{"id":4580,"date":"2015-03-12T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T05:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ajan.africa\/called-to-live-jesus-compassion\/"},"modified":"2015-03-12T08:00:42","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T05:00:42","slug":"called-to-live-jesus-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajan.africa\/fr\/called-to-live-jesus-compassion\/","title":{"rendered":"Called to live Jesus\u2019 compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our reflection for the fifth week of Lent (17 to 23 March 2013) is written by Sr Mary Owens IBVM, <\/span><\/span>director of the Children of God Relief Institute, Nyumbani<\/a>, in Kenya.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLet the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.\u201d – <\/span>Jn 8:7<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

In the Gospel of the fifth Sunday of Lent, Jesus invites us into the heart of the Good News \u2013 the challenge to be compassionate. As I live my life, I become more and more aware of being capable of every sin, every evil. When I touch the lives of the poor, in particular, the poor who are challenged to live with HIV, I often ask myself: If I were in their situation, how desperate would I be, even to the extent of violating the moral code? How frustrated would I be because \u2018those who have\u2019 fail to reach out to \u2018those who have not\u2019, contrary to a spirit of equality of persons? How angry would I be that I am stigmatised because of my HIV status? One call in today\u2019s Gospel could be to examine where we stand in stigmatising others.<\/span><\/p>\n

The story of humankind throughout the world, down the centuries, is characterised by stigmatisation: people seek security through conformity while difference is often perceived as threatening. Stigma is severe social disapproval of characteristics, behaviour or beliefs that are against the prevailing cultural norms \u2013 a powerful tool of social control but not of social justice and Gospel values.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Scribes and the Pharisees were clear that the woman caught in adultery had to be stoned to death. If we are to follow Jesus, as Sr Joan Chittister says in her book, God\u2019s Tender Mercy: Reflections on Forgiveness<\/em>, \u201cthere\u2019s no place for condemnation once we face our own sins\u2026 there\u2019s no place for stoning if we are supposed to be pure enough to do it.<\/span>\u201d Or in the words of Mechthild of Magdeburg, a medieval mystic: \u201cInsofar as we love compassion and practice it steadfastly, to that extent do we resemble the Heavenly Creator who practices these things ceaselessly in us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Questions to ask about the stigmatising of persons living with HIV could be: First, do I stigmatise? If so, why? Is it because of fear, an irrational belief system, lack of accurate information regarding HIV? Is it because HIV has been associated with dying, with behaviour already stigmatised? If these are the reasons, social justice calls me to educate myself in the accurate facts about HIV. If I am stigmatising on grounds of a moral offence that ‘deserves’ punishment, Jesus shows us the way in today\u2019s Gospel \u2013compassion.<\/span><\/p>\n

The social injustice of stigmatisation has been brought home to me as I care for children who inherited HIV from their parents. Only too aware through socialising and from the media, our children face the daily possibility of discrimination, of being excluded, condemned because of their status. \u201cThis is your mug,\u201d \u201cthis is your blanket,\u201d \u201cthat\u2019s where you will sleep (apart from everyone else)\u201d was the experience of one child visiting after having finally found extended family. <\/span>\u201cThese children should not be in this playground, have them leave,\u201d was another experience. <\/span><\/p>\n

As our children grow up, no different from any other child, questions in their hearts are: \u201cIf my friend learns I have HIV, will (s)he still be my friend?\u201d \u201cWho will employ me?\u201d \u201cWho will marry me?\u201d I believe that the terrible damage stigmatisation does to children breaks Jesus\u2019 heart as we know well his love for children: \u201cWhoever welcomes one such child in my name, welcomes me\u201d (Mt 18:5).<\/span><\/p>\n

Stigmatisation of all persons living with HIV must stop! It begins with me\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

To read this reflection in French, please go here<\/a>. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

To read the reflection of the fourth week of Lent, please go here<\/a>. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

To read the reflection of the third week of Lent, please go here<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

To read the reflection of the second week of Lent, please go here<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

To read the reflection of the first week of Lent, please go here<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

To read the reflection of Ash Wednesday, please go here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our reflection for the fifth week of Lent (17 to 23 March 2013) is written by Sr Mary Owens IBVM, director of the Children of God Relief Institute, Nyumbani, in Kenya. \u201cLet the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.\u201d –<\/p>\n

Lire la suite<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ajan-campaign-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajan.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajan.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajan.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajan.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajan.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ajan.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajan.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajan.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajan.africa\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}