Speech by Bro Raj during the 51st AGM of SSVP Selangor

“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18: 7-8).

Dear Sisters, and Brothers in Christ,

“Greetings of peace”! Foremost, I wish to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Happy and Blessed Easter. Easter is a time when we Catholics come together and acknowledge perhaps the greatest mystery of all -the “Resurrection of our Lord”. For without the Resurrection, we have no Hope. The Resurrection brings us a new meaning of hope, gives us new life and makes us a people who journey with faith, hope and with a clear understanding that there is a world to come where all of us could be made perfect in Him.(1 John 3 : 1-3)

As we ponder through this, and as we approach our own work as a Society, a Society that has been formed to defend our Mother Church and its teachings – by uplifting those who are in pain, in misery, in poverty and in need. Surely Easter must then bring a new dimension to our understanding of who we are as a Society. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to have been the President of the Society in Selangor for four years now. In the 4 years, I must emphasize that amongst all, I have been the greatest beneficiary of Hope, Love shared with and amongst Sisters and Brothers who share a common vision, ideal and most of all Faith.

I cannot help but be grateful to God for the many ways He has allowed me to see my inner self through my own workings, through the various opportunities where He has presented to me, to meet (encounter) Him in person in the form of the suffering and the poor. Many a time He has guided me, taught me and conscientised me making me conscious of the Holiness and Sanctity of the Human Person; having to learn to respect the dignity of the person whom I’m meeting, for that person carries God’s image who is Divine and sacred. It’s so easy for us to worship God, and yet it is so difficult for us to respect the dignity of the person in whom God resides. This is perhaps the greatest challenge that we have as Vincentians. By normal convention, human nature is such that, because of the works that we do, where the outside world sees these works as charitable works, as helping someone else, where we are the providers and the other person whom we meet is the receiver, we become somewhat “above” the other person. It’s easy for us to get carried away with this work, and to treat ourselves as a more capable and perhaps a more “superior” person than the other or at the very least condescending to the person whom we try and reach out to.

Easter and the events leading to Easter from Ash Wednesday, clearly tells us that Jesus did not take that role. In fact, He lowered himself (abased himself) to be the person who bore the brunt of sufferings, pain and humiliation. He needed women to wipe his face, He was thirsty, He needed Simon to help him carry his cross – He needed people to comfort Him, soothe Him and ease His pain; and yet moments before dying he comforted us all by giving us His mother, Mother Mary to be our Mother and by forgiving all those who harmed Him.

If we reflect on this, we realize that God is reaching out to us, in this person of the suffering, and inviting us to help, soothe and comfort Him. For God is so powerful, that He could change the world at the stroke of His hand, and yet He chooses to suffer and die in humiliation, providing us with an opportunity, and more importantly, inviting us to be His partners, to be His collaborators, of justice and peace to this world and to be instruments of His love where we are to alleviate and share the burdens, pain and suffering of the poor- the marginalized.

We are to give hope to such people, but how can we give such hope if we ourselves don’t truly internalize, experience this hope in ourselves so that we can bring this message of hope to others?

Sisters and Brothers, these past few years, the Society has been embarking on various empowerment projects. As we embark on these projects, the challenges involved are even larger. We need more resources, we need more money, we need training, we need formation, and we need to be able to transform ourselves as a people of hope who will bring hope to others and not lord over others! Amidst all these challenges, I must congratulate all the members in Selangor (from Kuala Selangor to Batang Berjuntai to Batu Arang to Klang, Kajang and Petaling Jaya) that you have taken up this challenge, and made the changes in the way we look at things and operate – to rise to this challenge. But we need to do more. We must also be mindful that while the majority of members have embraced the concept of empowerment and Social Justice tempered with respecting the rights and dignity of the Human Person, there are still many of us who do need a bit more encouragement to make this shift and change. But, in due course with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I am sure they will also. I also realize that the challenges will continue to be there; we’ll always be concerned whether we have enough resources, enough money and other essentials. Sisters and Brothers, here I invite all of us to be the People of Hope, living in Hope, trusting in Him – for if we did the right things, He will ultimately bring us liberation. He will ultimately provide, if only we would be open to Him and work with Him, just as He cares and ‘works’ for us.

I can’t also help but think that to be open to Him, we need to put aside prejudices, we need to put aside our judgmental thoughts, we need to put aside some of our outmoded, traditional ways of doing things and our differences. We need to seriously ask ourselves, if when working with the poor, when working with the person in need, are we sanctifying that person? Are we instruments who make the person “feel” as a creation of God, as a person of dignity and rights, or are we assuming the role of the provider and the judge? For if we took the second role, then we are telling God that He is no longer the provider and, we would become “little gods” ourselves, and I know for sure that is not what we want.

Sisters and Brothers, very recently Our Holy Father, Pope Francis when asked about giving alms defined the character of a Good Samaritan drawing close to the beneficiaries of their charity in an act of true fraternity, when he posed these questions:-

When I give alms do I look into the eyes of my brother sister?
Did I caress (touch) or hug the person who is sick, elderly, and children or have I lost sight of the meaning of the word caress?

How so real! It is easy to give alms. But it is never easy to belong to the person whom we are reaching out to! This year as we continue our Golden Jubilee celebrations, it is my sincere prayer that we would indeed be seen as a People of God who love beyond boundaries bringing about a message of Hope and Love through our unselfish acts of Love, Empowerment and Charity to all.

May we be inspired by the simplicity of Mother Mary who said Yes to God and who then made it possible for Word to become Flesh to live and dwell amongst us! Thank you, God Bless and I wish all of us a very successful and spirit filled AGM.

Yours in Vincentian Service

Bro Rajenthiran ( Raj ) Narayanan
President, SSVP Selangor. 4th May 2014.