Our benefactors in New Zealand (and Australia) humble us with their generosity in adversity.
Last year (2010) was a difficult year for the people of the South Island of New Zealand. An earthquake hit Christchurch on September 4, the same day nine people died in a plane crash on Fox Glacier. There were late winter storms in the middle of the lambing season that caused severe losses of stock in the Deep South and the collapse of Stadium Southland.
Most recently 29 men died in the mine explosion at the Pike River Coal Mine in the Greymouth district. In the face of these disasters it would be natural for people to turn inward and focus on what has happened to them, taking the path to healing and recovery for themselves and their local communities.
However, I could not help noticing as I wrote to the people who had responded to our Christmas appeal how many were from the South Island and from Christchurch in particular.
Of all the response the one that had the deepest impact on me came from a man in Christchurch.
On his card he has crossed out his address and added a short note written in a shaky hand that suggested frailty “future address unsure because of the earthquake”. I was blown away. Here was a man who may have had no home for the past few months and no idea at this point about his own future and yet he was sending money to help others in need.
I thought about how his broad and inclusive view of life and church was formed and nurtured so deeply that even in times of personal struggle he still had a focus outwards, an understanding that the church is ‘ec-centric’ by nature as an article I read recently put it. Here the principle of “looking after your own” seems to include all those who are in need wherever they might be. There is a sense here of someone who understands at a deep level the story of the Good Samaritan that Jesus told in answer to the question “who is my neighbour?”
I find myself thinking also about the story Jesus told of the widow’s mite and his awareness that while others contributed out of their abundance she had given what she needed to live on. What he saw, seems to have made a deep impact on him. Witnessing this same generosity of spirit happens fairly often in my ministry in the Columban Mission Office and is always a gift; but in this instance the gift seemed especially precious.
I continued the task of writing to our donors with a new heart and a fresh spirit. I would like to thank all our supporters not only for their money and prayers but for the gift of encouragement and hope that they give us in our ministry by their commitment to mission.
Fr Patrick O'Shea lives at St Columbans Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
Read more from The Far East, March 2011
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