Sufficient for the Day

Once, our IJ Community in Yaounde, Cameroon, had the privilege of offering hospitality to an elderly French missionary.  He had come to the city on a rare visit to a doctor. This man lived as a hermit among the Baka people, once known as the “Pygmy” peoples because of their short stature of about 1.5m.   These people live in the deep forest in the south east of the country, depending almost entirely on the forest for their livelihood. They are a shy people, getting their food, medication, and housing from the forest.   The missionary simply lived his life among them, sharing their food and precarious existence.   He did not preach or teach.  He was present. He prayed.  

Sensing his closeness to God, we asked him for some insight into the life of prayer or his own spirituality.   He answered simply and humbly: “I am at my place. Every day I get my daily bread”, and he was content with that.  

In places where we cannot proclaim Jesus Christ explicitly, we will make every effort to prepare the way of the Lord, knowing that we have to be patient, so that little by little, communities of believers spring up or continue to develop (BI 8) 

The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. (Jn 1:14)