9th day
We walk together
When committing ourselves to serving people in precarious situations, we realize that we are embarking on a path of conversion together, changing our perspectives and transforming our heart. Encountering people living on the streets, those without financial resources, or those who are sick, weak, or vulnerable, bring us back to what is essential, helps us to put difficult situations into perspectives, and allows us to see things with realism and compassion.
In this sense, Pope Leo XIV, invites us to see how we are evangelized by the poor: ‘‘It is a surprising experience, attested to by Christian tradition, and one that becomes a true turning point in our personal life, when we realize that it is precisely the poor that evangelize us. In what way? In the silence of their condition, they confront us with our weakness.’’[1].
In Between-Us, Pentecost 2020 issue, Sister Mary Okpeh, a Spiritan Sister testifies, when on Mission in Dolisie, Congo: ‘‘Working at the Dispensary opened me up more and more to the suffering of people, due to illness or poverty. Witnessing this suffering, strengthened and encouraged me in my apostolate’’. Cf. ‘Between Us’ Pentecost 2020, n° page 16.
Sister Lucilina Ribeiro Tavares, involved in the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, shared this Spiritan conviction during her mission to Nigeria: ‘‘Sharing the Good News to the poor is not simply preaching the Word of God to them, but most important is the sacrifice made to leave our comfort zone, to share our time, our talents, our spiritual and material gifts with them, in order to alleviate their sufferings. Jesus identifies Himself with these little ones, the most vulnerable. They are the hidden face of the Crucified one. Can we recognize Him in them? It is not easy, but ultimately, this is what we will be judged on’’. Cf. ‘Between Us’ Pentecost 2020, n° page 23.
Prayer to be said together
Let us pray that the fear of God may constantly dwell in our hearts, so that we may be ready to serve our most vulnerable brothers and sisters, to walk with them, as if Jesus Himself were at our side. ‘‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me’’. Matthew, 25, 40.
[1] Cf. ‘‘I have loved you’’, Dilexi te, Apostolic Exhortation on love to the poorest, Pope Leo XIV, 2025, n°109.