��ѿ��ý

Available for over a year

Good morning. Today is the United Nation’s World Humanitarian Day. The day was established in 2009 to recognise the humanitarian efforts of men and women across the world. Sadly, the motivation for establishing the day was born out of tragedy: the murder of the former UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General, Sergio Viera De Mello. On this day, thirteen years ago, De Mello was murdered, alongside 21 other UN personnel, in a bomb attack on the UN Headquarters in Baghdad. His loss was keenly felt in humanitarian circles. But tragedy does not define neither the meaning of De Mello’s life or the significance of the day. De Mello’s life was an example of human generosity, courage and frailty. His thirty-year career in humanitarian concerns was marked by a commitment to alleviating the plight of refugees. He began and ended his working life in war zones. In the early 1970s with victims of the war of independence in Bangladesh, and decades later in Iraq seeking to improve the conditions of prisoners in Abu Ghraib. He was never afraid to speak truth to power. As a student in Paris he participated in demonstrations against social injustice, and later as a UN representative he challenged George Bush on the human rights of detainees at Guantanamo Bay detention camp. But he was not perfect. His biographer tells is that he was a complex figure who often made mistakes. Even so, she captures his spirit in the title of her biography: “Sergio: One Man’s Fight to Save the World.” To celebrate the life of De Mello and the thousands of other humanitarians on this day, is not only to honour their generosity of spirit, and personal courage, but to also challenge us to emulate their feats. The idea of honouring the work of great people by aspiring to be like them is an integral part of the Christian tradition. Jesus tells his disciples that they will do remarkable things, things greater than he has done, if they believe in him and are inspired by his message. Jesus was not only talking about important acts of personal piety, but the disciples' ability to do great works of justice and charity, as a result of their faith providing them with a capacity for compassion and empathy. All of us may not be able to work for the UN or live lives of perfect holiness. But we all have the capacity to identify and name the injustices that we would prefer to overlook, and to care for marginalised people in meaningful ways. All of us can change the world by impacting lives, one person at a time.