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The previous Sunday we read a familiar passage: "‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’"
I was in Italy and was sharing at Mass how our diocese - together with projects we have been running for decades - has opened to new realities:
- Refugees - I still remember when - a couple of years' ago - members of the Swaziland Council of Catholic Women came to me saying: "Pope Francis has asked us to care for refugees. We would therefore like to commemorate "refugee day" at diocesan level". Though we have always been involved through "Caritas Swaziland", they were able to involve all the parishes of the diocese in this project.
- Gender based violence. Just a few months' ago we marched in Hlatikulu against GBV and we plan to do it in other regions of the country. Very frequently our media reports on this tragedy in our families.
- Human trafficking. The end of August saw us marching together with government and other Christian Churches in Mbabane raising awareness about this crime against humanity where people are bought and sold.
- Disabilities. Though not a new project, the death of Fr Ciccone got us more involved aware that our society still sees our children living with disabilities as "a problem".
- Abuse of alcohol. Then, the one that took me to Italy. Invited by "Impegnarsi Serve" I met young people to talk about the reality of abuse of alcohol which is the cause of at least 50% of our accidents.
The particular thing was that ... each one of these realities are also present in Italy. Enough to think of the number of refugees arriving daily, the situations of family violence being reported regularly and the sharing we had these days with young people regarding the abuse of alcohol.
There was a time when missionaries would talk about realities unknown in other countries. Not now. At least not regarding these ones. They are present in Europe and Africa, in the North and South of the world.
Globalisation seems to apply to these challenges too which call us to journey together, reflect together and support each other in prayer.
