Fr Gerry's Letter

Fr Gerry Mulligan's Letter to St Gerard's Parish

While I was overseas in July, Gerry Mulligan, our Vice Provincial, was kind enough to come to Zimbabwe and help in our parishes. I was very happy that he came, especially at this time when our country is going through a very difficult phase. While telling our confreres in the UK the difficult situation here, I feared that Gerry might be scared and decide not to came. Knowing fully well what was happening here he decided to come. Gerry responded in the spirit of the true Redemptorist: "Always ready to undertake what is difficult." The letter that he wrote for our Parish Bulletin as he left speaks for itself:

ST GERARD'S PARISH LETTER 17th. Sunday of The Year 2008

One cold day last January in Scotland, Fr Ronnie McAinsh- our Redemptorist Provincial said to me “They were going to be a bit short-staffed in Zimbabwe during the month of July. They needed help with the weekend and daily Masses.” Listening to the rain and sleet battering on the window pane, I said “I’ll go.”

Five months later, on June 29th, standing in the queue for security checks at Glasgow airport I wondered if I had made the right decision. People looked at me strangely when I said I was going to Zimbabwe for a month. I must admit, I felt a bit apprehensive myself after all we had seen on TV during the lead up to the elections.

First impressions can be misleading. When I arrived, so much seemed to be going on as normal. Certainly, the welcome I received from everyone was overwhelming and people seemed to be genuinely pleased that I had come. It was only with time that I began to realize how very difficult and frightening things had been. I was amazed at people’s ability to cope, to survive from day to day and even to keep smiling– something I had remembered from previous visits. I felt in a strange way honoured to be here; humbled that people had allowed me to share these days with them. But, there was tiredness in people’s faces, not surprisingly, and a feeling of disappointment that was so real you could almost touch it.

I enjoyed meeting my Redemptorist confreres again at St Gerard’s and visiting the student community at Tafara. It is always good to meet up with your brother Redemptorists and enjoy catching up with all the news of people and having some good laughs along the way. Soon, I was getting familiar with the way from St Gerard’s to Nazareth House and St. Augustine’s Hatcliffe. I enjoyed so much the Masses and the singing.It is always a moving experience to share in Mass, in different places. We have so much in common as we gather at the altar. So many different faces, different lives, different experiences, yet all reaching out to receive the food God gives us, the food we must share with one another.

During the month, people kept saying to me “Thank you for coming to see us at this time.” But I felt that I was the fortunate one because I was learning so much about the goodness and courage of ordinary people, something which survives even in times of great adversity.
I think this must be the power and the presence of God.

One of my many memories is a recent visit to an orphanage.

Whenever I got close to any of the young children and babies, they started to howl and cry. I don’t know if it was my strange voice, or my white face, or my big nose! Something was frightening them. As I moved on to another room, I saw a little boy sitting on the floor. He was blind. He had lost an eye through cancer and the sight in the other was all but gone. I stretched down to take his hand and as soon as he felt my hand , as if he was on springs, he jumped up and threw his arms around my neck and would not let me go. And that was us for the rest of the afternoon. He was fairly heavy– I don’t know how you women carry children around with you for so long! But he wasn’t really heavy, he was my brother. Later on, I asked myself if that was what God was like with us. We reach out our hand to him; it is often all we can do. When he feels our touch he takes us in is arms and won’t ever let us go no matter how heavy we are. It made me walk tall for the rest of the day.

A precious message taught to me by one of God’s little ones.

So as I return to Scotland I want to say thank you for these last four weeks. I wouldn’t have missed them for the world. I will take your good wishes to all those you have been asking me about; Fr. McAinsh, Fr. Webster and Fr. Maguire and let them know of the love and regard you have for them. Thanks also to my own Redemptorist confreres whose hospitality was so warm and generous. Being here has made me proud to be a Redemptorist.

I promise to pay for you and our country at this time. I trust that the seeds of hope that seem to have appeared this past week will grow and grow until you have the life and the country you desire and deserve. During these days as I prepare to return home, some words written a long time ago by Hilaire Belloc have been in my mind;-From quiet homes and first beginnings Out to undiscovered ends. There’s nothing worth the wear of winning But laughter and the love of friends. Dear friends, thank you for your love and your laughter.

Let us pray for one another,

Fr. Gerry Mulligan C.Ss.R