Young people from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish’s youth group Fruto de Fe (Fruit of Faith) reflect on Jesus’ dying words as He hung on the cross. These phrases, recorded in the Gospels, are often called “The Seven Last Words of Christ.” A devotion to the Seven Last Words began with a Peruvian priest in the 17th century, and has become a popular source of contemplation on Good Friday – the darkest day before the light of Easter dawns.
1. “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do”
Shortly before His death, it can be said that He was already dying and Jesus asked His Father to forgive His executioners because they did not know what they were doing. These words make me stop and reflect as a privileged child of God, who enjoys his love and forgiveness. Shortly before His death, Jesus stops for a moment and sees my reality and feels sorry for me and asks His Father God to forgive me because I do not know what I am doing. “Father, he is your son, look at him how he is, how much you have done for him. You have given him love and you gave him life. You gave him a family, exemplary parents worthy of admiration, and he does not recognize them, not even my suffering and my passion are enough for them. Father, forgive them because every time they do this, it hurts me to the core. This makes my strength more exhausted, the pain increases more, these nails torture me and the pain is unbearable. My body is bleeding more and more, my strength is running out little by little. Slowly death approaches, the darkness of death draws closer and closer, but my love for humanity is much stronger.”
— Darbin Marquez
2. “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Imagine that all your life you lead a life of crime, and you don’t take into account all the suffering you have caused. You are guilty to the point where your punishment is now crucifixion. You deserve it. And at your side you have someone who doesn’t deserve it, someone who has dedicated Himself to healing and doing God’s will. In your heart you recognize Him as the Messiah, the one your parents told you about. Seeing how they cursed Him and whipped Him. And with His suffering, you confess to Him and recognize Him as the Savior. He rewards you with entry to paradise and with the joy of being next to Him. Now, how beautiful it is to know that with all the bad things you have done in your life, just by confessing your sins and completing penance He purifies us and He admits us to paradise. By receiving the Holy Eucharist all this is fulfilled. “He who eats this bread and drinks this wine has eternal life.” We live this every time we go to Mass. Offer Him your joys and suffering, accept your failures and repent. The Lord is waiting with joy and pure love for His dear children who were lost and have returned.
— Asly Medina
3. “Woman, behold, your son…”
Did God create the perfect mother? Yes. On history’s darkest day, Christ hangs like a wounded eagle on the cross. Christ died to sanctify us. With His dying breaths, He tells the holiest woman, “Here is your son.” Christ made no exceptions: His Mother was given to us all, comforting those in suffering and feeling abandoned. Are you feeling like this? Go to Mary. Mary understands such pains, having experienced life without Jesus for three days. Are you a sinner? Recall Christ on the cross telling you, “Here is your mother.” Feel unworthy of Mary’s love? Our Lady of Guadalupe reassured Juan Diego saying, “‘Because truly I am honored to be your compassionate mother. Those who love me, those who seek me, truly will I hear their cry.” A young man ran to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Or better yet, “What must I do to be happy?” We gain eternal life and happiness by obeying the Ten Commandments. Honor Mary by praying the rosary, observing the fourth commandment: “Honor your father and mother.” With every bead we say, “I love you,” and with every prayer she smiles and tells Christ, “See how they adore you.”
— Vicente Capistrano
4. “My God,My God, why have you forsaken me”
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? How many times has God heard this plea, which we cry out from the depths of our stress and anguish. God has given us the gift of freedom to choose, and we choose from our own weaknesses, which harms us. He, like a patient father, listens to our complaints and sits next to us suffering in silence. God lets us learn from our mistakes and allows us to find our way to Him, and like the Prodigal Son, we return to our Father, who we know for a fact only wants the best for us. How many times as young people have we fallen into the errors of vices, alcohol, drugs, lust, and we fall to the lowest point of our lives and we blame God. But these words that Jesus says on the cross are not an expression of discouragement but a great expression of trust in the Lord. We must have confidence in the Lord, who awaits us at the lowest point ready to lift us up. Let us use our suffering to draw closer to God and learn to surrender completely to His divine will. We can surrender more to His will by reading the Bible, attending Mass, receiving the Eucharist, going to confession and living our faith fervently.
— Juan Pablo Venagas
5. “I thirst”
How many of us thirst for success, appreciation, money or even love? And we fill that thirst with bad influences, drugs, alcohol, parties, pornography, and we even delve into social media in order to satisfy that thirst. The only thing we achieve with all this is to become emptier. Jesus said on the cross, “I thirst,” and perhaps we say, “Lord, you who can do everything, why don’t you do something?” But God loves us so much that He gives us the freedom to choose Him. On that cross He shows us that He thirsts for us. He wants to love us as we deserve despite our sins, and longs to save our souls. And why do we keep denying Him? What are we afraid of? Instead of giving Jesus our sincere and humble heart, we keep giving Him the hyssop full of vinegar. We say, “I am already in the church serving and going to Mass every Sunday. Lord, you see that I am following your path.” I ask you, are you really going for Jesus or just to be seen and receive approval from the world? Despite everything, Jesus looks at you with eyes of love and wants to love you in a beautiful way. Just open your heart and say “Lord, I am thirsty.”
— Angela Acosta
6. “It is finished”
6. “It is finished”Moments before breathing His last, Jesus says is “It is finished.” All the chaos from the disgruntled crowds had finished. All the torture they put Jesus through had finished. The scourging, the crowning of thorns on His head, the many times He fell to the ground, the thirst He felt, the agony He endured - it was all finished. Imagine how Jesus felt in these moments - the pain He felt. Being both divine and human, He felt the physical and emotional pain of each fall, of the insults, and of all the torture He underwent. But His love for us allowed Him to endure all of this. It is finished. At this point, He handed over His spirit. This, in a way, calls to mind the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It is hope in this moment. The Holy Spirit continues to be with us from the moment of our baptism, thanks to the infinite love and generosity of God.
Jesus did everything He could for our salvation. He gave up His life for us. The sacrifice was complete - it was finished.
— Jennifer Hernandez
7. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”
We find these words in the Gospel of St. Luke. Jesus sees that everything that the Father has entrusted to Him is fulfilled, and just like Jesus Christ, we will deliver everything that God entrusts to us into His hands. Our life, our heart, our work, everything. How beautiful to hear from His voice those sweet words spoken all with love, “Father into your hands I entrust my spirit.” It is a way of saying, “My God, I trust in you, I give myself to you.” How beautiful to see that great love that unites the Father with the Son, the obedience of Jesus to the Father. In these words, humanity is reflected – no matter how great the suffering is, it manifests the obedience and humility that we owe the Father. And how great is His love that does not challenge the will of the Father because love is humility and obedience. He places His trust eternally in God. With these words, He ends His mission on earth and returns to His Father. With these words He reaffirms our faith, fully entrusting in the hands of God our life, our family, our lives, and everything that God tells us to do. Our entire being belongs to Him. Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.
— Javier Varela
Cultivating community
Now in their 15th year of serving the poor in Monroe, the Missionaries of the Poor have cultivated a community of joyful service. Pictured above are the brothers with Our Lady of Lourdes pastor Father Benjamin Roberts at the annual Mass for Consecrated Life at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in January. (Troy Hull | Catholic News Herald)MONROE — A chance meeting at a New York airport has delivered countless blessings for the faithful and the poor in Union County.
Father Richard Ho Lung of Jamaica had traveled to the big city in 2008 in hopes of establishing a mission in the U.S., but unsuccessful, he was headed back home when he ran into Bishop Peter Jugis as both prepared to board flights.
Father Ho Lung introduced himself as the founder and superior of the Missionaries of the Poor, based in Jamacia with missions established around the world.
The two men “spoke for a while,” says former Brother Augusto Silot, “and Bishop Jugis invited Father Ho Lung to visit Charlotte.”
The moment led the religious community to establish its only U.S. mission in Union County – where Bishop Jugis once served as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.
Today, the ministry is thriving as the Missionaries of the Poor prepares to celebrate 15 years of cultivating community among friends, volunteers and parishioners of the church – who week after week reach out to the most vulnerable among us.
“The Missionaries of the Poor are truly worthy of their name,” said Father Benjamin Roberts, current pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes. “They do extraordinary work for the poor and immigrant communities and are in communion with us. We have been blessed by the presence of the brothers and their community.”
Although only four brothers serve in the mission, their community of local missionaries offer worship, prayers, catechesis and activities for the poor and growing immigrant community. They regularly host community meals and deliver food packages, and they visit the sick and homebound.
Establishing a Mission
The Missionaries of the Poor were moved by the people they met and poverty they saw in Union County. After conversations and exploring the territory, Bishop Jugis invited the brothers to settle in Monroe and begin their work.
Our Lady of Lourdes parishioner Rosa Elba Gutierrez remembered the early days after the brothers’ arrival in 2009.
“They came to the parish and our pastor at the time, Father James Cassidy, let them stay in the parish rectory for as long as they needed,” Gutierrez recalled. “I drove them in my car through the streets of Monroe, looking for a piece of land or a house for their mission.”
Thanks to generous donors, just six months later, the brothers were able to find a house and land on Griffith Road in Monroe, where they still reside today.
The brothers repaired the house and transformed the rugged, wooded lot into a vast garden where they now grow vegetables and raise chickens as part of their ministry. They also built a chapel on the property to minister to the growing Hispanic community.
“We are blessed to have the Missionaries of the Poor in our diocese, giving joyful service to the poor out of love for Christ,” said Bishop Jugis. “Since their mission opened in Monroe, they have given effective witness as vowed religious to the mercy of the crucified and risen Christ, and have helped the poor whom they serve to grow in faith and Christian holiness. An enthusiastic love for Christ our Lord is evident in all the work they do.”
Spiritual Poverty
Brother Martin Bukenya, who now oversees the mission, quickly understood that poverty in the United States was very different from poverty in other parts of the world.
“In other countries, poverty is everywhere and we have houses where we can bring people, and take care of the poor. Here in the United States, because of the laws and permit issues, we can’t house them ourselves,” Brother Martin said. “But over the years I’ve learned that the ‘poverty’ in this country is most sharply expressed in the spiritual life. And that is the focus of our work.”
The brothers host weekly Bible studies and Eucharistic Adoration, and arrange for priests to celebrate Mass at their chapel on Mondays. They also join with the community to pray the Rosary, and distribute food for the poor, making home deliveries of essential goods for those who can’t get out.
They welcome visitors to their mission, inviting the community to help bake goods and harvest fresh food for those in need. The brothers eat what’s left from their giveaways. They also visit nursing homes and hospitals, and make weekly home visits to parishioners.
Brothers are family
Our Lady of Lourdes parishioner Adelaida García is joyful for finding a deep friendship with the brothers and the whole community.
“It gives us a lot of peace to be here,” she said. “They make us feel very happy and welcome to share as one community in prayer and service.”
Rosa Colín, who has been attending the mission for nine years, said she feels like part of a family.
“They’re always there for us. When my husband had severe health problems, they came to our house almost daily to check on him and minister to him,” Colín said. “It was very beautiful for us because, as immigrants, we don’t have any family close to us here. The brothers have become our family.”
— César Hurtado
Learn more
The work of the Missionaries of the Poor is possible because the help of volunteers and supporters from across the diocese. To volunteer or make a donation, visit their website at www.missionariesofthepoor.org or call Brother Martin Bukenya at 704-320-7414.