The face of the Church in the middle of those in need!

After 7 weeks of lockdown, families in the Philippines need both material and human support to survive the quarantine. It`s essential to be able to distribute food and to bring hope to people because they feel part of a family where we take care of each other. Manoli tells us about this experience.

«Things changed quickly and all of a sudden we found ourselves unable to carry out the mission as we wanted to or as we were used to. In the Philippines we have been in self isolation for seven weeks. We can only go out once a week to go shopping. But last weekend we had the possibility of bringing some food and hygiene bags to the neediest families in our neighbourhoods. It was a donation that came from the bishopric, which has organised a solidarity campaign in the diocese during Covid-19 so that as a Church we can be close to the poor at this time. We have been able to distribute this donation to one hundred families and it was an opportunity to go and see them and visit their homes.

“We could bring very little really, a few tins, soap bars and a bottle of bleach. But for these families it meant having food for several days. They didn`t worry about whether it was too much or too little, they simply appreciated what we could give them. The truth is that they didn`t expect anything and that was the reason, they were so happy to receive something. When they saw us at the door of their houses with the bags, I had the impression they were almost more appreciative of our visit, our coming to see them than what we brought with us, although of course they desperately needed the products that we brought to them.

“It did them so much good to experience that we haven’t forget them, that we remember them, that we pray for them and that we love them. We felt like we were the face and hands of the generosity of our Bishop Fr. Soc, as he likes to be called, making the Church present in their midst. What is our mission in these times? I would say that above all it is being the embodiment of the love of God who does not forget us in the middle of our difficulties. It is he who suffers the most, because he suffers for us and with us ».

clwakeling2The face of the Church in the middle of those in need!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *