Fr Ioan Ardelean, parish priest in Desești, a town in the northern Romanian county of Maramureș, stated in an interview that a child’s foremost need is parental love and that this conviction led him to launch projects to support families facing hardship.
The priest affirmed that when we alleviate someone’s suffering, we can behold God in that person.
“If we succeed in listening more deeply within ourselves, we see and hear God calling out to us. When you stand beside someone in suffering, you see God in the one who suffers, and perhaps you may also see Him in the hand you extend in help. Then the priesthood is no longer a profession, but a way of self-offering,” Fr Ioan explained.
He noted that the most vulnerable among us are children, whose primary challenge today is the absence of parental love, often due to parents working abroad to secure higher incomes.
“Children carry a great sorrow; they suffer profoundly from longing for their parents. They may not lack materially, yet they endure immense spiritual voids. Of course, a child needs a plate of food and a roof over his head, but these alone do not make him fully human. Only parental love grants him confidence, opens him to the world, and sets him in right order. Perhaps the greatest gift of God to us is love, and those who offer love in turn become happy themselves,” the priest emphasised.
Social Programmes for Families
At the same time, a growing issue has been the abandonment of the elderly. Families also face difficulties linked to alcohol or drug use. In response, Fr Ioan has established day-care centres to address such social challenges.
“‘The Church Alongside Marginalised Communities’ is another project through which we built, together with the GAL Mara-Gutâi Association, a day centre for families, providing integrated services for children, parents, and grandparents. Currently, 250 people benefit from the services offered there.”
“Likewise, we secured funding through the national programme ‘Dignity and Social Inclusion’ for a day centre for the elderly. More than 200 people will receive licensed home care services, as well as support at the day centre, including medical rehabilitation activities. The construction is nearly complete,” Fr Ioan stated.
Without Love, Nothing Is Possible
The priest warned, however, that such a mission cannot be fulfilled with detachment or emotional coldness.
“In my case, when you find yourself in a vocation grounded in service to one’s neighbour, in doing good and giving of oneself, everything you do must be crowned by spiritual openness. You cannot be a cold professional who merely provides social services; you must be empathetic, able to help the other person, but at the same time to clothe yourself, in some measure, in his circumstances — to resonate with his soul.”
“Otherwise, you may solve an external problem yet fail to touch the deeper suffering, leaving him in the same state in which you found him,” the parish priest of Desești commented.
Another way to assist those in distress, especially children, is through art and sports. To this end, he has begun work on a multifunctional centre that will serve 260 children from across the region.
“There will be spaces for cultural workshops, made available to artists from diverse fields, who will act as mentors for the children,” he added.
Hope Is in Christ
In conclusion, Fr Ioan urges all to seek God, mindful that only He can raise us up in our falls and weaknesses.
“The good we do also shapes us; it changes us. We give from what we have until we give from what we are. That is why we must join hand in hand, as expressed in the liturgical phrase, ‘Let us commit ourselves and one another,’ and offer our lives to Christ, knowing that only with hope in God shall we rise when we fall.”
“There are many forms of despair born of various hardships; we may even be suspected of ill intentions. Yet I do not believe that a person who stands in the light does not himself become illumined. We may see the sun even when it is clouded; we feel its power. However, overcoming darkness requires a certain spiritual struggle. Seek God where people are in need — not only at Christmas or Pascha — so that He may seek you when need knocks at your door,” the priest concluded.
Photo: Formula AS
