177 men, give me men!” Probably, this is where the problem lies: we lack dedicated men burning for this task, we lack the “charismatics” with hearts open to human misery. In May of 2004, a controversial Belgian nun, Sister Emmanuele (lay name Madeleine Cinquin, recently deceased) approached John Paul II in Lourdes and asked him to write an Encyclical about the Church’s true calling to poverty and service to the others. Only such a Church would be authentic and better heeded to in the world, she whispered into the Pope’s ear. He smiled and nodded in response.”22 This was the kind of Church that John Paul II dreamed of, wrote about and gave witness to with his entire life, illness, and dying. However, he did not have time to write the requested Encyclical. He was “saved” by his successor who published the Encyclical “Deus Caritas est.” Benedict XVI dedicated the entire second part of this document to the concrete service of love which the Church must carry out. “The Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word,”23 writes the Pope. “The Church’s charitable organizations, on the other hand, constitute an opus proprium, a task agreeable to her (...)”24 “The Christian’s program—the program of the Good Samaritan, the program of Jesus—is «a heart which sees». This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly.”25 The Pope calls us to organize effective charitable structures. It is high time for the Marians to intensify their service for the poor and give a clearer witness to the world that Deus caritas est. In imitation of the Handmaid of the Lord, a Marian is a “permanent deacon,” and, having said “yes” to God, he rushes to say “yes” to people, especially the poorest of the poor. Our Founder knew well that the deepest penury is the moral one (sin), the slavery to an addiction that causes the fi nancial poverty of families and societies. For this reason, he cried out: “Certainly if a disaster suffered by our neighbor can at times elicit our tears, a spiritual downfall ought to elicit them more.”26 Benedict XVI also reminds us of this: “(...) this does not mean that charitable activity must somehow leave God and Christ aside. For it is always concerned with the whole man. Often the deepest cause of suffering is the very absence of God.”27 22 Joanna Brożek, Prowokatorka w habicie, „Tygodnik Powszechny,” Nov. 2, 2008. 23 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Deus caritas est, 22. 24 Ibid., 29. 25 Ibid., 31. 26 Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary Papczyński, Mystical Temple of God, Stockbridge, MA, 2006, p. 109. 27 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Deus caritas est, 31.
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