It is Not the Poor Who Need Us, But We Who Need the Poor

Agenzia Fides

Italian Comboni Missionary Sister Laura Gemignani has been living in Africa for about forty years, in Ethiopia, South Sudan, and currently in Uganda. “I have found Uganda to be one of the most joyful and festive countries,” she says, “any occasion for celebration is good.” In Arua for the feast of St. Daniel Comboni in October, she explained how his vision inspires her.

“Comboni was an apostle and a prophet of Africa with a mission in his heart: passionate love for Africa as a true relationship between you and your beloved,” she says. “What does man who is in love with a woman do? He is willing to give his life for the love he has for her.

The Comboni Missionary Sisters have that passionate heart, just as Comboni had for Africa,” Sister Laura continued. “That’s the first thing the novices, postulants, and nuns want to embrace. You can go and do what you want. You can be a teacher and work to eliminate the slavery of illiteracy. You can become a nurse and  eliminate the slavery of disease. But in both cases, you can do very little unless you have a warm heart of love. And when we feel a little desolate and discouraged and see before us no mountain to climb but a steep rock, the Lord says to us, ‘I will always be with you.’ And he has left us the Gospel as a compass.”

“One of the most difficult things I’ve found in Africa,” she continues, “is helping the poor. Even the word help can be confused and misunderstood. As Pope Francis says, to touch the flesh of the poor is to ‘touch the flesh and heart of Jesus Christ, who is still crucified there.’ But the poor are the only lifeline that allows us to live and work close to the heart of Jesus. It is not the poor who need us, but we who need the poor,” Sister Laura says.

The Sisters, following in the footsteps of Daniel Comboni, manage to keep their  founder’s charism alive in the context in which they live. “We are animated by the same love that animated him, which he called ‘apostolic zeal’ and ‘passion for Africa.’ Without enthusiasm, without passion, without constant contact with the Lord through his Word, through the Eucharist, through sharing with the Sisters, one cannot make progress. In some ways, it is much more difficult today than it was in Comboni’s time. We are called to be the hidden stone, which, however, is necessary for the foundation of Africa’s future,” Sister Laura concluded.

Hosanna Badra, a Congolese novice, finished her university studies in 2019. “I knew  the Comboni Sisters in my parish in Congo, where I was involved in helping other young people,” she told Agencia Fides. “In time, I saw how the Comboni Missionaries and Sisters cared for the poor, especially the pygmies in our area.  Observing their constant commitment, I wondered how it was that these priests and Sisters cared for these people who were isolated from everyone else and badly treated.”

“From then on,” the novice continued, “I began to realize that my path could be one of this kind, and I asked myself how I could realize this deep desire and thus be closer to those in need.”

“Thanks to a priest with whom I embarked on a journey of discernment, we realized that the missionary vocation was growing in me. A Central African Comboni Sister told me, ‘If you have the vocation to become a missionary I will only give you a book by our founder Comboni; read it.’ I realized that I wanted to share the love of God with others, the passion that St. Daniel Comboni had for the poor. And when the pope says we should go out and meet the poor and the outcast, he is speaking in the language of the Comboni Missionaries,” Hosanna says.

Atija Abel, a novice who arrived in Uganda from Mozambique, still remembers the shock of having to leave the customs of her country and family. “But my mother said, ‘This is the path God has chosen for you. If you are happy to go, it’s okay with us. Don’t think about us. We will be fine.’ When I arrived in Uganda, I didn’t know English. What helped me was the conviction that I was not alone, our formation is from the beginning international and opens us to the richness of inculturality.”