God wants man to assist man
On the fifth day after the earthquake struck Haiti last January I lay in bed in the early hours of the morning listening on the radio to a Jesuit Brother describing the resilience of the people of Port-au-Prince in the days after the terrible destruction of their city. The Jesuit Mission in the city had been helping the poor of the city even before the earthquake, for this land is probably the poorest and least developed in the western hemisphere. The Brother spoke lovingly of the people’s great patience and hope even when after five days the promised aid was slow in materialising. I had become concerned as days passed without word that water, food and medical supplies were reaching the people who were desperate for them. Even after ten days the word was that the supplies were only slowly reaching the one and a half million people of the ruined capital city.
Human solidarity is seen to its best advantage in great human disasters like this. We have been impressed by the outpouring of generosity and assistance as personnel, supplies of food, water, medical supplies, transportation and equipment were sent to the ruined country. In his lavish plans for creation God always wanted for man to assist man, and there is a constant refrain in Scripture that we should love our neighbour as ourselves. No image of man’s fall in the bible is more poignant than the killing of Able by his own brother Cain. It was the ultimate refusal to be his brother’s keeper. We are moved when such great need calls forth our sense of responsibility and fundamental care of each other. It was not only the small army of men and planes sent by the United States including a floating hospital, but the widows’ mites and the savings of children, and the volunteers who rushed across the seas.
Now it was a Sunday morning that I heard that Jesuit Brother speaking of trying to bring aid to Haiti and by a coincidence the gospel reading for that Sunday was an account of the Marriage Feast of Cana. It is a delight to think that this first miracle of Jesus was in no way connected with unhappiness. It was not healing sickness, forgiving sins, or raising the dead. It was simply giving joy, even more joy, to people who were already rejoicing. That was always Christ’s priority, bringing joy and for that reason he cured the sick and vulnerable, and gave life back to the dead. He would want his people to have the same priority and always put people first. So the Messenger has sent money from the donations sent to us, to that Jesuit Brother to continue Christ’s work of healing.
John Looby, S.J., Editor