During my visit to Chicago this past October, I spoke with many of you about the Messengers of Justice (MOJ) congregation and our ministry to impoverished widows and orphans. Our ministry is inspired by Jesus, the word of God made flesh (John 1:14), who emptied himself (Phil 2:6) into our poverty to enrich and dignify us in our fragile human condition.
In this self-emptying, Jesus makes himself the inward sign of the outward poor, where the poor become the sacraments of Christ. He is IN the least of his brothers and sisters as a sacrament to be revealed and celebrated. As He said, “whatever you did to the least of these brethren of mine, you did unto me.” [Mt. 25:35ff] So, in our service to those in our care, we encounter and serve the Lord.
Moreover, we also meet Jesus every day in the Eucharist, communal prayer and song, and in private devotion. Without these liturgical means of union with Christ, our strength to serve Him in His least brothers and sisters would wane. We, the MOJ community, therefore, have always been aware of our need to create a suitable environment for our own spiritual development and religious practice.
During my aforementioned visit to Chicago, YOU provided us with funds to liturgically furnish our formation house Chapel in Cameroon! Like Jesus, you emptied yourselves of wealth so that nothing we needed to worship God would be lacking. Our improved prayer environment will only help our ministry bear more fruit. On behalf of HEAL and the MOJ community, I thank you from the heart!
HEAL offered you this opportunity to invest in the sacrament of the poor so as to reap a heavenly reward. As St. Paul said, if we endure with the Lord, we shall reign with the Lord and if we die with the Lord, we shall rise with the Lord. [1 Tm 2:8-11] The reward for self-emptying comes in doing the Father’s will. [Jn. 17:20ff; Phil. 2:11]
Our work for the Lord has only just begun!