Richard Ho Lung - DIARY OF A GHETTO PRIESTTHERE IS in the heart of every person, a desire to
be alone with God. Monasticism does not imply loneliness; it signifies the depth of self yearning to be engaged fully with the Lord without interference or mediation. It is the search for that tranquil moment of encounter with God when there is nakedness before our Maker, where all masks, all pretences are stripped away. Then we are before the Master as we are, seeking the truth of ourselves, the truth about God, and in search of union with Him in love.
This leads to ecstasy, to a mystical union with our Creator. It is the consummate moment in human life beyond any experience that can be had between the Maker and the individual, beyond any pleasure to be gotten in this world. This can only happen when we are alone with God. In the monastic life, we seek that union with God above all. Most of the times all of us seek the Lord through a glass darkly, that is, through our senses, this physical body of ours, which are so much encased in the flesh, its passions and feelings. Thus we cannot see God clearly. That is why it is said, "If anyone sees God face to face, shall die." The monk seeks the face of God all day long, especially in our prayer. The Missionaries of the Poor (MOP) are monastic but for our apostolate.
PRAYERS
We have prayers close to four hours daily. Our apostolate is the homeless and destitute, and at our centres we have tried and will continue to try to make them pilgrim centres where Christ or the face of God can be met in the poor and our works with the poor, where the suffering and resurrected Christ shines forth to all who visit and work there. Thus our apostolates are not a departure from our monasteries but become an extension and a variant of it. At our monasteries we find God in our prayer, and in our chapels where Christ resides in the Blessed Sacrament. Also, we find Christ constantly in community where we pray together, work together, keep silence together and converse about Christ in the Scriptures and in this precious life the Lord has given us.
We do not go out and visit families or friends at night. Rather, we stay home to read, pray, work and discuss the Lord. We have areas of our house that are in sacred silence, and at 9:15 p.m. after Night Prayers we are in silence until 5:30 am when we rise daily. Our lives are very much concentrated on Christ, the heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit. We are well aware that we cannot come to know God unless we pray intensely. Every novice goes on 40 days of profound prayer in silence under the direction of a Master of Novices. Thereafter every Brother makes an annual retreat of 8 days in profound silence. There are three triduum per year, again in profound silence and prayer. There are monthly days of prayer, and, as I mentioned, daily prayers for four hours daily in community.
Because we are a new community, many do not understand why our lives are different from that of other wonderful priests and sisters who are wonderful servants of the Lord. We are monastic and want to be monastic. We are in the world but not of the world. We want to protect our life of prayer and our life in community in a most concentrated way. It cannot be done unless we are a deeply united family of God through prayer, community life, and separation from the world, even family and friends. You would find, for instance, that there is a deep sense of God's presence in our monasteries because of our rule not to go out at night (but for our apostolates and only with permission). This has led to deep sharing, knowledge and love for God and one another, a union of hearts and minds through our Constitutions and Regulations. Most importantly, we are happy and we love the Lord with our whole heart and mind and soul.
There are many visitors who come to our monasteries and our centres for our homeless and destitute. They visit our homes and apostolates in Uganda, Haiti, India, and Naga and Cebu in the Philippines. They also come to our homes in Jamaica. They pray with us and they experience the Lord. They are humbled as we are by the poor. Visitors come and live in our quarters for volunteers almost throughout the year: sometimes in greater numbers, sometimes less. Our visitors and pilgrims, like ourselves, we have found are seeking the face of God. We are a monastic community in the ancient sense of our community providing centres for prayer, spirituality and renewal. People have come to us with troubles, some are just discouraged, some feel they might lose their faith, some simply enjoy our worship and our works. We are an open community: people are most welcome.
BROTHERS TAKING VOWS
Soon we will be having some grand celebrations of Brothers taking vows - it will be the second occasion for the same this year, June 19 at 4:00 p.m.. We joyfully welcome you if you wish to attend our worship and our celebrations. It is free of cost. Just call us at 948-0287 or 948-6173. Topics will be given on the Laity and Mission by our Brothers who are coming from all over the world. Known as the "Jamaican Brothers" because our headquarters are in Jamaica, our overseas missions are also funded from our offices in Jamaica. This shows the tremendous generosity of our people, as well as our friends and benefactors who support us in Jamaica from overseas.
Our fourth vow of free service to the poorest of peoples has made us so dependent on God and the people of God that we are filled with wonder and a sense of gratefulness at His pleasure and benevolence towards us. Monasticism is something I learned from elements of my early Jesuit training. I find that MOP community and myself are seeking it more and more. We do not take a vow of stability, that is, to stay in one monastery all the days of our life, but are missionary. In its purest form, we would not therefore be monastic. But the spirit of our monasteries in Jamaica is monastic and likewise many of our habits of life give witness to the same monasticism.
Father Ho Lung is Founder and leader of the Missionaries of the Poor.
