Faithful Friends to the Poor  
      Sharon Warunek  

Prayer and concrete support for missions are seen as an integral part of every Christian’s life, Pope Benedict has said. Sharing involves the faithful of all communities in providing for the needs of our brothers and sisters in mission lands.

 The goal of the Propagation of the Faith is to awaken interest and responsibility for the universal evangelization among families, Christian communities, parishes and teaching centers.

Christ makes people’s hearts ring with the decisive “come and follow Me.”  How and when is this being accomplished in our Diocese? Simply by the generous outpouring of love and concern each and every person in our diocese displays when a Missionary visits one of our parishes and speaks about his homeland. 

We receive letters from missionaries thanking our Diocese for the gift of our friendship and love. A letter from Father Paul Gaggawala touched my heart because I visited Africa many years ago and can only imagine what it must be like for our African brothers and sisters.  

Dear Friends,  

“Thank you so much for your prayers and support for the missions. I have just returned from visiting our missions in East Africa where I spent the whole month of February.  Our Seminarians, Missionaries and the people they serve, send you their love, prayers and deep gratitude for your love and sacrifices that have become great blessings and have made a big difference in their lives. Your care and solidarity has brought smiles on many faces in missions. 

 I have a lot to share with you from my visit but I will center on the frightening reality of drought and how it has impacted the most vulnerable of society…that is the children in East Africa .

You have seen it on TV and read about the long drought that has gripped East Africa . I saw it and lived through it for a month. What truly breaks ones heart is to see how it has impacted human lives. And the most affected of all are the children, particularly the orphans, who lost their parents to HIV at an early age, putting them at great risk of poverty, disease, hunger, homelessness and life in very miserable circumstances. I don’t want to sound overly dramatic but there is no other way to put it. Yes, they have no parents, no families no education, not enough food, no clean water…they are trying desperately to survive.”

Father goes on to say “evangelization goes on in spite of the situation, because our missionaries know that proclaiming the Gospel is to reveal our inalienable dignity; and that none should live in sub-human social, economic, cultural and political conditions.  We assist the needy children, not only to survive the drought, but to break free of the chain of poverty, by giving them an education and better living conditions.

St. John Chrysostom tells us that “Almsgiving is the mother of love, of that love which is characteristic of Christianity.” Indeed, giving is more about the heart than it is about the pocketbook.” 

Another inspiring letter received in our office came from Father Damian Milliken serving in Lushoto, Tanzania. He begins by saying “We all stop and think of new beginnings and take stock to see what has been accomplished, where we have been and what our direction for the future is. He says the generosity of the people of the Diocese of Scranton helped create, Mazinde Juua, a functioning secondary school vital to the growth of young women of Tanzania . Their development, both material and moral points the way to success. We are on the way.  It is not a dream. It is happening now due to you.  Let us work together to bring it to fruition. The enrollment at the school is at 500 students and parents are begging us to enlarge. Parents obviously see that we have something of value to offer.”  

Father stated “when we started our first class of 40 there was an undercurrent of cynicism about such a school for local village children. Teachers from the local primary school chided me for filling the school with “waste-basket children”. Ironically, now that the school is succeeding and the children are performing with top academic honors, the critics say Mazinde Juu caters to the “elite” and neglects the poor! My reply is simply:  we don’t select the elite; rather, we take in the poor and neglected and create the elite.”  

I think the last line in Father Gagawala’s letter says it all “giving is more about the heart than it is about the pocketbook.” After 20 years in the office for the Pontifical Mission Societies, I can sincerely say, the people of the Diocese of Scranton are a faithful friend and a treasure to all missionaries and to all in need of help.