MIRROR News – Issue May 2018 by ACN Malta

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www.acnmalta.org

No 4 • May 2018 Published eight times per year

“Whenever we make the

God will provide… Mission boat in Brazil. Each boat has its own motto.

effort to return to the source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of creativity open up, more eloquent signs and

words with new meaning for today’s world.” Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium

In a Brazilian fisherman’s village someone asked the question, “Why was it that Jesus chose fishermen as apostles?” One of the fishermen responded, “People who travel on the land build roads, and they continue to use these roads over and over again. But a fisherman goes searching for the fish wherever they are. And so he chooses a different path each day. For it often happens that yesterday’s route doesn’t lead to the fish of today.” It is people like these, who have left behind comfortable lives to become fishers of men, that our charity is there to support. Mission is neither a matter of enlisting members, nor a form of customer service, based on cleverly devised plans and strategies. “Mission is an issue of faith, an accurate indicator of our faith in Christ and his love for us,” writes Saint John Paul II in his encyclical letter Redemptoris Missio. The aim of mission is not to make the Church bigger, nor to boost its income, nor even to increase its influence. It is simply and solely about guiding people’s eyes and hearts towards Jesus. For in him alone God

has revealed himself for all time as what he truly is, namely love. Mission means guiding people to become disciples of Jesus. A disciple is a follower of Jesus, someone who lives in friendship with him, believes in him and makes his words the compass of his own life. The fruit of mission is redemption, a new life of dignity and meaning.

an industrialist, I first of all made forecasts, plans, projections. I thought about money and banks in relation to the funding of the project. Everything followed according to a mathematical logic, and I was beset with many worries. But slowly I realised that when we are dealing with God, the accounts are settled in an altogether different manner. Only round 10 percent of the population are The number of people who do not know able to pay for medical services, roughly 40 Jesus is growing steadily. Even in our own percent have some form of health insurance, Christian lands very few people know why but the rest cannot afford treatment. And so I learned that in order for a hospital for the poor to function “God wills to cover the properly, it must always be ‘in enormous deficit of faith deficit’.”

through our missionary zeal.”

and how we believe. So our mission is needed in all times and all places. The greater the missionary need, the greater our need for the courage to trust in the word of the Lord and “walk on water”. Marcello Candia (1916-1983), an Italian businessman and entrepreneur, who, at the age of 50, sold everything and went as a lay missionary to Brazil, recalls his missionary experience in building a hospital in Amazonia. “My whole way of thinking has changed,” he wrote, “As

Dear friends, ACN too is always ‘in deficit’, a shortfall that is constantly being replenished by you. God wills to cover the enormous deficit of faith, hope and love through our missionary zeal. The chances were never better than they are now. My grateful blessing on you all

Fr Martin Maria Barta Ecclesiastical Assistant 1

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n lisatio e g n a ew Ev The N

Everything begins with marriage and the family “Marriage is the icon of God’s love for us. Indeed, God is also communion: the three Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit live eternally in perfect unity. And this is precisely the mystery of marriage: God makes of the two spouses one single existence.” This astonishing depth of the Sacrament of Matrimony requires some explanation. Pope Francis goes to the root of it in this quotation from Amoris Laetitia (121). This is just one reason why this apostolic exhortation, which also contains many practical pointers, now

First fruits: new seminarians, thanks not least to the family catechesis.

serves many dioceses as a guide for formation in the family apostolate. For three years now, the Greek Catholic Diocese of Oradea in Romania has explored the theme of marriage and the family in a programme designed for adults and young people. Intended in the first instance as a guide for their own lives, the programme also enables the participants to go into their parishes and explain the importance of marriage and the family – which is not just “the core of every social order” (as Pope Benedict XVI wrote), but moreover a place of hope, faith and love. Within the family we learn the value of life and love – and learn to act accordingly. Even after the first few years of family catechesis there has been an increase in the number of births. Vocations in the diocese have increased; more young men are hearing the call to the priesthood. And many people who had been distant from – or even hostile towards – the Church are beginning to become actively involved in parish life. This success has occurred even though the programme

contains topics with the potential to provoke resistance – for example “Serving in the Church and in the family”, or “Forgiveness and fraternal correction”. For many people the course is an opportunity for spiritual renewal and recovery and of encounter with like-minded people and the beginning of new friendships. There is great interest and the number of participants is growing – with over 2,000 people taking part already. There could be many more, but, given the minimum wage of €250 a month in Romania, many people cannot afford it. Bishop Virgil Bercea has therefore turned to us “with the humility of a beggar”, asking for an annual subsidy of €11,250 so that more future instructors can follow the training courses and spread the Good News further. We have promised him €10,000 for each of the next three years. For as Pope Francis says, “Family catechesis is of great assistance as an effective method in training young parents to be aware of their mission as the evangelisers of their own family.”

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Holidays with God – in Siberia The vast, wide, endless expanse of there is now a centre where people can meet openly and deepen their spiritual Siberia – a land of extremes. lives. In Kolion, another outstation, Father For the three Redemptorist priests, Father Pawel is working with the young people, Anthony from Ireland and Fathers Pawel creating a shrine to Our Lady at the church. and Andrzej from Poland, the vineyard of One high point of the spiritual life is the the Lord is in the midst of this expanse, in “Holidays with God”; some families – inKemerovo. This is where they work, sup- cluding children and young people – camp ported by four religious Sisters, Handmaids out in tents; meanwhile, other, larger famiof the Holy Spirit, in a parish the size of lies and single adults stay in a complex of one of the larger dioceses in Western Eu- small wooden cabins. They go on pilgrimrope. In one outlying centre of the parish, ages, rambles and excursions. Throughout Leninsk-Kuznetsky – where once Catholics it all, they enjoy spiritual refreshment. Of could only meet secretly to pray and only course, all of these activities would be imvery occasionally gather for Holy Mass – possible without a vehicle. We are helping 2

The parents go hiking, the children do handicrafts. Sister Susanna with the girls’ group.

with a contribution of €12,000, to keep the show on the road in this Siberian vineyard of the Lord.

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sport n a r t ral Pasto

Sowing the Word and eradicating poverty

“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel” (Mk 16:15) – like Father Gregory here in Kenya.

There can be few places on earth where the prayer to the Holy Spirit feels more concretely relevant than in the arid, desert-like region of northern Kenya. The diocese of Malindi is particularly dry, isolated and underdeveloped. There are no paved roads, only dirt tracks, no watercourses, merely boreholes here and there. No one can guarantee your security, as the arm of the law does not reach into this ar

region. And yet, here of all places, the Holy Ghost Fathers, or Spiritans, are striving to renew the face of the earth. For the people here are hungering and thirsting not only for physical food, water and medical help, but they are thirsting for God and yearning for the fire of his love. To keep “spirit and soul and body” (Thess 5:23) together, the Spiritans need a vehicle. “In fighting poverty, we are also sowing the Word of God”, says Father John Mbinda, the provincial Superior in the region. They are doing so by transporting gear for drilling the boreholes and by ferrying sick people and expectant mothers to the nearest clinic. By bringing schooling

projects, and enable the pastoral work of Aid to the Church in Need.

materials and essential food for schoolchildren, they are laying the groundwork for an enduring programme of “eradicating poverty and planting the Word of God in human hearts”. Many people in this region are hearing about the God of love for the first time. They are also bearing witness to the truth of faith in God. This is a mission to the ends of the earth. Father John is asking us to help with the tools he needs – in this case, a four-wheel-drive truck, costing €24,000. It will help the Spiritans in their mission to renew, if not the face of the earth, then at least the hopes of many people.

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“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit, and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth.”

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ga s c M a da

In all the huts and villages “The mission of the priest in the Church is irreplaceable. Therefore, even if in some regions there is a scarcity of clergy, it should never be doubted that Christ continues to raise up men who, like the Apostles, leaving behind all other work, dedicate themselves completely to the celebration of the sacred mysteries, to the preaching of the Gospel and to pastoral ministry.” Twelve years ago, when Pope Benedict XVI wrote these words for the World Day of Prayer for Spiritual Vocations, Father Dollin Mamonjibavy was still a schoolboy in Madagascar, preparing to enter the minor seminary in the diocese of Tolagnaro, to do his A-levels and then go on to study theology. Today he is in the first year of his priesthood, entirely devoted to the celebration of the sacred mysteries and to the pastoral ministry. His vocation is confirmation of that dedication to which Pope Benedict XVI was referring. For him this is expressed in particular through the Sacrament of the Sick – “I want to save souls” – and through visiting the elderly, whom he urges to pray for the sick and for the community. But of course in order to do this he needs to be mobile. Otherwise, he will be unable to reach the homes of the many Catholic faithful.

In the villages: the bishop and the missionary lead the children’s procession.

was profoundly impressed by the way in which “the foreign missionaries worked so tirelessly for the people, to encourage them to live worthily as creatures of God”. Like the apostles, they were there entirely for others, though almost invariably they had to speak to them through interpreters. So he prayed to God: “Make me a priest, so that I can guide this country and my people on the path to You.” He wanted to teach people love. Deacon Jean Nicolas Valesoa comes from a family where no one can read or write; his entire tribe, he says, lives “in the darkness that does not know our Lord”. On the same day that he was ordained, five Jean Nicolas used to follow the missionarseminarians were also ordained to the dia- ies through the bush; he was baptised at 14 conate. One of them was Bruno Sambo. He and then received Holy Communion for the

Newly ordained deacons: labourers for the harvest in Madagascar. 4

“Children praying the Rosary”: delighting in the booklet by ACN.

first time. He hopes to be able to return very soon to his people as a priest and bring them the light of the Gospel – in their own language. Much the same is true of their fellow deacons, Sacro Ratolojanaharindray, Brichard Ratiandrazana and Berthin Tsirahamba. They too want to bring the new dawn of the Good News into every corner of Madagascar. They know the people and they know the roads – which are almost non-existent, in fact they are little more than paths and dirt tracks. They need motorbikes, without which they will never reach all the huts and all the villages where the multitude is waiting. Like the crowds in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus saw them, “he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36). And then, turning to his disciples, Jesus adds: “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (9:37f). The same is true of our time and of the harvest in Madagascar. We have promised €21,500 for six motorbikes. So now these shepherds can go out, bringing health and healing to all the villages and towns in the diocese of Tolagnaro.

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a emal Guat

A missionary of love

Let the children come to me: Father Charitable and a confrere visiting the Qeqchi-Maya.

“I see the face of God in them”: Father Charitable celebrating Holy Mass.

“Loving God requires an interior freedom from all possessions and all material goods: the love of God is revealed in responsibility for others.” These words of Pope Benedict (from his encyclical letter Spe Salvi, 28) are the daily bread of missionaries. Father Charitable Derisseau of the congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary expands on them from his own experience: “A missionary makes himself small in order to embrace a new culture. In this way, he is constantly being born anew.” After 14 years in Mexico the priest, who is originally from Haiti, went to the parish of Mount Calvary, in the diocese of Verapaz, Guatemala, where he has been for five years. Most of the 17,000 or so Catholics in the parish are indigenous Indians of the Qeqchi-Maya people. Their culture needs the leaven of the Christian spirit. Father Charitable has little in the way of money or material possessions; he is inwardly free. And he feels a sense of responsibility for the Qeqchi-Maya people. Together with two of his confreres he travels through the 2,000 square-kilometre parish, visiting its 132 outstations in strict rotation, celebrating the Eucharist, administering the Sacraments and teaching the people catechism, mathematics, reading and writing. It is a perar

manent challenge for them. In many cases they can only travel on foot, given the mudfilled tracks and footpaths, since the old pickup can no longer cope with the rough dirt track roads. “I fall over and get up again, I learn to eat like the people, I learn to be patient, to endure cold and heat; I suffer and laugh with them, I rejoice at their successes and share their sorrows. I go from village to village and don’t ask where I am going to eat during the day or sleep at night. Sometimes I am simply overwhelmed by tiredness, at other times I am enraged at all the injustices done to our brothers and sisters – they have no schools, no electricity, no clean drinking water, no medical services. But it is all worthwhile, for I see in them the face of God.” For Father Charitable all these difficulties are the “loving caresses” of his mission. He loves his flock, and they love him. Through him they can feel the all-embracing love of Mother Church. Three quarters of them live below the poverty threshold, and violence in the region is increasing. Drug trafficking and organised crime have followed the long civil war that lasted into the late 1990s and

projects, and enable the pastoral work of Aid to the Church in Need.

Going out to the margins of society: Father Charitable with a local catechist.

which brought particular suffering to the Qeqchi-Maya. For them Father Charitable is a herald of love. “Wherever we arrive, there is a festive atmosphere.” It pains the missionary that he cannot get to the villages more often. With a new pickup truck he could cover the ground more quickly, train up more catechists and celebrate Holy Mass more frequently. We have promised him €14,000. It will be money well spent. The Immaculate Heart Missionaries have been in Guatemala for 63 years now. Many of them were abducted, tortured, murdered. Now the seeds of their love are beginning to germinate.

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For the Christians in Iraq What does a Pope do with a top-ofthe-range sports car? Pope Francis had no hesitation in auctioning the Lamborghini Hurricane he was given and sending part of the proceeds to ACN so that we could help the Christians of northern Iraq to return to their homes. The Iraqi Christians were moved and grateful. Chaldean Patriarch Raphael Louis I. Sako of Babylon commented: “This gesture is the embodiment of Christian charity with concrete deeds.” The Pope, he added, had not yet “been able to come to us, but sometimes the human and spiritual presence is more important than the physical”. The gesture is an encouragement for these Christians to return to their homes and churches in the Nineveh plains, now repaired with the help of ACN and “bear witness there to the Christian faith”, said the patriarch. “Our presence here is vital for the believers of all religions. For Christianity brings an element of openness, which promotes tolerance and opposes violence.”

Need, love and thanks − your letters United by the Cross Thank you to ACN for all the help that you are bringing to suffering Christians. You have indeed understood the words of Saint Paul that “If one member suffers, all suffer together”. This is precisely what ACN is asking of us Christians who are still living in freedom – to share what we have with those who hang on the cross on account of their faith. As it is their faith and their cross which carry us. And so, through you, we are intimately united with these Christians. A benefactor in France Child’s Bibles for Nigeria Speaking to a member of ACN, I discovered that the Child’s Bible you produce has been published in over 185 different languages, including Igbo. I told my friends in Nigeria about this, and just

before Christmas I received information that the 5,000 Child’s Bibles have now arrived in Nigeria. I am overjoyed to hear it! A benefactor in Switzerland An offer of free airtime Thanks to ACN, I have now found a way of fulfilling my duty and striving to help many people in many different places with their problems, people to whom I otherwise have no personal access. I have known about ACN for some years now and I would like to offer you a free slot on the radio channel “Romántica 1380 de AM” in Mexico City, on which I have a weekly programme entitled “The beauty of being Catholic”. And I am also sending you a regular financial contribution, which I hope to increase if my circumstances permit. A benefactor in Mexico

Thomas Heine-Geldern, Executive President, ACN (International)

Dear Friends,

Ever since my youth I have known about the Bacon Priest and his charity, ACN. In fact, for some years I have also been able to help ACN in Austria. Now I will be using my energies in support of this Pontifical Foundation worldwide. I ask your prayers in this endeavour, as without prayer nothing can succeed. It is and remains our foremost duty to help the Church wherever she is unable, materially speaking, to fulfil her pastoral vocation and wherever she is embattled, oppressed, persecuted or silenced. Thanks to your generous support, dear friends, it is possible for us to be signs of the love of God for his world for our threatened sisters and brothers, and so bring light into the darkness. My heartfelt thanks to you all for this! However, the darkness of this world is all around us in our own environment too. If we are to credibly live up to our responsibility for the Church in need, then each of us must be ready to pass on the light of our faith as a small beacon for Christ. And so my heartfelt plea to you all is this: let us not be reluctant or embarrassed followers of Christ, but let us rather give courageous witness to him! Sincerely,

Editors: Jürgen Liminski & Stephen Axisa Please use the envelope. Aid to the Church in Need, 39B Mdina Road, Publisher: Aid to the Church in Need, 39B Mdina Road, Attard ATD 9038 Attard ATD 9038; Tel: 21487818; Fax: 21586257 APS Bank, IBAN: MT72 APSB 7705 7008 5772 2000 1771 733 Printed in Malta BIC: APSBMTMT De licentia competentis auctoritatis Email: info@acnmalta.org – facebook//Aid to the Church in Need Malta Pass this leaflet on to your neighbours, friends or leave it at the Parish ecclesiasticae www.acnmalta.org Church for others to review.

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