Last Sunday, at Boardwalk Beach, the brothers and myself went for a swim. We were greeted with gentle smiles and a handshake. A Rastafarian man named Fabian literally embraced me and said: “You are a blessed man, good to meet you and the bredda dem. Mi nah charge any of you. You is mi bredda dem, you are all blessed and is a privilege to have you all at our beach. As for you, Fadda, you are Fadda of all hearts. Mi nah mek nobody trouble you. Come and share some fish with me and reason with me.” Then ensued a long conversation with his babymother and children.

What a blessing it is to be called to live out the Beatitudes. That’s exactly what the Lord tells us all to do. The Beatitudes are the works of Christ. The Beatitudes are what give us happiness and joy. The Beatitudes tell us to pour out ourselves for others, especially the poor, and this is what brings us happiness.

In Matthew 5, Jesus told all His disciples:

3) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4) Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5) Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7) Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

8) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10) Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11) Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Have you ever thought how strange and self-contradictory the Beatitudes are? And yet the Lord tells us when He inaugurated His mission on Earth. He tells us, “I have come to preach good news to the poor.” Then He tells us the Beatitudes, the word Beatitude meaning, happiness, or this is happiness.

How can we be happy when we are poor? How can we be happy when we mourn? How can we be inherit the land when we are meek? The Lord continues His preaching by exhorting us to be humble, meek, and to be peacemakers accepting persecution, cruelty, and even death.

How can this be in a world so aggressive, arrogant, and self-righteous? But actually it takes great strength to receive the blows and wickedness of our fellow men, rather than striking back. The Lord tells us that we must not fight against our enemy not offering, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. Otherwise, the world will be blind and toothless!

When our brothers, Marco and Suresh, were shot dead, they were doing humble and simple tasks at night — washing dishes, cutlery, and pots.

“Aren’t you going to leave Jamaica?” asked the reporters.

“No,” replied the community.

“Won’t you leave the ghetto and go to a safer place to live?”

“No,” replied the brothers. “We must not abandon the poor and the ghettos; we must be faithful.”

That was 20 years ago. They begged us not to leave and we have lived peacefully in the ghettos since then with much love and respect. We have lived in the ghettos serving the homeless and the destitute all these years.

We have served in the ghettos in Haiti, Kenya, Uganda, Indonesia, Philippines, East Timor, Paraguay, and India. We are truly blessed.

Thank you for supporting us and our hundreds of poor and destitute, without cost.

God bless you all!

Fr Richard Ho Lung is founder of Missionaries of the Poor. Send your comments to the Jamaica Observer or mopfounder81@gmail.com.