Author: ANTONINO

One of the highest moments of my first trip to England (when I was invited by my friends Neil and Dena Spence last summer) was my visit to Powis Castle in Wales. It is impossible to believe that place has been a family residence unless someone tries hard to convince you. Now, of course, it is a museum with a fascinating garden. Inside the Castle there are many big things and many little things. But all of them are a symbol of grandiosity and wealth.

One of the things that constantly called my attention were signs located in different places close to different objects that said: «To preserve me don’t touch me».

Every time I saw one of those signs I thought “I wish I could go around the world and put a sign in every person, especially in the poor, in the homeless, in every child and in every unborn child, in every elderly person, in every saint and in every criminal, in every nun and in every prostitute, every farmer and in every politician, in every prisoner no matter the cause of his imprisonment, in every race, colour and religion, in every insignificant human being but with the opposite message: «If you want to preserve me please touch me”.

“If you want to preserve me hug me, let me cry on your shoulder, feed me even if I look dirty, smell bad and look like a bum. Please touch me, alleviate my pain, free me from this horrible misery, walk with me until I am free from my addictions, teach me about God. I know that I am insignificant and you feel embarrassed before your friends if they see you talking with me or having a cup of coffee with me. But… please touch me. Please don’t just say that I am like this because I want. That hurts me and doesn’t help me”.

“Christmas is God’s way of honouring the insignificant” (Rev. Dr. Robert Schuller).

God became man with the purpose that every human being would become God. “Please touch me. But please touch me with the same respect and tenderness that a priest touches a consecrated host”.

Christmas is God’s way of honouring the insignificant.

Christmas will be my and your way of honouring the insignificant. My dream is that one day you will find a person who feels he or she is insignificant and you invite him/her to come to church with you and sit at your side.

I am planning to ask our Bishop permission to say a Sunday Mass, weekly or monthly, especially dedicated to the homeless but open to all people, with this slogan: «Come as you are». Yes! No matter how insignificant you feel you are. Just come. If you are wearing the same clothes for one year without taking a shower, just come as you are. If you are smelling like urine or anything else, please come as you are. If you have no shoes and long toenails come as you are. If your hair has not seen a comb for one month or more, come as you are.

Come and sing even if you don’t know how to sing, come and pray even if you don’t know how to pray. If you come late or leave early don’t worry, but please come as you are. If you are Catholic, Protestant, Muslim or Hindu or no religious affiliation, just please come as you are. Whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me. (Math. 25: 40)

“Christmas is God’s way of honouring the insignificant”

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

There are many symbols that remind us about Christmas. There are carols, lots of lights, decorations and many many more beautiful things that unite believers and non-believers around the same event that is the Birth of Jesus. For me, nothing else reminds me more about Christmas than the presence or the thought of a pregnant woman. Every time I see a pregnant woman, the first thought that comes to my mind is the thought of a tabernacle carrying a living Jesus.

It is also the thought of Advent. This time of Advent is not the time of «waiting» for the Birth of Jesus but it is especially a time of «expectation». «Waiting» is more a passive action like when we are waiting for the bus or in the airport waiting to embark when the airplane is arriving two or three hours late. «Expecting» is being in action 24 hours a day. That’s why Advent is supposed to be a very active time inside each one of us, like the growing process of the Baby Jesus inside the womb of His mother or the growing process of any baby growing inside the womb of its mother. Advent is a time of change. It is, like Lent, a time of renewal and cleaning. What am I planning to happen inside me during this time of Advent? Would you like to make a short list and try? Christmas will be a better Christmas if we have a better and more spiritual Advent.

Every year, around the second Sunday of Advent (December 8th), the Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is like a «Baby Shower» for Jesus’ Mother.

In this «Baby Shower» of Jesus’ Mother, there are two key words that can be of great inspiration for us.
One is «Rejoice». «Rejoice, the Lord is with you». This was the way the Angel Gabriel greeted Mary when he announced to her that she was going to be the Mother of Jesus.

I know people who, instead of greeting each other with the traditional «Good morning» or «Good evening», use the words the Angel Gabriel used to greet Mary in such an important moment of her life and the life of the world. It can be: «Rejoice, Thelma, the Lord is with you». «Rejoice Francis, the Lord is with you». «Rejoice Rita, the Lord is with you». I learned a long time ago that every word carries energy. I suspect that greeting each other with these words from the Gospel (Luke 1) will have an impact in each other with a very positive energy that can change the day of a friend or of an enemy. REJOICE. THE LORD IS WITH YOU!

The other word is «Mary, do not be afraid… for nothing is impossible to God» (luke 1). Why not, instead of saying «Good bye», «I will see you tomorrow», just say «John, do not be afraid, for nothing is impossible to God», « Lutchi, do not be afraid. For nothing is impossible to God». «Ana, do not be afraid, for nothing is impossible to God».

Please have a very happy Advent… Please rejoice, the Lord is with you… Please do not be afraid for nothing is impossible to God.

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade
PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE – Mobilizing Many People

1.
For the first time, People Helping People has been collecting vegetables from some farmers who live far away in the country side. It has been a very exciting time. It has been the best Christmas preparation provided by People Helping People for the poor families we have ever had. Because People Helping People does not recognise boundaries, lots of time and gas has been spent in the streets of Madeira Island with the purpose of alleviating the suffering of so many hurting families. Most of them don’t have access to other institutions or don’t qualify for help. No papers and no documents are asked. Our point of reference is always the suffering of the people and our love for them.

2.
ADOPT A FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS –
TO PRESERVE ME, TOUCH ME.
The best gift we can give to the poor for Christmas is our love. When I visited an old museum on my visit to England I saw many signs with these words “TO PRESERVE ME, DON’T TOUCH ME”. And I thought: with People Helping People it works in the opposite way. I felt like walking around the city of Funchal and putting signs on every poor and homeless person I found, with these words: “TO PRESERVE ME, TOUCH ME”. We are proposing to you a new experience for this Christmas that is: “ADOPT A FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS”. Please ADOPT A FAMILY. We have a long list of needy families. One of the ways of adopting a family is to give your name to a member of our project PHP, and this person will make the bridge between you and Dalila Oliveira, who is the Coordinator of the distribution. You can mention your preference: If you want to know the family and donate personally, or if you would like to help a family with children, or if you just want to donate to any family. You are welcome to buy food or a special present or just some special financial gift. No rules. No strings attached.
The couple to contact is Koen & Manuela Van Doninck.
Phone: 96-29-28-026 or 93-34-28-813. EMAIL: koen.manuela@gmail.com

ANTS

My niece, Romaninha, came from Brasil to spend some time with me in California. One day I «caught» her in the patio, seated on the pavement and playing with ants. She was already an adult, a matured woman, married and mother of two children. She felt a bit embarrassed because she felt that she had been «caught» doing something very childish. What was the game? The ants were forming a long long line as they usually do. They always communicated with those that were walking in a different direction, as they always do. And my niece’s game was to put obstacles in their path to divert them from their destiny.

She tried little rocks, little sticks, bigger rocks and bigger sticks but nothing worked. The conclusion was that if you want to divert ants from their destiny you have to kill them. Death only.Nothing else works. They have a goal, and they get the support from one another and always try to overcome any kind of obstacle. They have a goal and are willing to give their lives to achieve their goal. Death only can stop them.

FIREMEN

Last week (24/11/2018) I had the privilege of being invited to say a special Mass for, and with, the firemen of Funchal. I reflected with them about their job. And how much inspiration I get from them in my life. I compared them with the «normal» institutions. I told them different stories of different institutions and compared it with their stories.

A mother of a large family was called by a special institution to go there to pick up some food that had been reserved for her family. Of course the institutions don’t provide transportation even if they know that the poor have no transportation. Margaret (not her true name) asked Dalila (her true name) for a lift. Dalila went to help Margaret. When they arrived, there were five bags of food waiting for them at the institution. Margaret was very happy. Meanwhile the institution had the obligation of checking for crossing information. Yes. Margaret was caught. According to the rules of this institution Margaret was a cheater. Another institution, the week before, had given to Margaret’s family, some money.

According to the rules of the institution that was enough probably for the rest of their lives. According to them Margaret was a cheater. According to them, she was taking advantage from two different institutions. The five bags of food were left on the floor. Dalila and Margaret and her little son, Cristiano, left with their empty hands, their empty stomachs and their empty souls. On their way home, Dalila called me and invited me for a cup of coffee. I went for a cup of coffee. We offered Margaret and her son something to eat.

I will never forget this scene:

Cristiano grabbed the glass of milk and a pastry we had ordered for him and he didn’t «drink» the milk or «eat» the pastry. Cristiano devoured everything almost without breathing. He was so hungry and so skinny. But the institution hadn’t ask them if they were hungry. Instead they had asked a cold and cruel computer.

Recently we accompanied to an institution, a lady who had arrived from Venezuela where she had had everything. She came to an Island where she has nothing. We just asked for some food. The social worker was very kind, which is not usual. When we finished the conversation, I was expecting some food that they had in abundance. To my disappointment what we brought from that institution was a list of documents that the lady was supposed to present to see if she qualified for help!

I had thousands of stories like this to tell the firemen.

Then I told them some stories about firemen and compared it with the institutions.

When firemen are asked for help they don’t ask who owned the knife or the pistol, who started the fight, who lit the fire, who was over speeding. They don’t even ask for their names or any documents. The only questions they ask are: «Where is it hurting? Where is it bleeding? What is broken? How can I help you? How can I help to alleviate your suffering?

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

For me the story of the Good Shepherd is, like the story of the Prodigal Son, (Luke 15) a Gospel inside the Gospel. The Shepherd was taking care of one hundred sheep. One got lost. He leaves ninety nine and goes looking for his lost sheep. When He has found it he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices and tells his friends and neighbours, saying to them: «Rejoice with me for I have found my sheep that was lost». He does not ask for papers, for documents or the reasons why the sheep got lost. No questions asked. Just love transformed into service.

Mother Teresa says that «when we start by judging we have no time to love».

********

ANTS, FIREMEN AND THE GOOD SHEPHERD have been for me the greatest inspirations of my life. With ANTS, I have learned to have a vision and never quit even if I have to give my life for it. «Don’t start quitting… Never quit from starting», It’s the name of a book. With FIREMEN, I have learned to help people without judging them.
With the GOOD SHEPHERD, I have learned to reach out for everyone with a special preference for the lost, the least and the last.

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

1.
One day I was having a conversation with a friend of mine when he told me: “I am a good Catholic but there are many things in the Catholic Church that I don’t like and I don’t agree”. My answer was: “Welcome to the club. I am trying to be a good Catholic Priest, but there are many things in the Catholic Church that I don’t like and I don’t agree. I think that if you made a list, my list would be longer than yours.” But She (The Church) is my mother and I am passionately in love with her. There are many things in my family and in my country that I don’t like and I don’t agree, but my family is my family and my country is my country and I love them. And the curious aspect of this love affair is that the more I love my family and my country and my church, the more I love other churches, other families and other countries.

2.
Today (Nov. 25, 2018) the Church is celebrating the Feast of Christ the King. I like the idea of celebrating the Feast of Christ the King. Actually, becoming a King is part of the ritual of our Baptism when the Priest anoints us with the oil of Chrism and says: “As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and king, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life” (Ritual of Baptism).

3.
Now my confession. I always feel uncomfortable with the way this characteristic has been interpreted by the life of my Church. Portugal has 33 Kings, and 2 Queens, in its History books. In my school book of the history of Portugal there was a picture of each one of them. All of them very sombre-looking, with a golden crown on their heads and a sceptre in one hand. The lives of many of them were involved in wars against other nations. They had many things in common and one of them was power over all the people. They used their power to do lots of good things but they also used their power to oppress people and cause bloodshed.

4.
The Catholic Church instituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925. I think it was a great idea. However, every time I see a statue of Christ the King it looks exactly like the statues of the Portuguese Kings: a crown on His head, a sceptre in His hand, strange garments and very sombre. They really look like the figures I used to see in my school books. I really didn’t like them. Actually comparing them with what the Gospel says about authority and power they look ridiculous and don’t inspire me to be a Jesus follower. And I am afraid that worshipping a king according to the world’s values, the church is supporting power like the world sees it. Recently, Brazil elected Jair Bolsonaro to be its president. Before the elections, somebody said that if Bolsonaro was elected it would be a tragedy for the world, and for Brazil of course. He used the Bible and his church to implement his ideas.

After he was elected, it was said that the person that was more insulted in his campaign was God. He used God and His Word to propagate his diabolic ideas. And he won. God was the loser. And when God loses, all the people lose.

5.
For me, the true images that express the Kingship of Jesus, and inspire me, are:
Jesus the Good Shepherd (Lk.15: 3-7), Jesus washing dirty feet (Jo.13:4-15), Jesus touching an unclean and dirty leper (Mk.1:40-45), Jesus embracing children (Mk.10:13-16) and finally a bloody body crowned with a crown of thorns (not gold) and mocked at the cross (Mat. 27:27-56). Actually I prefer what Jesus says about power and authority. «You know that among the Gentiles whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you: But whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and give his life a ransom for many». (Mk. 10: 42-45).

One of the recent books of Pope Francis has the title of «The True Power is to Serve»
Love and Peace, Fr. Bernardino Andrade