The appeal from Father Richard Ho Lung is simple, yet urgent: “Please come out and attend our show. We need the support because the proceeds will help us take care of the poor and destitute at our homes.”

The show is Jesus 2025, the latest stage musical being mounted by Father Ho Lung and Friends starting Wednesday, September 24 at National Arena in St Andrew. The homes are the eight in Jamaica operated by Missionaries of the Poor (MOP), initially named Brothers of the Poor when it was founded in 1981 as a community of religious brothers and priests who would build family and community among the poor and disadvantaged.

Ho Lung has emphasised the urgency of his appeal, telling the Jamaica Observer that he and his fellow missionaries are struggling to provide food, toiletries, personal hygiene products, and other necessities for the hundreds of people living in the homes run by MOP.

His concern is also fuelled by the long line of people who live on the streets and who have approached MOP for help.

“The problem is that we have so many people requesting to come, and we can’t accommodate them. Like right now, we have a list of some 400 people who are living out in the streets, are homeless, and so forth, but we’re just not able to take them in. We have eight homes, and those eight homes are pretty packed — all the way from people living with HIV, to people who are crippled, blind, and deaf,” Holness told the Observer.

Despite the fact that the homes are at capacity, Ho Lung said MOP helps those who come to it.

“There are lots of people that come in just to bathe and to eat, and so forth. They’re not really residents [of the MOP homes],” he said.

His pain at not being able to accommodate more people was obvious as he related two recent experiences, first of a man who was the victim of an acid attack, and second the brutal murder of a mother of two small children in downtown Kingston.

“The other day I had a man walk in and half of his face [was disfigured], acid was thrown on his face,” Ho Lung said, his voice a sad whisper.

In the case of the mother, he said she was shot, multiple times, along Charles Street.

He said that after praying with the residents, “very good people” working in the community, probably realising that the MOP facilities are full, “came and said, ‘We’re going to try to take care of the children’.”

Asked if he intends to open another home, given the demand, Ho Lung said, “Yes”.

“We have our eyes on some properties, a few that have been offered to us free of cost, and so forth,” he said.

But for now, his focus is on getting sold-out houses for all stagings of Jesus 2025 September 24-28 and October 1-5.

Special stagings for schools, beginning at 10:00 am, are scheduled for September 24, 25, and 26, and October 1, 2, and 3. Each weekend will feature two performances at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

The cast, numbering approximately 55, comprises dancers, singers and actors.

“There’s a sketch of the early days of Christian faith; the very creation of the world is depicted and it’s classical in ways, but [a] strong and powerful opening. And then little scenes are depicted, like for instance, David and Goliath, the prodigal son, Moses and the parting of the Red Sea; and then there is the birth of Jesus right through his life up to the crucifixion and the resurrection and ascension into heaven,” Ho Lung told the Observer, adding that “the music, which is very Jamaican and very modern, changes according to what’s being depicted”.

“It is really a presentation that’s spectacular, a lot of special effects, a lot of incredibly beautiful dancing and the dances are depicting stories within the story also. And then, of course, the singing is marvellous,” said Ho Lung, himself a songwriter who gained recognition in the local music industry in 1974 with his single Sinner.

“I think people will marvel at the scene where Jesus is crucified and is lifted down from the cross, and when nails go through His hand… and crowns of thorns are put on His head; beautiful and powerful scene,” Ho Lung said.

He is convinced that Jesus 2025 will also impart to audiences “the great compassionate heart that Christ had for any type of suffering”.

The show, like all the others mounted by the group over the years, was written by Ho Lung. And while he meekly acknowledged his role, the Jesuit was quick to point out that the productions could not have been staged without his “marvellous team”.

Director Gregory Thames (left) has a discussion during rehearsal with Romrio Ricketts, who plays Jesus in the new Father Ho Lung and Friends stage musical Jesus 2025 which opens on Wednesday, September 24 at the National Stadium in St Andrew.