By Fr. Eugene Hemrick
Yeshua Fellow
Viewing the missionary pictures of Pope Leo in Peru, my heart jumped bringing back memories of my desire to be a missionary.
A movie of a missionary priest in action was my first inspiration to be a priest. In him there was something manly and wholesome that touched me. As providence would have it, I ended up being a diocesan priest. But this did not stop me from imbibing in missionary spirit throughout my life.
A lot … or too much
In Huehuetenago, Guatemala, I stayed with Maryknoll priests and nuns and experienced the schools they built, their clinic, catechizing Mayan Indians and I participated in 30 plus baptisms in a crush of people. Monty Zuma’s dysentery was common, and depression was caused by prolonged periods of perpetual fog. I also talked with lay volunteers who could not wait to return home. The foreign culture and work were too much.
In San Juan de Llurighancho, Peru, I lived with Holy Cross missionaries and experienced clinics and churches overwhelmed with the poor. My companion, a Holy Cross Brother, showed me the beautiful school he built and glass windows with which he adorned mission buildings. I also heard of the gruesome “Sendero Illuminoso,” terrorists responsible for brutally killing nuns and priests.
“I have never been the same,” said a lay minister I interviewed who worked in the missions. American prosperity in comparison with the slums of poor countries was cause for guilt.
Tears welled up
As I reflected on Pope Leo’s 20 years in Peru’s slums, tears swelled up over my desire to be a missionary. No doubt part of my nostalgia was a first wanderlust: going to a foreign country, speaking another language and championing the poor.
Missionary life is much more than being a champion of the destitute. It is a charism in which the heart is inspired to serve others less fortunate than oneself. Selfishness is replaced by selflessness.
J.L. Ewin echoes the “ruined lay volunteer’s missionary experience: “As long as there are millions destitute of the Word of God and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for me to devote time and energy to those who have both.”
Where Christ’s heart beats
At the heart of a missionary’s vision is seeing two helpless brother orphans in the streets comforting each other, people living from hand to mouth and experiencing deprivation due to government corruption.
Christ’s loving, caring heart beating within them is the heart of missionary work. May Pope Leo’s heart bless us with his missionary spirit.