Yes, I am actually writing now, despite the fact that I have not caught up on all the work on my desk. But I thought I would just write a little update on what is happening here as well as answering a challenge thrown at me. Let me start with the update.

Believe it or not, I am not going to give an update about the political/security situation here. That becomes tedious after a while. I will talk about a few other things, things that keep life moving along in its own way. So let me start with a little about work. One of the unfinished jobs on my desk is budgets for the Archdiocesan Commissions. We have a Pastoral Plan with 13 Commissions, on everything from Liturgy to Education, from Vocations to Health, from Ecumenism to Catechetics and many others in between. I have the joy of coordinating their work. And it is the yearly budgets that are my biggest joy (tongue in cheek). Anyway, challenges are supposed to help people to grow. And the other challenge was the Pastoral Plan itself. We just finished a complete revision of it. I must say I am quite proud of it. It was a lot of work, but it guides the parishes to respond to the needs of the people, especially in light of the fact that there are so many needs. Just as an example, I mentioned Education above. One of the tasks of the Education Commission is to ensure that education in the Catholic schools is of good quality but it is also necessary to see how education can be provided for those who are poor.  And so it goes.

As for the work with Hope for the Village Child, that also continues to give its own challenge. We keep getting more and more work, e.g., people appreciating our health services so more patients keep coming. Unfortunately, many of our patients are not those with heavy pockets. But thanks to many of you, we can continue to provide services. The same is true in other areas. I have written about our work before so I won’t go more into that.

But let me tell you about the staff. They are quite amazing, really working hard and trying (sometimes with some little pushes from the ‘boss’) to live out our values. But at times it is so inspiring to see how, in spite of economic and security stress, they continue forward with resilience, often boosted by humour, laughter and just enjoyment. Recently we had our ‘Beginning of the Year Party.”  It is just an afternoon of getting together, sharing ideas and then a good meal and usually some dancing. But each year I have been doing a little crazy thing to make for more laughter and excitement and enjoyment. While on leave in the States, I try to gather little, what I call junk, like necklaces, earrings, small knickknacks like whistles or special pens, just any little thing that I can throw into my suitcase when I come back. So for the party, I wrap each little thing with newspaper. Some I even put small tubes of toothpaste or little bars of soap or even small packets of cookies. Each package gets a number, and then each staff member picks a number. Oh, you ought to hear the shouts and exclamations when they open their own. It is especially funny when the men pick something like long dangly earrings or something like that. It is just fun, and costs nothing. At the end of the afternoon, people go home a little refreshed from the stress of life. Oh, and if any of you have any of those little knickknacks or things to throw away, save them. I need to build up my supply again for next year!

Let me just tell you one other story. This is about a woman named Victoria. Recently we had donations to assist the poor, especially women who are struggling. Victoria, a widow, was one such woman, having two young children. One of our staff brought her as a candidate, and after judging her case, she was given the equivalent of $15 as a loan. She chose to do farming, and at the end of harvest, she came back to proudly declare that she was able to raise up to $38. We gave the money back to her because it was not really intended as a loan but we want the recipients to work to make a good gain on what they see as an interest free loan. And she will be given another $15 to increase the basis of her business. She is so happy and grateful for the assistance.

A few weeks ago the Sunday Gospel reading was the Beatitudes. I listened to a reflection given by a woman who talked about how, as a small girl, getting new glasses made her see the world in a whole new way, colorful, bright, beautiful and also enabled her to approach her learning in school without faltering. She encouraged us, her listeners, to put on the lens of the Beatitudes, to look at life through those lens. I was then challenged: how do I see this one – Blessed are the meek; they shall inherit the earth. How do the meek inherit the earth right now, in what I see, all around me? And I reflected on that. Who are the meek? I think they are the quiet ones, the ones who continue to face life each day with resilience, with respect, with perseverance, without making a loud noise about who they are or how much they suffer more than others or are greater than others or ....   they are who they are in a quiet way with an innate dignity that even the hard situations they face doesn’t take from them. They don’t live complacent in richness; they are open to it and grateful for the gifts that enrich their lives. It might be their children or their friends or just a good sleep. They are here, all around, people like Victoria, like my staff laughing hysterically and joyfully at someone receiving dangling earrings.

So do they inherit the earth? If it means being rich in material things, no, they don’t. But looking through the lens of the Beatitude, I believe that yes, they do inherit the earth. They can walk with a deeper freedom on the earth. It doesn’t mean they do not struggle or worry about how they will manage. But they are not enslaved by what they have, perhaps because it is often so little. There is a freedom in knowing that one is born and one dies freely because nothing on earth is holding them here. They can love life, rejoice in the gifts they receive, whether material or not, but they have a deep awareness that it is all passing. They live with birth and death. So yes, I believe that they are inheriting the earth, freely owning it and freely letting go of it because it does not own them. They have a freedom inside that at times I almost envy, an awareness of truth that is not taught in books or classes, an ability to show joy and peace like deep waters, still even under what can be turbulent waves. And isn’t that the peace that Jesus promised?

There is another Beatitude, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice; it is also an important Beatitude – to become active in working for justice, resisting the force of evil. Yes, that one seems to be more applicable to me and to many whom I know. But I am grateful for those who remind me of humility, of waiting, of allowing life to open its own truth.

So that is my take on the Beatitude: the meek inheriting the earth.

And with that, I will sign off, wishing each of you a peaceful Lent, praying that all of us can look at our world through the lens of the Beatitudes.

Love,

Rita