She Saw

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Yesterday I helped with the Pallottine Mission Appeals in Limerick Cathedral and St. Michael's church.

I'm useless at selling anything and can't do the usual pitch that will motivate people to empty their pockets, so I settle for the Word of God as it was given to us in the readings.

For the first Mass I concelebrated with the young Father Peter from Nigeria, a member of the Sons of Mary Mother of Mercy, four of whom served in the diocese of Limerick. A tall, fit and charming man who was most hospitable.

It was an interesting expression of how the Mission of the Church has evolved. An African missionary to Ireland who leads the penitential rite in Irish and a former Missionary to Tanzania.

"Think of God's Mercy...and worship Him." So wrote St. Paul.

The Mission of the Church, our Mission in East Africa, is nothing other than one great act of God's Mercy and one great act of worship.

God's Mercy in Hosea is expressed in terms of a Mother leaning over her infant to feed him or her. This instinct has it's origin in God, it is God's very nature in relation to His people and it is the fire burning in our bones that drives us into the life experiences of the people to whom we are sent. Often these experiences are ones of suffering of one kind or another. It is the experience of the Cross and it is a shared experience.

On the road to Babati, on the left, in behind the hills, lies the village of Chemchem into which no road goes. It was an outstation of Babati parish but the priest there was not in a position to serve it and I knew nothing about it until a young man came Galapo where I was parish priest and asked if I would go to Chemchem to celebrate Mass.

The invitation came from the people themselves and I have come to see that much of my ministry has happened as a result of the desire of the people and not from any great plan on my part.

We got there by driving to Mamire where we left the car and began the long trek over the hills and down into the valley. I was first accompanied there by Linus, a 19 year old catechist and a lovely lad. On subsequent journeys were were joined by members of the Legion of Mary from Galappo, which became a nice, simple expression of the Church in action, the kind of collaboration that St. Vincent Pallotti would approve of.

There hadn’t been Mass in  Chemchem for a long time and many people had given themselves up to piwa - the local version of poteen. You could find bodies that had collapsed along the dirt tracks - totally out of it - at any time of day, even early in the morning. Comatose bodies lying there in the blazing sun. In a way it's hard to blame them in such a forgotten place.

Some had kept the faith alive and were so happy to have Mass again. I came to love those people and their place.

Elizabeth welcomed us into her home and fed us. She was a happy woman with a great, bright smile and she was blind for a long, long time. It was fascinating to watch her cook without the gift of sight.

As I got to know her, I wondered if Dr. Marlyn Scudder could do anything for her. Dr. Scudder was an eye doctor who came to the Medical Missionaries of Mary hospital in Dareda from time to time. So I asked Elizabeth if she was interested in being checked out, and she was.

Linus discovered a track leading from the main road to Chemchem, a track that a car might negotiate. It was very rocky but we made it in and got Elizabeth out. It was her first time to leave the village in years. She and her brother were beside me in the front of the Peugeot pick-up which bounced and rolled over the rocks as we inched our way out.

All the while Elizabeth was shrieking with laughter, like a child on a rollercoaster. Feeling the journey, not seeing it and at one stage shouted, “there must be a God! Who else would send the priest over such a bad road to help me.”

In Dareda they discovered that she simply had cataracts which Dr. Scudder removed. I was there the day the bandages came off. There was Elizabeth among many other patients on a sunny veranda at the hospital, all waiting for the patches to be removed from their eyes.

The nurse removed Elizabeth's bandages and put glasses on her. I was standing right in front of her and was the first thing she saw and when I told her who I was, she held my face in her two hands laughing and thanking God and everyone. It was such a feeling of honour, a moment I will never forget.

So, for me, this was a very good example of the Mercy of God in action. Me being called by the people, Linus leading me there, being accompanied by the Legionaries, the Medical Missionaries of Mary, Dr. Marlyn - all of US instruments of God's tender loving Mercy.

I brought Elizabeth back home. She literally went home praising God like they do in the Gospel and her experience inspired others in the village to return to their faith, recognising that God was indeed among them.

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Being with the people in Limerick was truly lovely and I met a few who knew the late Eugene Lynch. Very generous.


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