[CS-FSLUG] OT NI: Missionaries of the Poor mourn slain brothers

[Michael Bradley, Jr.]

MichaelBradleyJr is sending this message
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It is with great sadness, but also with hope and faith in God, that I share
this story with my Christian brothers and sisters on the CS-FLUG mailing
list. Earlier this year, I lived, prayed and worked with the MOP community
at their mission-headquarters in Jamaica. In all my life, I have never
witnessed the Gospel lived and preached as the MOP brothers do; many of
their works in which I participated in the slums of Kingston are so
gut-wrenching that they are difficult to describe in words. I am convinced
that among their ranks are many great examples of heroic charity being lived
in holy joy.

As this young community of religious brothers and priests (founded in 1981)
mourns the loss of Bro. Marco and Bro. Suresh -- the first members of the
community to die -- I would ask you to keep them and the family members of
the slain men in your prayers. As a Christian, I must and do believe that
even this tragedy is not outside of the Providence of God Almighty, and that
the goodness of the Lord will work through it for the advancement of the
Kingdom of God. Please pray too that many hearts of both criminals and
goverment officials in Jamaica might be touched and opened to the grace of
God; that poor island is ripe with violence and despair: this year alone,
there have already been nearly 2,000 murders (yes, "thousand" not
"hundred"). Something must change, most importantly human hearts . . .

May the divine assistance remain always with us; and may alll the souls of
the faithful departed, though the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.


Missionaries of the Poor

http://www.missionariesofthepoor.org/


"I will die for Christ," by Fr. Richard Ho Lung,
published April 18, 2005

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050418/cleisure/cleisure3.html



=================
The Jamaica Observer
=================

Missionaries mourn priests
<http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20051029T000000-0500_91327_OBS_MISSIONARIES_MOURN_PRIESTS.asp>
Sadness at Fr. Ho Lung's religious order
PAUL CLARKE, Observer staff reporter
Saturday, October 29, 2005

FATHER Richard HoLung yesterday asked for prayers as he and brothers of his
Missionaries of the Poor mourned Thursday night's fatal shooting of two
young priests - Suresh Barwa, 31, of India, and Marco Las Puna, 22, of the
Philippines.

"We just want to ask to please pray for all of us missionaries... Our
brothers were truly martyrs... lambs ready to be slaughtered," Father HoLung
said in a letter to the Observer yesterday.

"Truly, truly I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground
and dies it will not bear fruit: John 12:24. These two innocent brothers
have shed their blood for us all... they are going to prepare a worthy place
for us in Heaven...
"Maybe it is by the blood of the innocent that this crime (affecting
Jamaica) will stop," said the priest.

The two priests, who had just finished having supper at the Missionaries of
the Poor's Corpus Christi premises at 3 North Street in downtown Kingston,
were shot while washing dishes in the kitchen. Barwa died on the spot, while
Puna died in hospital.

At the Corpus Christi premises, one of several in downtown Kingston where
the Missionaries of the Poor serve the city's less fortunate, young
missionaries sang and prayed yesterday. But they could not hide their grief.


Some brothers wiped tears from their eyes, while others simply looked out
into space. "This is a very sad day for Jamaica," said Father HoLung.

Brother Bryan Kerr, Father HoLung's assistant, said there were about five
brothers taking care of the dishes in the kitchen after the meal at the time
of the shooting.
"The window was open and then I heard the shot, at which time I saw my
brothers - one slumped on the floor and died immediately, and the other was
taken to the hospital. "He later died early this morning," said a shaken
Kerr.

"Apparently the bullet came through an open window facing North Street, went
through the head of one brother, and hit the other in the head also," he
added.

Police said forensic analysts on the scene were trying to ascertain exactly
what happened as there was no signs of forced entry.

Security Minister Peter Phillips, who visited the home to give his support
and to formally express sympathy on behalf of Prime Minister P J Patterson
and the people of Jamaica, said the police would be "making the most
thorough investigation possible, to determine the facts behind the
shooting".

Said Phillips: "We are very mindful that those who died have travelled from
far to be here; they came to give service to Jamaica. We are sure their
lives will be vindicated," the security minister said.

Kerr, in the meantime, said he knew both men well, especially Marco. ". I
was in the Philippines for two years, as the only Jamaican helping Father
HoLung. He had asked me to start the mission in the Philippines."

He said he knew Marco's parents well, and that to tell them of their son's
death was going to be very difficult.

"We will have to contact our priest friends who recruited them in the
Philippines, so they can break the news to the family in a gentle way," said
Kerr. The other family in India, he said, has been made aware of the
tragedy.

In the meantime, Father HoLung, with tears rolling down his cheeks, said
that it was a sad day for Jamaica. "I feel sorry for the gunmen," he said as
he cried. "They have no love; they don't understand that goodness overcomes
evil. They also do not understand that the more innocent ones are killed,
the lesser the planting of wheat."

Father HoLung said that to forgive the killers of the two priests was a
must, but said "Jamaica must now understand that there are no other ways but
to forget about the politics, and ourselves, and to think about the nation
and God".

At the same time one of the missionaries asked: "What did we do so wrong,
but to come here, to offer help to the poor, the needy, the mentally
challenged. What did we do so wrong, but to love our brothers and Christ?"

"I have been here for over 12 years, and this is the first time we had to
deal with something like this. They are martyrs," said Brother Jesu, another
missionary.

Meanwhile, master novice of the missionaries, Brother Ambrose, said the
killing of his two brothers would not upset the efforts of the mission. He
said they expected anything because they knew of the dangers involved in the
field. "We will pray for their forgiveness, and that they give up this sort
of lifestyle," said Brother Ambrose, in an obvious reference to the
killer(s) of the two priests.

The two slain priests, he said, came to Jamaica to help do things many
people scoff at. "They left their country and came to ours, to help care for
the Lord's children, to feed the hungry, to dress the sores; they were
humble people."
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