Testimonies

Alors que nous contemplons l'espoir en cette période de Pâques prolongée, notamment en raison de la divergence entre les calendriers occidental et oriental, et au milieu des profondes souffrances de Gaza, nous trouvons une source d'inspiration dans le récit de Marie-Madeleine.

I ask myself sometime when will this suffering end? When will South Sudanese become one people and work together for their development? The desire to serve God and His people that pushed me to join religious life few years ago is kind of renewed desire every time I get to witness or hear these painful stories.

This is the context in which the Jesuit mission operates in Timor-Leste. We understand the importance of strengthening communities from the ground up. So we persist in reaching out to people in remote and rural areas, where intervention is most needed.

My experiences as a Timorese woman from a country with a long history of struggle for independence have shaped the way I see the world, my community, and my Timorese brothers and sisters.

Although we offer these Masses for the migrants and their intentions, I nevertheless find myself being impacted and changed by it. Most especially, I see the moment when we pray the Our Father differently.

My apostolic experience has been entirely in Latin America. I will first have to learn a lot from many provinces of Africa, in those of Asia Pacific and India, in those of North America, and in those of this Europe in which I must now live.

In this experience I learned that it is essential to listen to the messages of wisdom of the peoples, of the spirituality of the earth, of women as tender resistance in order to continue fighting to proclaim the harmony of good living, feeling the life that brings us closer and protects us.

I am not a specialist on climate matters or, for a matter of fact, on any matter particularly. So how on earth did I become the Ecology Advocacy Officer at the Jesuit European Social Centre (JESC)?

Ignatius Ismartono SJ is the Director of Sahabat Insan (Friend in Humanity), an apostolate for Indonesian migrant workers and victims of human trafficking.

I am more than grateful for these extraordinary years, and to the whole JRS family for the love that makes what we do possible.