Beyond the Clouds by Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, S.A.C. | Page 35

Though individually we may not be able to blame anybody in particular, why
do certain countries and systems continue to exploit the poor, to fill up their
treasuries? And yet the discontentment with the abundance that they have!
It is this experience that made me coin the phrase explaining my mission:
"Make a child smile again"! Those children had no smile on their face
anymore! Yet a few biscuits would have made them smile again. They do not
need great gifts, but very small gifts. Above all, a drop of HUMANITY.
Again recalling the great Pope of Peace, Pius XII, “mankind owes that vow to
the innumerable sorrowing host of mothers, widows and orphans who have seen
the light, the solace and the support of their lives wrenched from them…
Mankind owes that vow to the flood of tears and bitterness, to the
accumulation of sorrow and suffering,” among the innocent people born in a
world that denounces the downtrodden.
As I write these lines, it is almost midnight; yet I knew I must write them
today to express my convictions from earlier this morning. During the General
Council meeting, there was- once again- the discussion about the meaning of
the word "mission". Should it be "mission ad gentes" or"apostolate”? What is
our charismatic identity?
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