On the island of Flores, where I live, there is a home for people with special physical and mental needs. Run by the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, it is by the sea in the town of Labuan Bajo on the western tip of the island.

Just before Easter I visited the home. I was overwhelmed by the joy of the residents. Old and young, some have lived more than 15 years there. All face great difficulty each day just managing to do the ordinary things of living. They do so, though, with smiles and laughs.

I sat under a tamarind tree with a group of residents for a couple of hours. They endeavoured to teach me their local language. It was not a successful lesson, but a good time was had by all. A man called Gabriel who was wheel-chair-bound was being pushed around the grounds by a little 10 year-old boy with mental disabilities. Both were having a lot of fun. At one stage I asked Gabriel if they received many visitors at the home. His eyes lit up and he said, "Almost every day people come to visit us. We are much loved by the people of Labuan Bajo. We are much loved!"

Leaving the home and returning to Ledalero, at the other side of Flores, I have found Gabriel's words constantly returning to me: "We are much loved!"

We are now in the Easter Season. The big celebrations of last month have gone, but we are still being reminded at our Sunday Masses about the message of Easter.... And one of the most important messages of Easter is surely, "We are much loved!"

When life isn't treating us kindly it can be hard to accept that God is constantly reaching out to us, and that "We are much loved!" But that really is at the heart of the Easter story. What happened to Jesus shows us that God doesn't obliterate pain and suffering, but He does say, "I have been there, done that. I know what you are going through, and I am by your side in your pain and suffering. We are in this together." If we are able to accept this, we can also say, "We are much loved!"

The Easter story is not just about suffering. It doesn't end at the Cross on Good Friday. It continues to the Resurrection and beyond. The early Christians had a "wow" experience at Easter and they were overwhelmed by God's love. They went on to tell anyone and everyone who would listen that, "We are much loved!", and they tried to reach-out to others mirroring that love.

Accepting that "We are much loved!" by God whom we cannot see, can be easier if we experience the love of our fellow human beings, whom we can see, who are with us in the flesh.... I am sure my new friends in the home at Labuan Bajo would go along with this! And of course, the love happens when people make an effort to reach out to each other in love, allowing the reciprocal process of loving to go on.

Helping to facilitate that process is surely what being a missionary is essentially about!