This past March 5th was Ash Wednesday and the fourth day of my weeklong immersion trip to the HEAL mission grounds of Nigeria. HEAL’s commitment to the spiritual needs of the orphans and widows in our charge was on display that first day of Lent. We gathered for Mass in the “Mother Enabler” chapel at the Home. Fr. Ambrose, spiritual director for the Messengers of Justice, was the main celebrant.
The chapel is a small studio sized space with five or six rows of hand crafted wood pews with kneelers, a modest altar, crucifix on the back wall, and a draped tabernacle on a wood shelf in the upper right corner. With room for only 40+ people inside, the remaining 20 or so children filed out from the door onto the veranda running between the courtyard and the Home. Fr. Ambrose preached on Lent being a time for conversion from our sins to God. When we convert, we become ambassadors for Christ, representing to others His ways, not our own.
I was impressed by the reverence of the children during the Mass. There was no talking, nodding off, or goofing around among this array of 2-14 year olds. And, they sang every hymn and recited every response in unison and from the heart. As I walked up to receive my ashes, carrying 2-year old, sleeping toddler, Scholastica, I sensed that HEAL was fulfilling its purpose of caring for the souls of our residents.
After receiving our Lord in Communion, the Messengers of Justice recited this meditation prayer, which I have since made my own, “Jesus, I love you. All that I have is yours. Yours, I am. Yours, I want to be. Do with me whatever you will.” Halfway through my visit, I was convinced of the unique character and import of this mission to the poor and oppressed in Nigeria.