Fr. Richard Ho Lung - Diary Of A Ghetto Priest THIS MONTH we celebrate Emancipation Day and our country's Independence. We are reminded every year at this time of our struggle for freedom and self-rule. We rejoice at the well-deserved fruits of this struggle and we delight at being a sovereign nation. Jamaica is indeed our land we love.
In the scriptures we see Moses leading the Israelites out of captivity to the promised land. The journey, however, was not an easy one. There were great hardships, trials and difficulties and in addition, Moses had to endure the complaints and ingratitude of the people. Before they reached their final destination the chosen people had to learn many difficult lessons in their lives and undergo a process of purification.
In our own little nation we see a similar ingratitude to God despite the many good gifts we have received from Him. We have been emancipated and have become independent politically but we are still slaves to sin. As long as sin exists this image of Jamaica, our own promised land, is tainted.
How do we make this vision of Jamaica come true? The preeminent quality of the inhabitants of the promised land is holiness. We should desire holiness with all our hearts and work hard to achieve it. We must learn to forgive others just as the father forgave his son and as we expect others to forgive us. We should not be resentful like the older son but instead should look on the weak with compassion and mercy. And finally we need to show true contrition and sorrow for our wrongdoings. This parable encourages us to search for those who are lost, like the prodigal son, to show them love and compassion.
RUNNING
In the ghettoes where we live we see children, who should be in school, running around on the streets, young girls barely in their teens with big bellies, and healthy young men sitting on street corners whiling away their time. Sad old women with little scandal bags come to us every week for packages of food; sometimes this is the only thing they will live on until the next food line. Where is the promised land now? The rich and middle class are preoccupied with their businesses, with the future of their children, and with the threat to their standard of living in an unstable economy. Where is the promised land?
Here in the inner city, we, the Missionaries of the Poor organise food lines to supply the very destitute with weekly rations of food. We have built houses in the ghettoes, we take care of the homeless and abandoned and above all we seek to bring Christ into their lives. In our homes there is so much joy, laughter, peace and a sense of the sacred around us. Here is the promised land!
When we come together and live in the way God wants us to, when we share our lives, our time, talents and treasure with each other, when we are willing to lay down our lives for our sisters and brothers, we can truly say we live in the promised land. Let us share this vision and help to make it come true by doing what little we can wherever we are and whatever our situation in life might be. Is there a sacrifice you can make which would benefit a needy person? Can you give up watching television for one hour a week and volunteer your services at one of our homes for the homeless and destitute or at any other local charity? Can you do without the latest fashions or make-up and give to the homeless? Can you cut down on smoking and drinking and spend the time instead with a lonely relative or elderly person? Every sacrifice you make for others brings joy to God our Father in heaven and brings us closer to our destination.
If we do what we can with a spirit of selflessness, like the selflessness of Christ on the Cross, we will truly be able to say with pride, "Here is my promised land!" To my fellow Jamaicans, I wish you a blessed Independence Day and a year ahead of peace, mercy and justice for all.
Fr. Richard Ho Lung is founder and Superior-General of The Missionaries of The Poor.
