Far East - Passion and Power
The Far East, March 2007
(The magazine of the Columban Missionaries)
Fr. Shay Cullen has worked tirelessly for the safety and development of abused children; we print here the final chapter of his autobiography.
When people ask me if I ever feel like giving up, I answer, “Yes, many times”. It was in 2001 when felt most like quitting; yet, the team work led by Alex and Merly, the prayers and support of many, kept me going in spite of growing pressure, harassment and death threats from the sex Mafia.
All of us want to see the end of abuse, exploitation and injustice, and everybody can do something to make this a better world for children before our time is up and we have to leave. People ask me from time to time what they can do. What good can we do in this world during out short stay to make people less hungry and happier? What can we leave behind to mark our existence besides a headstone in a lonely cemetery?
That’s what I ask myself too, and the answer for me is to live a purposeful and meaningful life that does good for those with less that I have. People can work justice and end the slavery of children from their own homes and communities. They can pick up their pen, lift the phone, write and e-mail and lobby politician, journalists, Church people and campaigners urging them to get involved and make a difference. Others who heard the call and answered are out on the streets campaigning and fundraising in their community – changing the lives of the poor for the better.
It is working for goals like these that keep me and the whole PREDA team, which has now grown to sixty-seven qualified committed Filipinos, rescuing children, giving them therapy, education, and a new start. This is what fuels our efforts to bring criminal abusers to justice despite harassment, opposition, threats and dangers of all kinds.
I started PREDA with Merly and Alex on a shoestring budget, a frayed one at that. “Well God had a plan for you”, Fr Tom, a colleague, told me many years ago. That plan unfolded with the years; the hard times came with the good, and the good were spent overcoming the hard. Nor could I or the PREDA team expect a smooth trouble-free run if we set out to imitate Christ in some small way like we were taught from childhood.
In human rights work there is always rejection and opposition, but there is resilience and empowerment too. Thousands of missionaries and dedicated Church workers and human rights advocates give their lives for others. Many are harassed, jailed and even killed. They are the unseen, selfless friends of the enslaved; where they are, God is too. That’s why they spend their lives, despite hardship, at peace, courageously enduring discomfort and hardship in the fields and the forests, shantytowns and slums, garbage pits and prisons. Thousands of brave social workers and people’s organizers have been tortured and assassinated by death squads on the orders of land grabbers, corrupt politicians and despots.
Some bishops and clergy are happier cloistered in churches and rectories than out supporting the Christians risking their lives for the dignity of the human persons whom Christ died for. They want others to wash their feet and have forgotten that it was Jesus who washed the feet of his apostles. “I came to serve and not to be served” he said. Those brave bishops and courageous Christians who have spoken out and have taken a stand for justice and human rights, are the hope and have taken a stand for justice and human rights, are the hope and inspiration of the Church and the people. The poor need to know that God is with them and in them. For us to meet God, we must meet the captives, the oppressed, the hungry, the blind, the wretched of the earth. We are called to be in solidarity with them and to work for justice in any way we can. Everyone can do something to make this a better world and to end the crimes against children. We need to make God infinite goodness, alive and active in the world, to prolong and extend His presence. How else can anyone believe there is a caring and loving God at all?
There is no other way to be Christian but to remain authentic to the words and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth. Real Christianity may be difficult to find in the crypts and cathedrals, yet it is far from deed in the Philippines, or in the hearts and minds of the Filipinos who work abroad. They carry their faith within and most share all they can earn with their impoverished families in the Philippines. The Churches are filled with vibrant communities that believe in taking a stand for justice and truth. I have met many who make me ashamed that my faith is not nearly as strong as theirs. “No greater love can anyone have that to give their life for their friend”, Jesus said.
That kind of love is what we see practiced by missionaries in the deserts of Darfur, the jungles of Africa, the workers in the refugee camps. The socially committed journalists and people of all faiths that stand with the poor and risk their lives for justice all over the world are the living saints of today. That selfless sacrifice is not news and does not sell magazines and newspapers, so few know about them and their lives of passion and power that are changing the world for good. These superheroes of faith and fortitude give all and ask nothing in return, yet they are amply rewarded. They find the meaning of life in lifting up the wretched and the poor, restoring life, healing the wounded and the sick, releasing the captives, giving life to the hungry, sight to the blind, empowering the downtrodden, and above all restoring truth and justice in word and deed. That’s what I want to do, where I want to be, now and forever.
Fr Shay Cullen’s
autobiography
Passion and Power
was published in 2006
by Killinon House Books.
Website: www.killynonhousebooks.com
