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The painter of Hapag ng Pag-asa (The Table of Hope), Joey A. Velasco, made this artwork barely six months after his initiation as a painter. He thinks that he was merely God’s paintbrush, portraying underprivileged children who, eventually, helped him to make a U-turn in his life. The painting gained fame and became a symbol of the fight against extreme poverty in the Philippines.
A decade after Blessed Teresa’s death, her dream of sending her Missionaries of Charity nuns to work in mainland China remains unfulfilled. But her successor, Sister Nirmala Joshi, a Hindu convert, says that dream will be fulfilled in its own time.
Fr. Giancarlo Bossi was kidnapped in his parish of Payao (Mindanao) by armed men under orders – he believes – of a supreme, Mafia boss style, and spent 39 days in captivity in the forests. He was prepared to endure a long captivity, but was confident that, eventually, he would be freed by his captors.
In spite of the killings or kidnappings in Mindanao, we missionaries, priests and bishops have to be in the front line to raise the voice of hope and to build a culture of dialogue, a path to peace.
In recent years changes have been brought about in the fields of economy, technology and communications that have transformed the face of work and the conditions of the labor market, at times in dramatic ways. One emerging tendency appears to favor more individualistic relations between enterprise and employees. The latter would protect their own rights on the bases of their skills and entrepreneurial ability. These developments may be calling on us to rethink current forms of solidarity. Although workers may no longer find themselves in physical proximity with each other, solidarity remains crucial and indispensable if founded on our common humanity that links all types of work.
Jesus called people to personal and community change, but He also called us to change the world. He was not only concerned with individual salvation, but He wanted a change of structures that impoverish, enslave and punish the poor.
