May 14th was a very special day for the world. Pope Francis invited us to celebrate a special worldwide interfaith prayer for the end of this pandemic. All the believers of different religious traditions, prayed together from the different corners of the globe. This is a sign of a world who is facing this hard situation together. Breaking barriers and ancient walls that still be among us.
I took this event to talk about what “to make the world a single family” means for us Xaverian Missionaries. I’m going to tell you a story from my missionary experience in Mexico to better explain what I mean:
Two different brothers
I was in Mexico living a special year of our training as Xaverian Missionaries, the novitiate! I spent there one year, praying, living the community life and learning what it means to be a missionary.
One day, two new brothers came in our community to start their training. Both were from Bangladesh, I was from Italy, there were another guy from Colombia and the others were Mexicans. International community, so. We were sharing together joys and sorrows of our life.
One Saturday, as usual, we went to take missionary service in one of the parishes of our neighborhood. Biplob, one of the new Bangla brothers came for his first time, as well. We used to go there by bike. But unfortunately, that day Biplob was hit by a car at a crossroad. He reported several injuries and a pelvis fracture. He was picked up to the closest hospital and he stood there many days.
Meanwhile, we went to visit and assist him. One day it was my turn and I went there, as well. He was suffering too much and he stood in the corridor at least three days, because there were no more rooms into the hospital.
That day I stood close to him, trying to give him some reliefs… it was hard, because I’m not a doctor neither a nurse. He was in pain and I did not know what to do. While I was thinking in my impotence and powerlessness a doctor finally came to visit us. Before he had left us, he asked me: “Are you brothers?” – I was really surprise at that question, because I’m Italian and Biplob is from Bangladesh, so we are very different – “We are kind of…” – I answered smiling at the doctor – “We are missionaries and we try to make the world a single family” – I added.
That experience taught me what these words mean for us. The doctor saw something in our relationship that pushed him to think if we were brothers. Despite, our different racial background, he saw something in common between us.
So, from that day I do really believe that all the world is a big family where everybody has to take care of each other. This is what Jesus teach us in the Gospel:
“you are all brothers and you have only one father who is in the heaven”
(Cfr. Mt 23:8-10)
Nowadays, we should have these feelings: no matter our differences, they are a precious gift of God; no matter whether we think in a way or another; no matter whether we believe or not in a God.
What’s really matter is that with all these differences we can walk together. Not one against another, but one with the others. Like in a family: not everybody are fathers or mothers: there is the mother, the daughter, the son and so on… each member gives something unique and unrepeatable to the good of the whole family.
The world is called to be this big family, but it depends of our choices.
Listen to this article on my Podcast channel!