When love becomes a gesture, it has the power to transform the very fabric of a day. The Canossian communities of the Province of Divine Mercy (Indonesia) know this very well. On the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, they chose to go beyond the ritual, turning celebration into tangible acts of closeness to the people around them.
Jakarta: Among Alleys and Markets
The outskirts of Jakarta awaken each morning to the hum of motorbikes and the chatter of markets. The streets form a living kaleidoscope of colour – stalls piled high with tropical fruit, street-food vendors, children darting between rows of corrugated houses. And there are the waste pickers: men and women who, day after day, move between bins and dumps, bent over in search of scraps they can sell for a few coins.
It was to them that the Canossian communities of St Magdalene, St Bakhita, and the Novitiate brought 150 hot meals – not as charity, but as a gesture of respect and recognition for those who, though on the margins, quietly sustain the heartbeat of the city.
Nurobo: Listening to Families
Further east, in Nurobo, the rhythm changes. The landscape turns lush and green, dotted with palms and cultivated fields, with dirt roads traced by carts and bicycles. Families live by subsistence farming and small local trades, often with limited means and little access to basic services.
The Our Lady of Sorrows community chose the simplest of paths: knocking on doors, sitting inside homes, and listening. Not merely delivering, but sharing – words, worries, and smiles. A way of restoring a sense of belonging to those who, in isolated contexts, risk feeling forgotten and alone.
Bali: Beyond the Postcard
The very name Bali conjures images of beaches, resorts, and international tourism. Yet away from the postcard settings lies another reality. In Gianyar, the hills are verdant, temples guard centuries of tradition, and still, in the city’s rubbish dump, men and women labour amid mounds of waste, enduring harsh conditions to keep their families alive.
It was here that the community of St Mary, Queen of the Rosary, distributed 100 hot meals – transforming an exhausting working day into a moment of shared humanity. Faces lit up – not merely because of the food, a full meal that for many is a rarity, but for the deeper awareness of being seen, appreciated, and valued.
Beyond the Celebration
These initiatives show that goodness is never abstract. It is a daily choice, woven into the social texture among people who, despite the steep climb of their lives, still hold on to dreams and hope. It is not only charity, but proximity: pausing, meeting another’s gaze, recognising the dignity of those who often remain unseen.
And so, amid Jakarta’s traffic, Nurobo’s stillness, and Bali’s contrasts, a universal message takes shape: solidarity is not an extraordinary event, but a way of inhabiting the world.
In this intertwining of concrete gestures and shared lives, the feast of Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, at the foot of her Son’s Cross, finds its truest vocation and fulfilment: to remind us that even in suffering, love never yields – it becomes embrace, care, and the quiet promise of a future.
