Missionaries of the Poor to stage ‘The Messiah’

The “Brothers of the Poor”, the first male religious order of the Caribbean, now known as “Missionaries of the Poor”, founded thirty-three years ago in July 1981 by Father Ho Lung, a Jamaican Priest, has been engaged in the care of abandoned children and the homeless and destitute in Jamaica, India, Haiti, Uganda, Kenya, the United States, Indonesia and the Philippines. The 74-year-old priest’s mission, spirit and works of mercy are compared to that of Mother Theresa, as the Missionaries continue to spread in response to the great suffering of these times. One of the ways in which Fr Ho Lung evangelises and raises funds for his ministry is through the annual production of these spectacular award-winning original Caribbean musicals and concerts which have gained wide-spread acclaim.

This year’s epic production of The Messiah with performances by Fr Ho Lung & Friends is said to be a masterpiece of pulsating contemporary Caribbean music, art, culture, drama and dance, vividly portraying the life of Jesus Christ in astounding original musical compositions and Broadway level theatrical presentations. Fr Ho Lung himself along with 45 talented singers, dancers, and production crew members are coming from Jamaica to unite with Trinidad’s masmaker Brian McFarlane and over 50-talented local performers to ensure a massive blockbuster must-see production.

While teaching at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, and as Assistant Pastor at Aquinas Centre in Kingston, between 1973 and 1979, the Jesuit priest ventured into the depressed community of Mona Commons and listened and shared the struggles of the people. Father Ho Lung encountered a fundamental problem, the absence or lack of family life and a sense of community. Thus, when the “Brothers of the Poor” was founded in 1981, one of the main objectives was to build family and community among the poor and disadvantaged.

In Kingston, Jamaica, his works and charisma immediately attracted friends and enemies. Many corporate businessmen and friends joined him in alleviating the poor from their problems. There are many incidents where Father Ho Lung was faced with dangerous situations in Eventide, Kingston, and one in particular was being robbed at gunpoint, which experience made him more resilient, and determined that he was even more needed to work in the ghetto among the young people who needed direction, care and compassion. Another in 1981, when visiting Eventide Home for elderly people and children, where he was trying to improve conditions and help the people, 148 people died in a tragic fire in the Home, pushing him to the edge to help the poor. The Jesuit priest invited others to share his vision, leading to the Missionaries of the Poor, where he remains Superior General to this day, leaving the Jesuit Order and his well-loved teaching career to be among the poor. It was a calling, and he wanted to be true to the gospel.

The first three members of the Order were Fr Hayden Augustine (Trinidad), Fr Richard Ho Lung and Fr Brian Kerr (both Jamaica). Statistics in 2012 showed as follows: The Order worldwide has 17 priests, and 550 brothers who have taken vows but are not ordained, taking care of 30,000 persons on a permanent basis in ten different countries; and in difficult times where there are very few entrants to the priesthood, MOP had 15 seminarians studying to be priests. In Jamaica 200 brothers with 60 voluntary staff were on a daily basis taking care of 600 live-in homeless daily and 1,000 outreach weekly. The brothers have also worked with prisoners, locked up without proper trials and justice during the political upheaval in the late seventies.

The Brothers policy is not to accept government funds at all and so raise their own funds, with some help from Jamaica’s corporate beings and individuals in order to sustain these ministries for years. Brothers and priests live very simple lives, do not charge for any of their services and are not paid any recompense for their work.

They do not have personal bank accounts so even if people give them a gift, especially monetary, it goes to the community; sandals and clothes are the only things they can own; must wash their clothes themselves, and do not drink alcohol in public to be in solidarity with the poor and the gospel values of Christ. This is a very difficult choice for the brothers to make, to live completely for others and seek nothing for themselves.

In recent years, MOP has gone into Prolife ministry, which began when two Brothers found aborted babies thrown in a garbage dump. After several meetings, discussions and workshops with interested parties, Father Ho Lung offered mothers an alternative to abortion, and established a Pro-Life Centre for 200 mothers and babies. Now the Missionaries of the Poor Congregation have a Sisters wing specially to address women’s needs and care for babies.