DO GOOD WITHOUT LOOKING AT WHOM
Would it be coincidence or God’s Providence! It was in July that a group of young people composed by explorers and committed acolytes with God and the church, who belong to different parishes of Luanda, Angola’s capital city, that call to our door sent by Fray Jacob OP to share their spirituality, dream and wish to help people in need during this phase of the pandemic. Their motto is “do good without looking at whom.” It was a pleasure to receive those youngsters in our community because their spirituality make a beautiful combination with the phrase that our Founding Mother once uttered “we only do good when we love” and also with our charisma: “go and assist poor people, especially those in need.”
These youngsters arrived on a moment in which we, as community, were facing challenging moments, because we did not know what to do with people in need who were knocking on our door asking for help or something to eat. It could only be divine providence, the one that pays attention to all our needs and that sometimes passes around us without noticing it does everything for these youngsters to come. They support us by giving a basket to all the people in need, especially elders, blind people, orphans and other people who come to us. Every two weeks they offered themselves to make the basic food basket. They have been the “saviors” of these people for minimizing their food scarcity.
For us, as a formative community, it has been an experience that has helped us to answer a current concern, because we had to share our food with the people in need. It is not possible to send back home with empty hands someone who has come to your door asking for food. We recognize that this help towards poor people has helped us to answer as congregation and as a formative place. It is a form in which novices train for taking care and sensitizing towards poor people, especially those who even do not have anything to eat.
People who are assisted in our home every two weeks find in us welcoming sisters who are attentive to others’ necessities, especially to those who have limited faculties. Every time we have meetings for the distribution of the basic food basket, they never get tired of saying thanks to the sisters for paying attention to them.
At the same time, the group of youngsters “do good without looking at whom,” composed by more than ten people also express their gratitude for finding in us reception and it is through us that they can do their work, to be with identified and selected people as they would love to do it. This also facilitates their mission because they can use our space for working calmly and in trust.
Every request is still a challenge. We found in this service of working with youngsters the answer to many of our helplessness and the lack of possibilities to assist all the calls, especially when is about “giving food to those who are hungry and drink to those who are thirsty.” We see this request as an opportunity to recognize God’s presence walking around us. And nothing happens by coincidence, that is why we propose to ourselves to walk alongside our brothers to join what is useful to what is agreeable, what is Christian with the Charisma.
Let’s hope our Mother of the Rosary walks with us in this difficult moment of human history and that our 102nd anniversary that we are about to celebrate will bring us many benedictions and help us to look at the future with much hope! Amen!
Hugs,
Rita Joao.