VIRTUAL CONNECTING… beyond our borders
KARACHI, PAKISTAN – Sr. Irene Stephen, RJM
Our experience during this pandemic is one of feeling cut off from our people, teachers, children, workers and parents in schools and at the parish level. There is great fear of catching the virus from each other. We sense danger when hear of an increase in the death toll. We are hearing painful stories and accounts of the hardships of common poor people. Many people say life will never be the same again; we are scared and wonder what lies ahead for us. Along with our people, we feel deprived and lost without the church ministry.
Yet, there is an experience of spiritual hunger and thirst by our people, particularly during the Holy Week and now at Eastertide. As a community we were very privileged to have Easter services in our chapel, and we continue to have daily Masses in which we bring our wounded world to the Lord. We live in great hope that our churches will be re-opened and people will once again gather to worship and praise God.
During the Holy week, some of our community members participated in “Live Urdu Singing and Prayer Services” via Good New Catholic TV for live transmission for all the faithful.
This time has also led us to reflect. We felt a sense of belonging in the universal prayer led by Our Holy Father, Pope Francis which united all the faithful from around the world.
As a community we have taken on a new ministry in which we are donating our time and contacts to gathering staple food to provide for the people who have very little to survive on. On the left is Sr. Irene Stephen with donated food. By doing so we feel satisfaction, to some extent, and feel ourselves to be a part of one big family which is uniting the world regardless of color, race or religion.
Here we are together, united in hope,
Srs. Mary Langan (left), Bernadette Khursheid, Safia James, Stella Butta, and Irene Stephen, of the Karachi Community.
