Missionaries of the Sacred

Coordinator’s Note
Brother Warren Perrotto, MSC
JPIC Coordinator
Missionaries of the Sacred Heart

On January 12, the world was “shaken” by the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Haiti is a fourthworld nation and the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.¹ But rather than being thrust into despair, the virtue of hope came to the fore among the Haitian people. For us  today the people of Haiti can be seen as a “guiding reference for the world. Their wisdom and solidarity are stronger than the misery and catastrophes gripping their people.”² The young boy who was seen rescued and raised high among the people with his arms stretched high in triumph exemplifies the Haitian spirit of hope and liberation at this time.

In Sunday’s Gospel, (January 24) we saw Jesus in Nazareth and heard his famous reading from the prophet Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)

After closing the scroll, Jesus said to those present, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)

We can see Jesus’ words put into action in the International community rescuing, liberating, consoling and healing the people of Haiti. We are in solidarity with Haiti. Our solidarity, however, should extend beyond Haiti. We can use Haiti as a prime example of how to fulfill Jesus’ words in our daily lives. We often are surrounded by people who are in need of healing and liberation. We need to be a people of hope for the unborn, the elderly, the poor, the unemployed, the lonely and the oppressed. When Christians are in solidarity with the unfortunate ones, we realize that we are the Body of Christ. We realize that we are all brothers and sisters. As the Body of Christ, we are sustained in the hope of God’s promises. Our “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”³ Our hope in God’s promises prompts us to move forward in solidarity with Jesus’ compassion and mercy for all of God’s people. Let us learn this message from those who are reaching out to their wounded brothers and sisters in Haiti, and let us pray that Haiti will be able to rise again from death to life.