Nice to Meet You

We have two delegates from Belgium and one of them is Sr. Josefa  Bertels.  She was born in Retie, Belgium and was a missionary to Congo for 38 years.  From Congo, the war brought her to Senegal where she stayed for 6 years.  Today, she is back in Belgium looking after our sick sisters, preparing their medicines and giving them as much attention as she can.  To all of you following our blog, Sr. Josefa wishes that we all be united in the spirit of our Congregation, in prayer and in mission.

Belgium Delegates

What’s going on?

We started our discussions on draft 4 of the Constitutions last Sunday, feast of Christ the King.  Since then, the members of the Chapter have been working hard.  It is now the third day and the work on the revised constitutions is nearing its end.

We thought we will share with you today Fr. Ad’s homily for the feast of Christ the King. Fr. Ad says to us “Yes, let us celebrate Christ as our King but let us realize that the only robe he will accept will be the jacket you gave to somebody who was cold, the only scepter he will find worthwhile may be the half-eaten hot dog you shared, and the only crown may be the umbrella you held over the head of somebody wet of the rain or burned by the sun.”  We invite you to read the whole homily and like us, be inspired and challenged.

Homily 20 November 2011- Christ the King

Maybe you will allow me to share some personal memories on this day, before sharing the more important reflections on today’s feast of Christ the King. They were triggered by one of our Filipina DOLSH Sisters here: when she realized that our Brazilian Sisters would be leading us in our liturgy, she reminded me: that is where you could have ended up, in Brazil. In an interview some weeks ago, Sister Che asked me why I had chosen the Philippines for my mission area. I had to admit that when after ordination we were asked about out preferences, the Philippines was for me not really in the picture: I wanted to go to Brazil. Not that I really knew that much about Brazil, but our Dutch missionaries in Brazil were just the only ones who would more regularly write about people and mission there – enough to inspire many of us. But that gave our Provincial then the problem that he had too many volunteers for Brazil and not enough for here in he Philippines, so he most friendly asked me to reconsider – which I did, without regrets, even though at tmes I keep wondering what I would have grown into, if I would have stuck to Brazil. Anyway, it shows that willingness to serve without foreseeing all the consequences often enough works out pretty well, as many of us here – with or without religious vows – have discovered.

The Feast of Christ the King: It is a feast that is still enthusiastically celebrated by the faithful in many countries, but surrounded by question marks by believers elsewhere. Let us start with some of the questions, without fear because the questions people ask, are not necessarily a sign that they believe less in the core of the Gospel of Jesus than the people who celebrate. One main question seems to be: what can we still do with the title “King” for Jesus in a world that hardly knows what kings are? … In societies that have sometimes rather violently overthrown their kings and have opted for more democratic types of leadership? Or in present-day cultures where kings and queens are only known for their fairy-tale weddings on television – weddings that as often break down as those of ordinary citizens. The kings of this world, under whatever titles we find them now, have not often contributed much to the good and well-being of their people. Be they kings, tyrants or presidents, be they of great good-will towards people of just plain oppressors – by and large they have not been very successful to make this world into a good world for all. So should e make Christ our King? Maybe we should think twice.

We know, of course, that in the biblical tradition, the kings were a response to the clamor of the people to be led by somebody who in God’s name would protect them – would lead them as good shepherds to good grazing ground and refreshing water.  In today’s first reading we heard how poorly that worked out. Even their shepherd-kings had become abusers, fallen prey to the temptation of all human leadership structures, in power to benefit themselves. And Ezekiel paints an image of a God who has gotten truly mad at these shepherds and he shouts it out: Woe to the shepherds of Is­rael who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? But you feed on milk and are clothed in wool, and you slaughter the fattest sheep. You have not taken care of the flock; you have not strengthened the weak, cared for the sick or band­aged the injured. You have not gone after the sheep that strayed or searched for the one that was lost. Instead you ruled them harsh­ly and were their oppressors.  And then this wonderful reading of today starts, where God says: now I am going to do it myself; I myself will take care of my sheep and watch over them; I will tend my sheep and give them test; I will search for the lost and bind up the injured. And then, in the middle of all human oppression, abuse, lording it over – sometimes even notwithstanding many good intention – a new way of leadership becomes visible. Never mind how you call it, shepherd or king; never mind the titles we can invent, kings or presidents, superiors or leaders, the only valid norm of human leadership in the eyes of God is caring for the weak, sharing live with those who are exhausted, hiving hope to the hopeless. Any other way – as Ezekiel tells us – awaits the wrath of God himself.

The gospel of today allows us to test the kingship that Jesus takes upon himself against this image left us by Ezekiel. The setting is the final judgment. In an eschatological picture we are shown the final criterion between what fits within the Kingdom of God and what not. Yes, we could say that Jesus wants to be served as King, but he apparently does not seek any glory and praise for himself. If we pledge ourselves to his service, proclaim him as our king, he send us back immediately to where people are suffering and in pain. The only way in which he will measure our fidelity to him as our king is the glass of water we share, the hungry we feed, the suffering people we dare to be with. So yes, let us celebrate Christ as our King, but let us realize that the only royal robe he will accept may be the jacket you gave to somebody who was cold, the only scepter he will find worthwhile may be the half-eaten hot-dog you shared, the only crown may be the umbrella that you held over the head of somebody wet of the rain or burned by the sun.

The feast of Christ the King: a celebration of our true acceptance of Jesus’ message that God is a God with a heart for all people in the world, especially for the hungry and thirsty, the oppressed and abused, the ones without hope – seeing no future…

It is a celebration too – if we honestly dare to call him our king – of our re-commitment to the mission he gave us when he sent us on our way to walk through this world with a heart a great as his.

Laughing with us…

Here is a video we thought you might enjoy.

In our Agenda

Tomorrow, we spend our fourth and last day on the revised Constitutions.  Dear sisters and friends, thank you for your constant interest and prayers.  We truly feel your love and support.  Please continue praying for us as we also daily hold you in our hearts.