Father Damien – One Thing to Know about Today in History

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Today is the birthday of Father Damien (1/3/1840 - 4/15/1889).  The following is from Wikipedia:

Blessed Damien de Veuster, born Jozef de Veuster and also known as Blessed Damien of Molokai (in Dutch, Damiaan), was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious order. It was announced on July 3, 2008, that Damien is to be canonized by the Catholic Church in 2009 by authority of Pope Benedict XVI.

Father Damien is known for his ministering of people with what was then widely known as leprosy, who had been placed under a government-sanctioned medical quarantine, on the island of Molokai in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He eventually contracted the disease himself, and is widely considered a "martyr of charity". In the Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions, as well as other denominations of Christianity, Damien is considered the spiritual patron for Hansen’s Disease, HIV and AIDS patients as well as outcasts. As the patron saint of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu and of Hawaii, Father Damien Day is celebrated statewide on April 15. Upon his beatification by Pope John Paul II in Rome on June 4, 1995, Blessed Damien was granted a memorial feast day, which is celebrated on May 10.

For me, Father Damien is an example of the power that a willingness to suffer plays in the Christian life.  The following is from one of my sermons, titled “The Wounded Healer,” after a book written by Henri Nouwen.

The Rev. Allan Boesak,
minister and foe of the evil system of apartheid in South Africa,
once gave an interesting interpretation of the final judgement.
He said,
When we go before God to be judged,
God will ask us, "Where are your wounds?"
And if we say, "We have no wounds."
God will ask, "Was nothing worth fighting for?"
We are none of us whole people,
without wounds or scars.
Each and everyone one of us here today have experienced pain and suffering in our lives.
Each and everyone one of us are part of the walking wounded.
But that’s okay.
For you see,
the world doesn’t really need people who are complete
and who have not been touched by their own wounds.

What the world needs is people who acknowledge their own pain,
who recognize their own scars.
What the world needs is people who, like Christ,
can stand in the presence of fear, suffering, and turmoil,
with their own wounds showing,
and by their presence,
representing the risen and wounded Lord,
bring about healing and peace.
For you see, God is able to take the wounds we endure and transform them into something wonderful,
our wounds can become the balm of healing for others.

Because I experienced the pain of my parent’s divorce,
and now my own,
I can better minister to others going through a similar pain.
Because I have experienced the sorrow of death,
I can minister to others who have lost a loved one.
Because I know what it is like to feel alone and lonely in a busy, hectic world,
I can reach out to others who feel desolate and deserted.
Through God, our wounds,
those things in our lives which have caused us great suffering and pain,
our wounds can be transformed into agents of healing for a bruised and wounded world.

One of my favorite stories is about Father Damien
a man well known by many Christians.
In the early part of the 20th century,
Father Damien heard of the lepers who lived,
with no one to care for them,
on Molokai Island in the Pacific.
He felt called by God to go and help them in any way he could,
even though his friends pleaded with him not to go.
After all, to touch a leper or to be in close contact with one meant that, over time. he too might contract the disease.

Still Damien went,
and he worked in the squalid conditions of the leper colony.
He helped them to clean the place up,
to build new huts,
a pharmacy,
even a chapel.
Before long there was a tremendous change in the leper colony,
and it was said that for the first time laughter was heard on Molokai Island.
Father Damien made it his practice to begin every worship service with the words,
"You lepers know that God loves you."
But one day,
after many years of service and healing,
the worship service came when Father Damien stood before his congregation and said,
"We lepers know that God loves us."

There is no doubt that Father Damien was able to accomplish much when he went to Molokai Island.
But I would not hesitate to say that when he became one of the lepers himself,
he was able to do so much more than before.
When he came to experience the pain and the suffering of those he ministered unto,
when he himself became a wounded healer,
his own woundedness became a source of abounding grace.

In closing I want to share with you one of the secrets I have learned in ministry.
It’s something that I learned not too long ago,
though some of you may have known for quite some time.
What I want to share with you is this:
The people whom I have met in life who have the strongest faith and most powerful
ministries are the very same people who have overcome the deepest wounds.
They have survived their pain.
They have overcome the difficulties.
They have found the path of healing and they have the scars to prove it.
And somehow, in some way,
they were able to take the wounds and scars of their lives
and turn them into an opportunities to experience God in a new and powerful ways.
In fact, if you show me a person with a mature faith,
I will show you a saint who has been deeply wounded,
with the scars to prove it.