The Philippine Star article “Love thy neighbor!” reads in part:
“The Daughters of Charity conduct the Hospicio de San Jose, which is in the middle of the Pasig River. …. The Daughters of Charity really have the spirit of Saint Vincent de Paul, the patron of the poor.”
Scan down this page to see the full excerpt about the Daughters in this column celebrating practical manifestations of love.
The opinion column, “Love thy neighbor,” written by a veteran Jesuit missionary in the Philippines, Father James B. Reuter, S.J., and appearing in the 05/15/2004 issue of The Philippine Star reads in full:
A great deal is written, screened and said about graft and corruption in the Philippines, about selfishness and greed. But there are a great many Filipinos who are quietly reaching out to the poor, to those in need. With absolutely no fanfare.
HABITAT is building houses for the poor. And thy are doing a splendid job! They are carefully organized, with a plan of production and a time schedule for the next five years.
Couples For Christ are building houses for the poor. They are a prayerful charismatic group, founded to safeguard the welfare of the family, but their apostolate is building homes for the homeless, so that the destitute poor may also have prayerful, happy families.
The House Without Any Steps in Cainta–Tahanan Walang Hagdanan, takes care of paraplegics. 125 paraplegics live there, night and day; and 415 come there every day to work, and to be educated. They are taught to work in metal, in wood, in cloth, in cardboard, in flowers, in paint. Hundreds of paraplegics have moved from Tahanan Walang Hagdanan into the main stream of employment, with regular paying jobs.
EPHPHETA is a charitable institution especially for the blind. One poor girl, destitute and totally blind, started in Ephpheta, and went on to earn a scholarship to college. She won another scholarship to graduate school, earned an M.A. in Social Work, and is now a nun in the United States.
Father Pierre T. Tritz, S.J., who will be ninety years old in September, has been working for decades with children who have dropped out of school. He brings them back to the classroom, and encourages them so effectively that most go on to become college graduates.
The Daughters of Charity conduct the Hospicio de San Jose, which is in the middle of the Pasig River. The only way to get to it is from the middle of the Ayala Bridge. They receive abandoned children. For years the kindest spot in this country was their “Turning Cradle”. You could come down from the Ayala Bridge at night with a baby in your arms – deformed, or blind, or retarded, or paralyzed – and put the baby in the crib which was built into their wall. You could close the door of the area in which the crib was. The turning cradle would carry the baby inside the wall, to the compound of the Hospicio. You could press a button and a Sister would take the baby, and raise the child until the child was ready to care for himself, or herself. You could walk away slow. No one would put a flashlight in your face, or ask your name. There were no questions asked. You could go back to the Ayala Bridge and disappear into the city, walking either way. The Daughters of Charity really have the spirit of Saint Vincent de Paul, the patron of the poor.
The Missionary Sisters of Charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta are known for taking care of the destitute who are old and dying. But they also accept abandoned babies, handicapped children, women in crises. They do not ask any questions, either. Their door, and their hearts, are open to all those in need.
Sister Placid, O.S.B., in Saint Scholastica’s College, is teaching street children to play the violin. Many religious congregations conduct feeding centers, giving the children food. But she gives them the beauty of music. Not only to appreciate music, but to create it.
Caritas takes care of street children, and of abused children. Their protection of life begins with the child in the womb. They try to save the baby from being murdered before the baby is born.
Cardinal Sin has a strong housing project for the destitute poor in Metro Manila.
Archbishop Mongeau, in Cotabato, organized a housing project for the Muslims. In that housing project the Oblates of Mary Immaculate teach the men to practice a trade, to enable them to make a living. The Sisters, the Oblates of Notre Dame, teach livelihood projects to the women.
The Good Shepherd Sisters have a home for children who have been molested; and another home for preventive care, to save young girls from being abused. And they have a home for unwed mothers, where they not only take care of the young women physically, but also emotionally, and spiritually. Their girls are prayerful, and they give birth with peace of soul.
Our Lady of Peace Mission conducts medical and surgical missions among the poor in the Provinces. They have established a settlement of Aetas in Zambales. They have eight feeding centers in Manila, and a home for street children. They prepare squatter children for school, and grant as many scholarships as they can. They have livelihood programs. And they have built a charity hospital for the poor, on the Coastal Road.
Bahay Maria houses street children, and takes care of their education.
The Religious of the Assumption have an outreach center for the poor in San Simon, Pampanga; and an outreach center for the poor in Iloilo.
The Sisters of Saint Paul de Chartres work for the lepers in the hospital on the Island of Culion; they conduct a school for the children of the lepers; they run a nursery for the children who are taken from their leper mothers on the delivery table, untouched by their mothers. These children do not set foot on the soil until they are five years old. And none of them have leprosy. The nursery was part of the scientific process which established that leprosy is not inherited. . . . . .During the five years in the nursery, when the leper mothers want to see their children, they come up the dirt path to the nursery and look through the plate glass window. The nuns bring out the children, who sing or dance – whatever the nuns have taught them. When the mothers are deeply moved, they kiss the glass. The children come to them, and kiss the glass on the inside.
The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary work for the lepers in the Tala Leprosarium, in the school and in the hospital.
There are countless other good people like this, who are reaching out to the poor. You do not hear about them because the characteristic trait of those who are really charitable is this: they keep quiet about it. They obey the words of Our Lord in the Gospel: “Whenever you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”
Even Pagcor and PCSO – for all the attacks leveled against them – have done wonderful work for the poor. They have supplied hospitalization for the destitute very often. And one thing that looks small, but is important to all those involved in it: burying the dead. When a destitute man dies, the family finds it very hard to pay for the funeral. They are tempted to sell the body to the medical schools. The government has been very swift, and very compassionate, in answering needs like this.
The latest of the organized efforts to alleviate poverty in the Philippines is the campaign of Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, called: Pondo ng Pinoy. It will be officially launched early in June.
Archbishop Rosales calls it: “The Theology of the Crumbs”. He is proposing that every person in the Philippines shares a little every day, with all his neighbors. His concept of a crumb is 25 centavos. If every Filipino, rich and poor, shares 25 centavos every day, it might not solve the problem of poverty in this country, but it would certainly alleviate it.
Archbishop Rosales does not object to those who have more giving more. But it should be every day. Not a big gift every month, or even every week, but at least a crumb every day.
He feels that even the poor could afford to share 25 centavos each day. And this would give them the dignity of sharing like everyone else.
The Archbishop believes that this Theology of the Crumbs would be of tremendous help in meeting the problems of food, of education, of livelihood, of hospitalization, of everything!
It is true that we have selfishness and greed.
But it is also true that we have a little army of Filipinos who are honest, and generous, and good – men and women who are willing to share what they have with those in need.
This nation has been touched by the hand of God. Quietly, we are trying to live by the Gospel. We do not brag about it, but we are trying to hold out a hand to those who need us. Even in our own personal hardship, even in our own poverty, we are trying to love our neighbor. The Archbishop’s Theology of the Crumbs will work!
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200405152604.htm
Editor’s Note: This link no longer seems operative.
