"It is love that brings Jesus to wherever there is want and need"

“If there is one thing to be said about Jesus,” Pope Francis says, “it is precisely His capacity to welcome.”[1] What happens, though, when the one that stems from wealth is undeservedly on the receiving end? When the one who is well nourished is given tea with milk, while the bones of the little ones running around have a far greater need for the calcium? When the one who visits for ten minutes can do nothing but wrap her arm around the child, praying he is shielded with his innocence for as long as the Lord deems it possible?
 
With all of my heart, I can tell you that it is a most painful humility; for it was I who was that stranger, and they- your Pallottine Fathers and UAC members in Delhi- welcomed me into their homes. At Mary Queen of the Apostles Church, under the pastoral care of Fr. George Thattamparambil SAC and Fr. Bibin Sebastian SAC of the Epiphany Province, they are the very Church that Pope Francis seeks to intensify; “a field hospital after battle,” with “the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful.”[2] The UAC flock they shepherd “allows us to meet Jesus; not so much with words but [their] whole life. And [they] bear witness to the importance of small gestures, within everyone’s reach, that help to build peace, reminding us that we are brothers and sisters, and God is the Father of us all.”[3]
 
As our founder writes, “it is Jesus who brings love to wherever there is want and need,” which is precisely why He carried the Pallottine Fathers to Sangam VIhar, Delhi, in July 1997. On September 7 of that year Mass was publicly celebrated for the first time in a two room house, where over 70 people came to receive the Eucharist; the following Sunday, even more. These heavenly fruits from the Holy Spirit continued to multiply each time bread was broke, and in 1998 a larger structure was quickly built to accommodate its needs. However, the structure now seen today was only recently blessed on November 5, 2016.   
 
Though perhaps what truly allows Fr. George and Fr. Bibin to press their fingers to the “flesh of Christ” is the St. Vincent Pallotti School they run. Its classrooms house 385 of God’s most precious children, who though come from the slums, are a gift from above. They ran into my arms as if I was Pallotti himself, offering me their extra pencils and hair clips, anything in their capable and immediate grasp to shower upon me. How many times- I thought to myself- did I refuse the brother of my own blood a piece of my food, a taste of my ice cream?! St. John Paul II said it himself: “Is not Jesus pointing to children even as models for grownups?”
 
Maybe it is indeed this saint’s model that our Pallottine Fathers follow; for their work at the school is nothing short of inconceivable and remarkable in Delhi’s largest unrecognized slum. Even above the physical needs of the children, they promote an atmosphere of peace; not an easy feat when religious tensions under Hindu Nationalist Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, continue to rise. Yes, our Fathers feel this strain in their ministries, yet they continue their work with even greater strength and force. It is now our job as a Pallottine family to pray that they may be sustained.
 
“O priest, who are you?” St. Vincent Pallotti asks.  “You do not serve yourself, because you are the bridegroom of the Church. You do not belong to yourself, because you are the servant of all.” How vividly our fathers live these truths in Delhi! Truths which Rector General Fr. Jacob Nampudakam writes, “express the image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,”[4] in whose “heart we see that His love is boundless; it never tires and never gives up. We see that it continuously gives of self, without limits, and we rediscover its humble love ‘right to the very end’ (John 13.1).” [5]
 
 
 
 


[1] ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE PILGRIMAGE OF POOR FROM THE DIOCESES OF THE FRENCH PROVINCE OF LYONS
[2] Interview with Pope Francis by Fr. Antonio Spadaro
[3] ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE PILGRIMAGE OF POOR FROM THE DIOCESES OF THE FRENCH PROVINCE OF LYONS
[4] “The Spirit of the Priesthood According to St. Vincent Pallotti,” Nampudakam, Jacob 2017, pg 24
[5] The Spirit of the Priesthood According to St. Vincent Pallotti,” Nampudakam, Jacob 2017, pg 28

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