Showing posts with label lampudesa. Show all posts
Volunteering at JRS, the Day-Centre
Mike Guilfoyle, talks about his experience as a JRS volunteer.
Following my departure from having completed a twenty year ' stretch ' working as a front -line Probation Officer in London in 2010. I started to look around for new and energising pathways into working outside the statutory sector and in particular fulfilling a long standing interest in working as a Volunteer. After experiencing some unexpected setbacks, I was informed by one well known charity having made what I took to be a convincing presentation, that I was unsuitable as I appeared to have not quite stepped outside the probation officer persona! Undeterred, I directed my attentions to an altogether different area of volunteering, that I had peripherally engaged with albeit in the context of casework supervision with ' foreign national' prisoners when working as a probation officer.
Having already written articles for the Catholic Social Justice Quarterly, Justice Magazine, on how my catholic faith had informed my approach to working with those who came into contact with the criminal justice system, it seemed fitting that having contacted the Mount Street Jesuit Centre and had the estimable pleasure of an informal interview with Andrea Kelly that I was directed (I have now nearly completed my novitiate!) towards the Jesuit Refugee Service. At the time, JRS was relocating from its former base in North London to Wapping and as such I awaited with keen anticipation the much delayed meeting (due to the aforementioned migration across London) with JRS Assistant Director Jonathan Parr. The convivial and engaging process of volunteer recruitment was then wonderfully complemented by the presence of a warm, welcoming and eclectic staff group.
Although I had expressed a preference for working as a volunteer visiting those caught up in the Orwellian world of detention centres, childcare considerations meant that this option has remained , at least for the present, impracticable. Since then I have willingly given up a chunk of my Thursdays to work in the vibrant and challenging weekly Day-Centre that is at the heart of the Hurtado Centre and this has offered a richly uplifting experience which has meant so much to me, anchored as it is in the foundational principles of catholic social thought, respecting the dignity of the human person, who is possessed of a god -given worth captured so well in Matthew 25: ' If you welcome the stranger, you welcome me'
I was mildly amused to note that the Jesuits also have what they define as House Probation , that is novices perform most of their basic but essential tasks , alongside their heroically lengthy but to the secular outsider, formidable period of formation. I can honestly state that the time I have so far spent at JRS has been unremittingly rewarding and has offered me a privileged opportunity to meet with, work alongside and support the refugees, many of whom offer their greetings and friendship, when they arrive at the Day-Centre and prior to leaving. I now feel a warm attachment and measured respect for those friends whose stories of displacement and rejection, have resulted in unmerited penury reliant on the charitable support of JRS and other voluntary bodies. In making oneself available often at times of great individual distress, by opening up an emotional space and presence and active compassionate listening. I have always tried at moments when my patience or attention is lacking, to recall the enduring words of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, ' If I see a person or persons suffer and the distance between us does not shrink, then my place, is not good, not enviable'.
I was mildly amused to note that the Jesuits also have what they define as House Probation , that is novices perform most of their basic but essential tasks , alongside their heroically lengthy but to the secular outsider, formidable period of formation. I can honestly state that the time I have so far spent at JRS has been unremittingly rewarding and has offered me a privileged opportunity to meet with, work alongside and support the refugees, many of whom offer their greetings and friendship, when they arrive at the Day-Centre and prior to leaving. I now feel a warm attachment and measured respect for those friends whose stories of displacement and rejection, have resulted in unmerited penury reliant on the charitable support of JRS and other voluntary bodies. In making oneself available often at times of great individual distress, by opening up an emotional space and presence and active compassionate listening. I have always tried at moments when my patience or attention is lacking, to recall the enduring words of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, ' If I see a person or persons suffer and the distance between us does not shrink, then my place, is not good, not enviable'.
Working at the JRS has helped me to see in the vulnerable stranger a mirror of myself, and a reflection of Christ that points towards an invitation to human solidarity. I have met some truly wonderful colleagues, some of whom have since moved onto other challenges and career openings. The ready wit, cheerful banter and ' salty' humour in evidence when volunteers come together has been a source of joy and delight to me, the ' passagiato' practised with consummate ease by one of the volunteers now studying for a higher degree! will no doubt be recognised by 'front of house' volunteers! An invitation to accord greater attention and support to those marginalised by political strife and persecution and broken by personal tragedy was recently reiterated in the Apostolic letter in anticipation of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees from Pope Francis which concludes with these resonant words: 'Dear migrants and refugees! Never lose the hope that you too are facing a more secure future, that on your journey you will encounter an outstretched hand, and that you can experience fraternal solidarity and the warmth of friendship! To all of you, and to those who have devoted their lives and their efforts to helping you, I give the assurance of my prayers and I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.'
Who will weep for them?
The Globalisation of Indifference
A post based on Pope Francis’s homily from the mass he celebrated on the Italian island of Lampedusa on 8th July 2013.
Who will weep for them?
The UN reports that so far this year 40 people have lost
their lives off the cost of Lampedusa.
On Pope Francis’ first official visit outside Rome to the island,
reports were coming in that another 31 people have drowned in the waters of the
island in their quest for a better life.
Pope Francis described these deaths as a “thorn of suffering in his
heart”. But more than that, he spoke of
this disease, the globalization of indifference, which has hardens all our
hearts to the plight of these migrants, these our brothers and sisters.
“The migrants leave difficult situations in order to find a
little serenity and peace. They seek a
better place for themselves and for their families.”
To that end, for the chance of opportunities, which cannot
be found in their own countries, they embark upon perilous journeys, paying traffickers
vast sums of money and only counting on God to safely reach their
destination. They do not know if they
will make it. Many do not and those who
do, instead of finding the understanding, the welcome and the solidarity which
should characterise a global village in this age of globalization are instead met
with indifference. In our desire to
preserve our own well-being and our little soap bubbles, we turn our backs and
our hearts are not stirred within us as the dignity of our brothers and sisters
is trampled upon.
The globalization of indifference has taken away from us our
ability to weep even as God Himself weeps over these deaths and these migrants’
lives which are in limbo as they await a decision in the over-crowded detention
centres in Lampedusa.
In his homily, Pope Francis directed his listeners to the
two questions God asked of man after sin.
“Adam, where are you?” “Cain,
where is your brother?”
These two questions, rather than embedding us further into
our attitude of indifference, should instead provoke our consciences and cause
us to ask for forgiveness and weep: “weep over our indifference, weep over the cruelty in the world,
the cruelty in ourselves, and even in those who anonymously make socio-economic
decisions that open the way to the death of so many brothers and sisters and to
the robbing of the dignity of so many of them.”
