A widow from Dublin and the Ethiopian Famine

Every age has its own monumental events and upheavals which often raise up unlikely champions. I think the drought and famine in Ethiopia in the mid-eighties was certainly amongst them. With millions on the verge of starvation, the charities were completely overwhelmed and even their best efforts could not have produced what was needed without intervention on a similarly epic scale.

The BBC’s brilliant reporting as the story broke left the lapsed-catholic punk rock star Bob Geldof undone and he picked up the gauntlet. His Live aid concert raised about 150 Million pounds worldwide and was watched by at least half the population of the planet via the biggest ever satellite link-up. Much of its success was due to his own frank sincerity as he inspired people to give.

In a decade largely marked by selfishness and greed this was a real revolution and outpouring of compassion as the eyes of the world focussed for a moment on the plight of a forgotten people and decided to do something together.

The most memorable moment for me was hearing about a call the phone operators received from a widow in Dublin. She was living on a small pension and whilst she had nothing to spare she offered her wedding rings to be sold to feed someone, as she didn’t need them to remember her husband and knew it could save a life. The call could be heard on the speaker and the phone operator looked over to Bob Geldof as he wasn’t sure how to respond to this offer and he said ‘take it’. Every penny counted. Many people gave a little, some gave a lot, and a few gave everything...

That widow will be long dead now and I doubt she has any regrets. Detachment from our earthly goods is necessary, not only in the heart but also physically (how else would you know?). The tragedies we see around us, in Syria, South Sudan or Burma are an opportunity to love. We cannot be fully alive without charity in our hearts.

Lent beckons us to change, to detach and focus on what is important and atone for our past failings (1 Peter 4:8) Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins and (Sirach 3:30) ‘Water extinguishes a blazing fire: so almsgiving atones for sin.

Vengeance or Forgiveness ?

An inmate at a jail in the Bronx had an interesting insight, distilled from his life experiences:- “When someone wrongs us, we want the maximum amount of punishment. But when we do wrong, we want the maximum amount of understanding and forgiveness.” As a teenager he was robbed of his paper round earnings of $27 by 3 older boys. He got a knife, found them and stabbed all three and this began his own criminal life.  His response or reaction to the evil inflicted on him took him down that same road.

A former inmate from Manila city jail that I met recently had a different story. He was framed by an acquaintance for a multiple murder, a forced confession under torture was obtained by Police officers eager for promotion and he was sentenced to death by electric chair. (This was during the Marcos era when the death sentence was still used). He spent the next 6 years on death row, mostly in solitary. During that time, through the Prison ministry and a life in the Spirit seminar, he had a conversion and was able to forgive the people who had contributed to his woes. He accepted all as coming from the hand of God, whilst still pleading for his life to the new president. Soon after, his appeal was referred to the Supreme Court and he was found not-guilty and released. Since then he travels between jails to reach out to inmates, telling his story and bringing them what little relief he can, grateful to God and compassionate to his brother inmates, whose sufferings he understands all too well.

How we respond to the evil we encounter in life has a profound effect on the result.

For the Lenten season this year I was inspired to pray for the people who had caused pain and suffering in my life, I decided to have Masses offered for the more malevolent and malicious among them. And as I prayed during these first weeks of lent, I found many names and faces from the past come up who still had some capacity to affect me as I relived the incidents and then prayed for them. For example I thought of a sadistic school teacher, a false friend, an overcritical work colleague, a bully during my school days. The worse they were, the more I pitied them. Forgiveness is a must as we need it too, from those we have wronged and of course from God.