Poverty, Mission and Hope
Today we celebrate a powerful triple convergence of dates and purposes: we commemorate the anniversary of the Canonization of our Foundress, St. Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17), and we are in the midst of the Month of the Missions with the celebration of World Mission Sunday. In addition, we have the recent publication by Pope Leo XIV of his first apostolic exhortation “Dilexis te” (He Loved Us), which traces the history of Christian love for the poor and presents a theology of care that integrates the spiritual and the social.
This confluence invites us to renew our commitment as Daughters of Jesus and Mother Candida Family, following the model of life and charism left to us by our Holy Foundress, focusing our gaze on Christ, the source of hope, and acting with love and justice in favor of the most vulnerable.
Saint Candida: Faith Becoming Justice
On October 17, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI presided over the feast of sainthood in St. Peter’s Square, where St. Candida was presented to the universal Church as a model of life and intercessor in the communion of saints. The liturgy of that Sunday highlighted the need to pray always, without tiring, and the essential faith as the basis of prayer.
Our foundress, that girl of simple origins, made the firm resolution to live “only for God”. However, St. Candida’s faith was never abstract; it was deeply anchored in the reality of those who suffer. She lived to bring to all the hope that does not waver, “especially to those who need it most.” Her spirit is summed up in a phrase that remains a beacon for our Congregation:
“Where there is no place for the poor,
Saint Candida
there is no place for me”.
Guided by this principle, she inspired other sisters to follow Jesus and dedicate themselves to the education of children and youth and the promotion of women, an apostolate that the Daughters of Jesus continue to pursue in the many countries where the spirit of Mother Candida has reached.
Dignity, Justice and Belonging: Eradicating Social Abuse
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17) seeks to emphasize that ending poverty is a fundamental issue of dignity, justice and belonging, not just income.
Poverty has a side that is often difficult to see: the social and institutional mistreatment of those who suffer from it. Families in poverty often face stigma and rejection in places where they should receive support, such as clinics, schools or welfare offices. This mistreatment, which undermines self-esteem and destroys personal dignity, affects generation after generation.
Faced with this reality, the call is clear:
– Prioritizing the most disadvantaged.
– Transforming child protection institutions into a whole family support system, strengthening the capacity of parents to care for their children and lift themselves out of persistent poverty.
– Move towards a culture of trust, respect and collaboration, moving away from distrust, intrusive surveillance and control.
As Daughters of Jesus, we know that our decisions and actions must be guided by the realities of the greatest need for education, by so much need in the lives of people living in poverty and formulated with their active participation. This is the way to build a respectful and supportive environment that empowers children and creates a more just and equitable society.
The DOMUND: Missionaries of Hope through Works of Love
The DOMUND (World Mission Sunday), celebrated on the penultimate Sunday of October, is the day when the universal Church prays and collaborates with the missions. It is a call to the responsibility of all Christians in evangelization.
Mission is incarnated in the men and women called to bring the Gospel. Missionaries do not promise false riches or a world without pain; they propose the true ideal that is Christ. Their witness of hope (which comes from God and assures its companionship and consolation) is urgent in the face of an “often distracted and unhappy” humanity.
What is crucial is that the hope that our missionary brothers and sisters transmit “is accompanied by works of love! These works are tangible realities that help human growth: schools, dispensaries, orphanages, among others.
These concrete actions are a reminder that the person is made of flesh and lives in a world where he or she must be able to live with dignity and with a view to the future. The aid distributed by the Universal Solidarity Fund of the DOMUND supports the ordinary needs of the 1,131 mission territories, supporting extraordinary projects of evangelization and human promotion.
Missionary work, which transforms the world into the Kingdom of God, is intimately linked to St. Candida’s vision of a life of dignity for all.
The Call to be Craftswomen of Hope
As we celebrate the sainthood of Mother Candida and join the global cause against poverty and support for the missions, we are reminded that we are called to be “artisans of hope”.
As the Church exhorts us, we Christians are transmitters of the concrete graces of God in Christ, called to care for our personal relationship with our brothers and sisters with closeness, compassion and tenderness.
Let us follow the example of St. Candida, renewing in us the paschal spirituality and persevering prayer, and let us support with our prayer and economic collaboration the missionaries who sow true hope and human dignity in every corner of the world.
