1. From My Heart to Your Heart by Father Bernadino

Homeless who «WANT» to be Homeless

In his book «Ghost Soldiers», Hampton Sides tells the story of a dramatic mission during World War II. On January 28th, 1945, 121 hand-selected Army Rangers slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines in an attempt to rescue 513 American and British POW’s who had spent three years in a hellish prison camp near the city of Cabanatuan.
Hampton Sides describes the first effects of liberation as chaos and fear.

The prisoners were mentally too brittle to understand what was taking place. Some even scurried away from their liberators. One particular prisoner, Bert Bank, refused to budge, even when a Ranger walked up to him and tugged his arm. «C’mon, we’re here to save you», he said . «Run for the gate».

Bank still would not move. The Ranger looked into his eyes and saw they were vacant, registering nothing. «What’s wrong with you»? he asked. «Don’t you want to be free?» Finally, a smile formed on Bank’s lips as the meaning of the words became clear, and he reached up to the outstretched hand of the Ranger.

The Rangers searched all the barracks for additional prisoners, then shouted, «The Americans are leaving. Is there anybody here?» Hearing no answer they left. The freed prisoners marched 25 miles and boarded their ship home. With each step, their stunned disbelief gave away to soaring optimism.

One of the most unjust, ignorant, and offensive judgements and excuses to do nothing, which I have ever heard in dealing with the poor and the homeless is the despisement and the accusation that they are homeless because they «want» to be.

A short time ago the Portuguese actor, Pedro Carvalho, spent one night on the streets disguised as a homeless man with homeless people on a very cold night in the city of Lisbon. He realized that in some cases this seemed to be true: it seemed that some homeless people don’t want to leave the streets. They don’t want to leave that misery.

That observation left him completely lost. Who «wants» that kind of life? Who «wants» to check two, three, five or even more garbage cans before finding a piece of hamburger, or a piece of chicken mixed with other garbage and mixed with cockroaches, ants and dead flies in order to be able to satisfy their hunger? Then he decided to call one of his friends who is a psychologist to see if she would be able to find something that would make sense. And yes. Her answer made sense. After living like that for a while they become mentally sick. They get this pathology that doesn’t make any sense to us and neither to them. Schizophrenia is probably the most common.

One homeless man told me that he was not able to sleep more than half an hour at a time. It’s the noise, it’s the inhuman conditions, it’s the bathroom that they don’t know where to find, it’s a police officer that kicks him out just saying: «You cannot sleep here». But one of them told me «they don’t tell us where to go». They start their journey again. A very well-known psychiatrist from Funchal told me one day that «their brains don’t work like ours».

What about the institutions? I have to confess that I have tried to work with a famous institution in Funchal that is supposed to shelter the homeless, but I have never had a good experience.

One of the homeless told me that it looks more like a concentration camp and «the way they treat us is like being in a concentration camp».

My belief is that the homeless, the poor like everybody else, should be treated like a priest treats a consecrated host.

After reading the story of the soldiers that were freed from the Philippines, maybe it will be easier to understand the minds of people like the homeless, and prisoners who have been brutalized by their miserable life conditions which have left them miserably sick.

None of the American soldiers, including Bert Bank, “chose and wanted” to stay in that hellish prison.
None of the homeless around the world “chose and want” to be homeless.

«When we start by judging, we have no time to love».
(Saint Mother Teresa)

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

A story is told about Noelene Martin, a Franciscan Monk in Australia assigned to be the guide and the «gofer» for St Teresa of Calcuta (Mother Teresa) when she visited New South Wales.

Thrilled and excited at the prospect of being so close to this great woman, he dreamed of how much he would learn from her and what they would talk about. But during her visit, he became frustrated. Although he was constantly near her, the friar never had the opportunity to say one word to Mother Teresa. There were always other people for her to meet. Finally her tour was over, and she was due to fly to New Guinea.

In desperation, the Franciscan friar spoke to Mother Teresa: «f I pay my own fair to New Guinea, can I sit next to you in the plane so I can talk to you and learn from you?»

Mother Teresa looked at him.
«You have enough money to pay the air fare to New Guinea?» She asked.
«Yes, he replied eagerly».
«Then give that money to the poor;» she said. «You will learn more from that than from anything else I can tell you».

Mother Teresa understood that Jesus’ ministry was to the poor, and she made it hers as well. She knew that they, more than anyone else, needed Good News.

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

WHAT PUNK ROCKERS TAUGHT ME ABOUT BAPTISM

One day, I was taking a walk through one of the streets of the city of San Francisco (California). With me there were two friends from Portugal. One was Fr. Aires Gameiro, at that time professor of Psychology in the Catholic University of Lisbon, and presently living in Funchal, and the other one was Jorge (at the time an immigrant from Portugal, living in San Francisco). We were just enjoying our walk, and talking about people, about ideas and about things.

At a certain moment we saw a group of young people, doing nothing, just talking and laughing together, dressed in a strange way, with strange colours and strange hair styles, also in different and strange colours. I was told that they were a group of «Punk Rockers». I thought that I was, and I think I am, very open to diversity and to surprises, but I confess that I was not open to see what I considered to be such an ugly scene. They were not doing anything wrong. They were just making an «ugly-looking» scene. If one of them hugged me I would feel the need to take a shower.

Then I said «I wish I had a friend punk rocker.» My intention was not to change him or to convert him or her, but to ask what they found attractive about that way of living and that way of dressing. Because to me, that looked so ugly and even repugnant to see those boys and girls like that. They were not doing anything wrong. They were just dressing and acting like a bunch of idiots wasting their time. How could they find that attractive, when to me they looked so repellent? This was the question I would have liked to ask.

That’s when Fr. Gameiro told me: «They are not there because they find it attractive. They are there to fulfil their need of belonging». Then he added that «the basic need of the human being is the need to belong. Most of them don’t belong to a family anymore. They don’t belong to a church anymore. But they still feel this terrible need burning them from inside out. They need to belong. And when they see any young person dressed like that they know that they belong to them.

THAT’S WHY I AM SO MISERABLE

He was what they call «a dangerous guy». One day, when this car was passing by, surrounded by body guards and in a caravan carrying «Very Important People» he pulled out a gun, killed the Mayor of the city and wounded another man». It was not difficult to catch the killer and arrest him. During one of the interrogatories he was asked: «What church do you belong to?». His answer was: «I don’t belong to anything. I don’t belong to anybody, that’s why I am so miserable».

3.

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

Today, January 13, 2019, the Catholic Church celebrates the Festivity of the Baptism of the Lord. Celebrating the Baptism of the Lord we are celebrating our own Baptism. Since I had this experience with the punk rockers I started calling BAPTISM, THE SACRAMENT OF BELONGING.

With our Baptism we start belonging to the Body of Christ. We start belonging to the family of God. We start belonging to one another. We are important to one another. We need one another.

Some Bible scholars think that the Church started at the Calvary when Jesus, hanging on the cross, said: «John! Take care of my mother. Mother take care of John». Life is about relationships. Church is about relationships. We are baptized to be part of the family of God and to take care of one another. Life is about belonging. Church is about belonging. Belonging is about taking care of one another.

Fr. Bernardino Andrade

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

World Day or a Web Summit of the Poor and the Rich?

The Web Summit and World Day of the Poor (18.11.2018), invite us to reflect on the poor. A day of the poor is impersonal for them; they are poor also in name; hardly anyone calls them by name. When a poor man dies, a few know who he is. It is strange that the miserable of the Gospel gave a name to Lazarus, while not to the rich man. On the other hand, the news give names to the richest men and their ranking of wealth, banks, and all their assets. I will propose a World Day of the Rich even if it could offend the poor.

It would be good to bring the two sides together on the same day: World Day of the Rich and of the Poor. The very, very rich and the very, very poor, the miserable, face to face as in the last judgement. It would be a “RPSummit”. In any case, relations between rich and poor are the key to almost everything going on, from Trump, Putin, Bolsonaro, Maduro, refugees dying by thousands in the Mediterranean; relations between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, slums and palaces, etc.

It would be a challenge to compare the very rich with the very poor. Who would pay the RPSUMMIT? Hardly the richest themselves. Even harder, the Poor! A site on the Web invites you to meet the 10 richest people in the world. Imagine! Each one would be responsible for more than 100 million very poor people. If the richest were 20 (and only two are women), as another website says, it would give more than 50 million poor people to every rich person; but it seems that, according to another updated website, it will be 80 very, very rich people. And yet another advances that only 15 people, with name and photo, control much of the world’s money. It’s curious! Speaking of the poor, the news from various sites no longer speak of the number of poor people, but of poorer countries, and even say that there are 9 of the poorest and some of them have percentages of 8% of the population.

It is claimed that less than a hundred super-rich people have appropriated 82% of the wealth increase in 2017 in the world; and half of the poorest population will have been left with nothing. Blacker is the fact that very, very poor children are 400 million; and 1.4 million of them are at risk of starving in Africa. Some rich, very rich, tend to react: if we were to worry about the poor, “at our gate”, and give them crumbs, we would cease being rich and others would pass us by. Will psychiatry ever decide whether, scientifically, the greed and the craving to be the richest is pathological addiction, cleverness, or heart indifference and contempt towards the poor and miserable?

The very, very rich man of the parable of the Gospel had only one very poor man at his gate. Today the very rich do the same with many poor people. The very poor do not need only crumbs. They need a Rich and Poor Summit every year not to make the richest richer as in Web Summit. Why do the great politicians, the powerful and the richest of this world, not want to share the common wealth of the planet, even knowing, scientifically, that at the end they do not take anything of it? I think the main reason is because they reject Jesus Christ.

Whoever explicitly or implicitly rejects Jesus Christ rejects also the poor. How difficult it is for a very rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Even so, the poor will continue to be a summit judgement of the very rich and powerful people. This concentration of means in less and less people is progress, or stupidity? Some rich men do good things; they only need to do good to the poor at their gate. The poor people, in painful silence, repeat: we are the criteria and judges of your greatness and your inhumanity. Poor people shout continuously: kings, you are naked and your savants are blind. Even without organized summits, “startups” work permanently in the human forums and ask: what is your purpose of life? Money or Jesus Christ who said: I was hungry and you gave me eating. Do as Martin, who still pagan, gave half of his cape to a poor man.

Funchal, World Day of the Poor, 2018
Fr. Aires Gameiro

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade

When Doug Meland and his wife became missionaries in an Indian village in Brazil the Indians used to call him the «White Man».
Actually this was not a nice name. The memories of the white men in the middle of the Indians were very traumatic. The memories of the white men were memories of houses being burned, land being stolen, women being raped and other very bad experiences. To the Indians, Doug was just another «white man».
But after the Missionaries learned the language and began to help the Indian people with medicine and in other ways, they began to call Doug the «Good White Man».
And when the Melands began adopting the customs of the people, the Fulnio Indians spoke of Doug as the «White Indian». Then one day as Doug was washing the dirty, blood-caked foot of an injured boy, he heard a bystander say: «Whoever heard of a white man washing an Indian’s foot? Certainly this man is from God»: From that day, whenever Doug entered an Indian home, it would be announced «Here is the man God sent us».

That’s the secret of greatness: SERVICE (Mk. 10).

That’s also the chief characteristic of those who follow Jesus. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve (Mk. 10, 45; Math. 20:28).

Peace and Love,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade