As the first hints of Spring are in the air, I am pleased to welcome you to the fourth edition of our Walking with the Poor newsletter. Although springtime brings new life and new energy, we live in difficult times, and I pray that we may have the fortitude and courage to meet the current challenges with faith in the love of God and the blessings of the Holy Spirit.
As the intrepid Winston Churchill said “This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure.” In these pages, you will read of those from the Spiritan family who dare and endure in these testing times. John Kingston whose work in troubled Mozambique seeks to bring education, more sustainable agricultural practices and better opportunities for young people. Pat Palmer is currently Rector of the only Spiritan house of theology in Asia. Based in Manila, students from Vietnam, Kenya and Tanzania live and learn there at present. Our regular From The Archives feature brings an interesting slant to the “second founder” of The Spiritans, Venerable Francis Libermann,
whose Feast Day was celebrated on February 2.
Above all else we must have hope. The African American writer and abolitionist Harriet Ann Jacobs put it well:
“The beautiful spring came; and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.”
Fr. Martin Kelly, CSSp, Provincial
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