts, and to acknowledge the value of poverty in itself.”
Truly we are blessed in so many ways. Jesus, according to the Gospel of St. Matthew, begins the
main body of his teaching with the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. Using the word Blessed, again
and again, Jesus lays out the pattern of true blessedness/happiness. As his disciples we are in turn called to
be a blessing for others. Establishing a partnership with a community of our brothers and sisters in the
poorest nation of our hemisphere, Haiti, is the work of discipleship and the Gospel. Certainly we will be
blessed in whatever efforts can be made on our part to help them in the face of radical poverty and harsh
conditions. The poverty of other nations is not like the poverty of our nation. Here there are many agencies,
both government and privately sponsored, to assist the needy of our nation. A nation like Haiti does not
have that support and most often it is, we the church, which provides the greatest relief and assistance to
those in need in impoverished nations. I look forward to developing this relationship.
As we celebrate and reflect on our blessings may we take time to honor and recognize fathers this
weekend. Today, God our Father, we ask your blessing on all fathers: for new fathers, coming to terms with
new responsibility; for those who are trying to balance the demands of work, marriage and children; for
those who have to struggle to be a part of their child's life; for those who are unable to feed their children
due to poverty; for those whose children have physical, mental or emotional disabilities; for those whose
child has been placed for adoption; for those whose love and support has offered healing; for those that have
adopted a child into their family; for those who have lost a child; for those who care for the children of
others; for those whose children have left home. Bless all fathers, that they may be able to commit
themselves selflessly as mentor, protector and provider, shaping the direction of their child's character by
giving love, care and guidance. Bless all fathers, that they may lead their children to know and do what is
good, living not for themselves alone, but for God and for others, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Happy Father’s Day.
Peace,
Fr. Richard