We will let our lives be enriched by the poor and the marginalized as we work with them, for they can make us hear in new ways the Gospel we proclaim. We must always be sensitive to the mentality of the people, drawing on the riches of their culture and religious traditions
(Rule 8a)
“Being missionaries of hope means knowing how to read the signs of its hidden presence in the daily life of the people. Learning to recognize hope among the poor to whom you have been sent, who often succeed in finding it amid the most difficult situations.
Letting yourselves be evangelized by the poor you evangelize: they teach you the way of hope, for the Church and for the world.”
Pope Francis to the OMI General Chapter 2022
“We are sent to evangelize the poor: the poor are evangelized.” For the longest time now I have recognized, thought and admitted that in being sent to lovingly serve the poor that it is I who am evangelized. It is the poor who have shared with me their love and hope. For the longest time it has been many of the Oblates who have taken part in my formation and shared how I might “be(come) in order to do.”
The last couple of days have been difficult for me but this morning I found myself having to let go of what was bothering me so that I might recognize hope. As I write this now I share what was shared with me. I do not know why but my eyes left the screen and turned to look out a strange light in the clouded sky. It was a line of colour reaching from behind the buildings downtown up in into the clouds. The colour deepened and widened and there was blue/green and yellow. I got up and watched it grow wider and to fill the space of a city block between two buildings recognizing it was the start of a rainbow that I was drawn to stand and witness. It was from deep within the wonder and awe that I thanked God for such a gift. As I sat before the screen of my laptop I remembered rainbows to be a sign of hope.
I think of the charism that has been shared by the Spirit with St. Eugene and all of his sons and daughters: we are not sent out just to evangelize, but also to allow ourselves to be evangelized by the very ones who we lovingly serve.