DILI, 09 september 2024 (TATOLI) – Pope Francis visited the Children with Disabilities at the Association of Lay Missionaries (ALMA), in Dili, accompanied by Cardinal Virgílio do Carmo da Silva.
The ALMA Sisters of Timor-Leste welcomed His Holiness with tears of joy, as if this only happened once in a lifetime.
Pope Francis was welcomed and greeted by a traditional dance performed by children with disabilities.
In front of the children, Pope Francis praised the ALMA sisters for the love they give to the children with disabilities.
“I want to thank you for what you are doing, and I also want to thank the girls and the boys who give us the testimony of letting themselves be taken care of. Because they teach us how we should let God take care of us. To let ourselves be taken care of by God and not by so many ideas, plans or whims,” said Pope Francis at the ALMA Sister House in Dili today.
He said that sharing life with the most people in need is a program, “our program as a true Christian”.
The Pope then explained the Gospel of Matthew, “There is one thing I always like to think about when Jesus speaks of the final judgment and says to people, ‘Come with me’, but not because you did this or that… Jesus says, “Come with me because you took care of me when I was hungry, when I was thirsty, when I was sick”. “And so, we understand the love of Jesus, who gave his life for us.”
His Holiness said that the children of ALMA Timor-Leste show “how we should let others take care of us,” like Sister ALMA, who takes care of children.
The Pope uses Silva, a child with disability who was brought closer to him at ALMA Sister House, as an example of how to care for others. “If you look at his face, he’s sleeping peacefully and letting himself be cared for. We too must allow ourselves to be cared for. Let God, who is our Father, take care of us, and let Mary, our mother, take care of us.”
Pope then said, “There is one thing that always makes me think: when Jesus speaks about the final judgment, he says to some people, “Come with me,” but he does not say to them, ”Come with me because you were baptized, because you were confirmed, because you were married in the Church, because you did not lie, because you did not steal…”. No, “come because they took care of me.” And Jesus says: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in; I needed clothes and you clothed me; I was sick and you looked after me; I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Pope then asked the sisters and children to pray the ‘Hail Mother Prayer’ together: “Now we pray to Our Lady a Hail Mary, and I give you the blessing.”
After the blessing, Pope again reiterated his words and said, “Don’t forget: we have to learn to let ourselves be cared for, all of us, as they (children with disabilities) let themselves be cared for. Thank you.”
Before leaving the ALMA Sisters, the Holy Father presented a gift and explained: “Look, St. Joseph takes care of Our Lady Mary; Our Lady takes care of Jesus. The most important is the one who lets himself be cared for the most: Jesus. He lets himself be cared for by Mary and Joseph.
Sister Getrudis Bidi, Superior of the ALMA Community, explained to the Holy Father that the dreams and objectives of the ALMA mission are to make the Gospel real and effective in today’s world: “s Jesus said, “As you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me.”
She explained that the children who ALMA Sister serves in Timor-Leste face numerous limitations and are deaf-mute, mentally disabled, with Down’s Syndrome, physical anomalies, blind, autistic, abandoned, malnourished, and are defenceless and disadvantaged: “They are our most precious treasures.”
The Association of Lay Missionaries was founded on 8 September 1960 in Madiun, Indonesia, by Fr. Prof. Paulus Hendrikus Janssen, C.M.
ALMA began its missionary work in Timor-Leste on 14 October 2004. The charism and lifestyle of the association consist of staying side by side with the poor, the disabled, and the abandoned in the same home, in the same room, sharing the same table, praying together with one heart and one soul, without any favouritism, and becoming mothers and fathers to the children God has entrusted to us.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Rafael Ximenes de A. Belo
