Giving back to the world

Fr. Hesburgh, the president of Notre Dame, made a vital statement to the graduating class of 1980, “Twenty percent of the people in the world enjoy eighty percent of the world’s resources, while eighty percent of the world’s population only enjoy twenty percent of the world’s resources.” He encouraged us to give back to the world for we had received much more than most. This had been impressed upon me when, during our senior class trip to Acapulco, we lost the road to the cliff divers and found ourselves in a poor neighborhood filled with dirt floor shacks.
 
During Lent that year, Archbishop Oscar Romero had been assassinated while celebrating Mass because he gave voice to the poor and oppressed in El Salvador. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, our generation’s icon for wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor had just received the Nobel Peace Prize. A year later, Saint John Paul II was shot four times in Saint Peter’s Square and in as many days communicated forgiveness to his would-be assassin. Ten weeks later Blessed Stanley Rother was killed in Guatemala as a shepherd and friend of the Tz’utujil. That was a time of saints and martyrs. These resolute lives of faith caused a fire to burn within me until I finally found myself among the poor in Northern Peru ordained to serve them as a Catholic priest. 
 
The priestly journey given to me is now in its 25 ^th year. Thousands of faithful from many Oklahoma parishes and Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School have come to Piura or provided gracious support to the poor with their talents, medical prowess and compassion to those in need, and modern Gospel stories came to life.
 
In fact, of the more than 600 yearly visitors to Piura, about a third come from Oklahoma. A half dozen priests from Oklahoma have come to help and many others have been supportive stateside above and beyond. Oklahomans organized medical missions, family trips, and university groups throughout the state to join in providing services to the needy. Visiting missionaries have gone into prisons, up into the mountains and out to the desert to offer the ailing and poor the best of themselves - often born of their own graceful poverty. Together, we’ve created a medical clinic, therapy centers, shelters and a hospice. Several schools were built, farmers are empowered with tractors and micro-loans, and families in need are aided with housing, food and prayer. 
 
Against the odds, we have seen hundreds of families in Piura break the cycle of poverty and develop their potential through this program as dreams – vocations – were made real.
 
Amazing projects also have been initiated or supported by generous gifts from Oklahoma, including the Saint Lucy Eye Clinic, The Angels Hospice, Saint Michael’s Counseling Center, Blessed Margaret’s Physical Therapy Clinic, the Vida Nueva Rehab Residence, and a nursing school. Saint John the Baptist in Edmond also supports a team of Peruvian nurses who provide free care to the poor and coordinate medical missions that come from the United States. A dozen breakfast kitchens in the poorest neighborhoods also provide a morning boost to hungry children.
 
Twenty-five years of priesthood in Peru moves me to say thank you to the generous people of Oklahoma. Passing beyond a quarter century of priesthood has been deeply Eucharistic, like a family gathered by the Good Shepherd, we are united in sacrifice and thanksgiving as we journey together to our Father’s kingdom. We’ve celebrated 17,373 baptisms, 19,691 first communions, 26,487 confirmations and 5430 weddings. It is a blessing that we have been able to do that together. 
 
Rev. Joseph Uhen
Pastor – Santisimo Sacramento Parish
Piura, Peru, South America