Hello Gena

The prophet Isaiah speaks of the Suffering Servant who is “accustomed to sorrow and aquainted with grief.”

This short phrase captures so much of what our experience is like in Haiti, side by side with people we care about deeply, many of whom suffer and die.

In Isaiah, the Suffering Servant is the prefigure of Christ, who doesn’t have to suffer at all, but freely chooses to enter into suffering  in order to help and redeem.

He does not choose to do so like someone who descends from on high in pity, to help an inferior, but as one who sees the incredible richness of the person whose misfortune is what makes us cross paths in the first place, so that, as equals, both lives are incredibly enriched. This kind of richness can only happen with solidarity that unites hearts and requires sacrifice.

In the end your sorrow and grief are the tangible witnesses to the fact that the union of hearts worked, and took root strong and fast

Your words about Audelina and the beautiful picture of her show us how real this all is.

From Italy, our touch of solidarity: we offered mass for Audelina the same day as her burial, in the beautiful cathedral of Milan, with the volunteers and workers of NPH Italy.

Again, I offer my sympathy and prayers and wish you all the Christine and Germaine families bon courage and much strength from God.

-Mon Pere