Oh, hope of heaven, the more you wait and hope, the more you obtain! Mother Cabrini, September, 1891.
AND HE DWELT AMONG US… (Jn. 1,14)
I did not know how to begin these lines to transmit the transformative experience that the Lord allowed me in the ‘Baby Jesus Malnutrition Rehabilitation Center of Life’ in Dubbo, Ethiopia.
On the second Sunday of Advent, I received a beautiful meditation from David Amado Fernández, about the call to conversion united with hope, in the preaching of John the Baptist. There are three powerful truths that John Paul I pointed out very well: “God is almighty, God loves me, He loves us immensely, God is faithful to the promises.”
POWER – LOVE – FIDELITY: with these, we should “jump into the void” without fear.
When reality in this sacred place slaps you in the face, one can be tempted to put aside hope and wonder where God is? In these malnourished, sick, alone & fragile children, sometimes abandoned in their primary ties by diverse and difficult family situations, sometimes discarded, without a possible future in the immediate. The clamor is heard loudly: Where are you, Lord? Come soon, Lord! Until when, Lord? And there appears, in the darkness, the light of Your presence in the concrete faces of those gathered by Cabrini Ministries Ethiopia: laity and sisters; but especially our women, who have the big hearts of a mother & take care of other sons and daughters, while taking time away from their own; to embrace and give love by cooking, cleaning, feeding, bathing, caressing, singing, playing, smiling, humanizing, giving these little ones the chance to feel loved, human and humanized.
The ‘light’ of the doctors who take care of the health of the little ones, & of so many generous hands, appear to build a
“possible opportunity” for these ‘last of the last’. And I also saw ‘light’ every Visit Day, when the families meet with their
children. Tears of joy to meet again after many days, but also of sorrow for the separation, one more time, until the
following week; because they cannot be together due to distance and resources.
Being part of this process encouraged me not to forget that as Saint Frances of Sales, one of our patrons, says: “The
valleys that John wants to be filled are nothing but fear, which when it is very large, leads to discouragement…” Let
us fill our valleys with full confidence in the Lord who is coming, especially in His “Maternal Face”, in these brave and
kind women who “maternalize” without measure, & with a smile, despite the sleepless nights and days
of fatigue, exclaim very loudly: Emmanuel! God with us!
Thanks to Sr. Laura Sanchez MSC for sharing her experience