London: ACN Benefactors' Day

Caroline Hull - ACN National Director - Screenshot from Benefactors' Day Message.

Supporters of Aid to the Church in Need gathered for a special Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Farm on Friday evening, the Feast of the Sacred Heart. The celebrant was parish priest Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, who is also ACN Chaplain.

In his homily, Fr Dominic reflected on what it means to have the freedom in Britain to express our faith. What is being tolerated and respected, he asked. Is it just our being allowed to enter as church, to worship, to pray? Our freedom to express Christian and Catholic values and teachings? Or is it more?.. For me at the heart of faith is a God whose kingdom is one of justice. This involves fighting for it, for reconciliation between peoples, and it involves standing up against governments, cultures, ways in which faith is actually undermined."

Fr Dominic said: "Nearer to home, this is for me expressed in what we are called to say and do for those who are on the margins in our own society. And this evening as we thank you, benefactors and supporters of Aid to the Church in Need, it brings into close relief those who are persecuted unjustly simply because of their faith, seen in those countries as contrary to the prevailing culture and the laws which enshrine it. This is the heart of the crisis of faith and why we fight for it. This is why we have presented a petition to bring to justice those who were massacred in Owo, Nigeria, at Pentecost 2022."

"This is why we fight for those condemned under the blasphemy laws in Pakistan. This is why next Tuesday I'll be with a delegation at the Indian High Commission pleading for justice for faith under attack. For justice for those who allowed Fr Stan Swamy to die in prison. This is why we continue to pray for those kidnapped in the Middle East, even though they may be dead. We do it because we are people of faith. Faith involves justice at its heart. And we must fight for it."

Fr Dominic thanked all the benefactors of ACN, saying: "You are the pillars of our organisation, whose generosity allows us to proclaim the message of hope we are called to convey to our world through our communion with the persecuted Church... And today's Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus gives us a lead in reflecting on this. We are all called to spread the passionate love of Christ for all people as a pastoral organisation at the heart of the Church.

"Last year's message from Aid to the Church in Need International spoke of the benefactors as the 'hidden heart' and the 'driving engine' of ACN's pastoral mission and activity. 'The benefactors of ACN, in their help to the needy and the poor, imitate the love of the Heart of Jesus; it said, 'which conquered evil in the world and gives us eternal life.'" Read Fr Dominic's full homily here.

A the end of Mass, ACN National Director Caroline Hull thanked all those present for their prayers and financial support for the work of ACN. She said: "The sincere thanks I offer to you this evening comes from me, from our Board but also and especially from the thousands upon thousands of people whose lives you have improved own so many ways."

Caroline described her recent trip to Pakistan where she met several people who have been supported by ACN - among them Sunil, a Christian in Pakistan who was threatened and tortured in prison for protesting over the police lack of response after two churches were attacked by a suicide bomber. Sunil wasn't initially detained, she said, but he asked to take his elderly father's long prison sentence. ACN helped him and others with their legal fees and when he was finally released, gave him a loan to help him set up a new business to support his family. Caroline also met several young women whose education is being funded by ACN.

Then she went on to list some of the achievements of ACN in the past year, saying:

"In 2022

- you built more than 290 churches on five continents.

- a Mass was offered for your intentions every 17 seconds - which means you provided stipends for more than 1.8 million Masses.

- you kept clergy, sisters and catechists on the move by purchasing 1,253 vehicles including 406 bikes, 11 buses and 16 boats.

- One in eight seminarians around the world has been given the chance to follow his vocation because of your generosity."

Caroline thanked everyone for their overwhelming response to emergency appeals for victims of the war in Ukraine and the earthquake in Syria and other projects.

In conclusion she said that in order to get to know people better, she asked people to think of "three words that sum up what ACN means to you - "so we can given you more of the information events and prayer resources that you love." The Three Word entries can be submitted on the ACN website.

It was a beautiful warm summer's evening, so after the Mass, guests enjoyed a reception in the garden outside the church.

LINKS

Watch Caroline Hull's Message for Benefactors Day: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXVsTOeXtr0

Fr Dominic's homily: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/47408

Aid to the Church in Need: www.acnuk.org