Thanksgiving reflection for the Passionist social ministries in Asia

Last week the Passionist communities in Asia sent their superiors and delegates to India to discuss a matter of regional governance for the Religious community. At an international level the Passionist community is going through a process of reconfiguration. This reconfiguration aims to reorganize the community in adapting to the challenges of globalization and to reflect on its spirituality in light of these social challenges. One of these challenges is the how the religious community engages with issues of social concern within a society that is becoming further interconnected. The international congregation has opted to use the term Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) to express this commitment. The Asian regional meeting of the Passionist community invited the international commission of JPIC to present on this challenge and to organize a social network of JPIC with the communities.

As with all the Passionist communities worldwide the Asian members are by no means strangers to social ministries. We had the opportunity to hear so many of the unique social ministries that these communities have organized in light of their own local realities. In India we were able to visit some of these powerful ministries in a poor village called Randham. Social ministries refer to ministries of the Passionist communities that serve the society in which they exist. In Randham we were fortunate enough to visit a number of these ministries, some which are traditional and others which are new and innovative. A traditional yet very powerful social ministry that they offer is education. The goal being to give the emerging generation the real opportunity to gain a quality education that will allow them to improve themselves and their own community in this highly competitive world while integrating the spiritual dimensions of social responsibility.

Other more unconventional ministries included a micro-credit Cow Loan program, a rice and peanut farming project and housing development. The cow loan program is particularly creative. The aim is to supply the local villagers with a natural resource that can sustain them. In India the cow is a very sacred animal, part of this is the religious tradition of Hinduism, but another part of this is that the cow is a great resource for the community. The Passionists have created a loan system where the villagers will have access to a 0% interest loan to purchase a cow. The villagers will then go to the Passionist milking station to sell the milk and a percentage of the milk will go to repay the loan for the cow while the rest go to them. After the cow is payed off they then keep the entire profit of the milk.

This is one example of a Passionist social ministry in Asia that is helping the poorer members of our society by giving them a number of opportunities through work, education and basic services. At the meeting we heard how diverse the social need is with the other Asian communities which include Japan, Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Papa New Guinea and Vietnam. The issues where diverse but we heard a commitment from these communities to promote a network of solidarity so that at a global level we can all support each other in promoting the Christian work of true charity which Pope Benedict XVI reminds us in his recent encyclical is justice. The Passion for Justice blog will become more diverse as we develop further solidarity with each other and sometime soon you will hear other voices throughout the world sharing our issues, concerns and social spirituality.   

As we go off to celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States I would ask that all of us adopt the spirit of solidarity with the poor members of our human community and to offer a prayer for them and the missionaries who serve them. Consider and reflect on this spiritual quote from Saint Paul of the Cross and may all of us celebrate is the true spirit of Thanksgiving.

Therefore, let us love the dear God, who loves us so much placing everything in the Wounds of Jesus and offering them to the Divine Father, begging him through the grace of his most holy Son that he give remedy to all the evils and send his faithful servants so that the power of the Cross and Passion of Jesus Christ will triumph.