Richard Ho Lung - DIARY OF A GHETTO PRIEST"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him" (Ephesians 1:3-4).
EVERY MAN and woman has been called to holiness. In the depths of ourselves there is a yearning to be morally perfect in the eyes of God and our fellowmen. In our hearts we want to be good, pure and perfect; if we do not obtain that something within us our feelings, our minds, our consciences cry out. We want to be like our Lord, we are made to His image and likeness. We desire in the depths of ourselves to be like Christ, our true brother, our Saviour, our true self.
Holiness pertains to goodness or godliness. There is no one who is perfectly holy but God. But we do partake in God's holy life as His sons and daughters. The truest of holy persons is the Lord who died on the cross for our sins, for our weaknesses: our pride, our lust, our covetousness, our anger, our envy, our hatred, our sloth spiritual as well as physical and our gluttony for food and drink. Holiness is His crucifixion, His blood poured out for us, His wounded flesh. Christ triumphed over all suffering, all the wickedness of man. He remained the innocent Lamb laid on the altar of sacrifice, the world of suffering. And, He never complained because He knew that His self-sacrifice, His death for us sinners was in accordance with the will of the Father and that it would redeem us from sin.
SIN
Jesus taught us to suffer on behalf of others. This is the way of holiness. Sin is always self-centred and selfish: it is always grounded in self-satisfaction, self-preservation, power and the desire for pleasure. Like Satan we assert "I" "me" "myself" above others and finally above God. We do not care about others. We use and abuse others. We turn a blind eye on others. In word and action we ignore the needs of others.
Holiness, on the other hand, asserts others, not "me." In the vocabulary, thought and action of the holy One, there is concern for others. The holy Man seeks "Thou" the will of the Father; He concerns Himself with the poor, with the forgotten ones, with the stranger, even with the enemy, more than Himself. Though we had offended Him with our sins and weaknesses; though we are responsible for our own lies and cruelty and irresponsibility to our own family members and friends, Christ takes on to Himself the punishment due to us and cries out to the Father, "Forgive them for they know not what they do." He opened the gates of heaven by His self-sacrificing love and death, so that the Father's compassion is now offered to us: Christ has ransomed us from hell and condemnation.
Christ is "unblamable in holiness before our God" (1 Thessalonians 3:13); we are called to be likewise before Him. It's what makes us happy, it's what makes us joyous, it's what makes us free. With a free conscience we can stand before men and God; with a pure heart we can pray before the altar; with an unstained heart and mind we can go to bed at night and rest in the arms of the Lord in the presence of the Father and the angels in heaven.
Holiness requires that the definition of our love be self-sacrificing. In the Missionaries of the Poor, we seek as best as we can a life of giving without self-seeking. There cannot be any money, goods, or power given in return for our service of the poor or one another in community. We cook, clean, wash, build, sew, apply medicines, encourage one another, correct, teach, and advise one another without any material reward. Our pockets are empty. We live in dormitories. We pray together for four hours daily. We share the Scripture. As Christ lives in community with His disciples we live together in community with our fellow brothers and priests, under vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and free service of our poor and homeless brothers and sisters.
OUTCASTS
In our service of the abandoned, whether we are in Jamaica, Haiti, India, The Philippines or Uganda, we also build community among the poor. Whether they be children, old folk, retarded, or victims of AIDS, we teach our people to think "other," that is, God, and others who are homeless and destitute, although each of our poor is in great need. Our poor are outcasts of their families and friends. They are the forgotten ones. They need community. They need others to love and to be loved. All our poor are asked to cook, clean, tidy the rooms, comb out another's hair, cut each other's toenails, feed one another, and pray for one another. Thus our poor seek holiness in service of one another, just as the Brothers seek holiness by serving one another in community and the poor. This is the principle on which all our homes for the homeless are built.
Though we are strangers to one another, we Brothers and priests are bonded together very deeply in Christ. We all have faults and weaknesses. We often speak different languages. We are of different races and colours and ages, but we have an absolute love for Christ and the poor. Thus all differences are resolved in Jesus, His words and His ways, through a process of correction.
We will live together, work together, go on missions together; we pour out our lives for God, for one another and the poor. This is our ideal. This is our purpose in life. In our prayers, daily we communicate with the Lord and seek His life under our skin, in our own minds and hearts. Indeed, we want to be Christ for one another so that His flesh and blood are in us, and His spirit of holiness and goodness becomes ours.
MATERIAL CONCERNS
We call the laity to holiness also. Indeed, we have many friends who are holy. We believe husbands and wives and their children are also called to holiness. They too can "take up their cross daily and follow Him." They too can bond together in love, work and pray together, and serve the poor.
Though there are material concerns and worldly matters, jobs and payment and the need to build and run a house, the laity can love selflessly and have a deep spirit of service of God, one another, the poor, and our nation. In fact, it is the only way our world can be one of genuine love. As Christ says, "My commandment is this: love one another as I have loved you." If we are willing to serve one another rather than self, you will have the happiest of family lives and indeed, your light will shine for others to see and live as a holy people, destined to live with God and all the saints forever and ever.
Father Ho Lung is Founder and leader of the Missionaries of the Poor.
