And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Matthew 13:27-30

This week, Bruno told us his actual age. I don’t think he has actually verbalized this before to anyone. It has always been a secret. Everyone knew that he was older than he claimed. He concealed his age not because of vanity but rather more out of fear. Bruno was afraid to grow old. By no means, he was not one of those infant adults. That’s a middle class phenomenon. Bruno was never privileged. He sleeps in the streets and begs to survive. For him, revealing his age means he has to assume something about himself. Something painful. He wasn’t ready to go there yet.

Bruno did not run away to the streets because he wanted to be homeless. Like the other children and teens, he came here in search of something. This mysterious thing which would give them a better life. Unfortunately, none of them could articulate exactly the nature of this “thing” which they desperately seek. It is different for each one. Truly, this is the tragic dilemma of all our children and teens. Despite this, they still hold on to the hope that one day they will be able to find it. They believe that it is going to give them the courage to embrace life in its fullness. Until then, the streets and drugs are the best option. Occasionally, someone from their ranks discovers it. They feel happy for him because it enforces their hope. They see him grow and flourish. Perhaps some might feel a little envious but not in a bad way. They just wish that they can find out what it is exactly that they are seeking. Interestingly, they don’t despair. They know that if they wait long enough, it will come. Until this happens, they are paralysed spiritually. Many see them in this state and consider all these children and teens to be just weeds of society. They don’t produce anything that perpetuates life. Many would have considered Bruno to be a weed. However, this week, Bruno told us his true age which means he found something. Now, he has the courage to embrace life.

He is 30 years old. For the past 8 years we have known him, he has always been stagnant at the age of 21. Throughout this time, Bruno presented himself as someone was settled in his role in the streets as homeless. Sometimes he would talk to a kind stranger and claim that he was seeking information about his estranged family members. Some people would get excited about this, believing they had found a concrete way to help him. Then when nothing came to fruition, they would just whither away. Their lack of success was mainly because Bruno never gave them the correct information like his age. However, in one of these occasions, the person who heard this story decided to film Bruno and post it on a social media platform with an appeal to locate his family. This was a year ago and nothing came out of it. Neither did Bruno pursue the matter.

Last week Felipe left a message on my phone. He said that some people came by looking for Bruno claiming to be his brothers and sister. We knew that he had a younger sister. He told us that his only memory of his family was that they left him at an orphanage and went home without him. The scene is etched into his soul. He did not remember anything else about his mother nor sister beside this, not even their names. Now, he has two other siblings that he never knew existed. Felipe told me that he wasn’t sure if Bruno would leave the streets with them. To be honest, I had my doubts too. They came back twice to the streets before they found him. We waited anxiously to hear how the reunion went and then I received a phone call from one of the teens. He said, “Bruno is no longer in the streets.”

I am still not sure if Bruno will stay. The change is quite drastic. He has been in the streets for fourteen years and living without a family since he was five. All these changes could be overwhelming for him. It is not impossible that he would stay. We hope he will be able do it. However, regardless of what happens, his life is now radically changed. He spent all his life thinking that he was alone and forgotten in this world. Perhaps, this was what he feared he had to accept as the utter truth in order to become a full adult. He knows that we think highly of him. Not only us, even some of the teens especially Felipe always considered Bruno to be a close and intimate friend. However, there was something deep in Bruno that needed to be healed. The very fact that his brothers and sister came looking for him and opened their home to him brought the much needed reconciliation. When we spoke to him, he sounded at peace with everything. All was forgiven and now he is freed from the burden carried in his soul for years. Maybe he won’t stay long with his family or maybe he will. This is not important. It is good to know that Bruno now has overcome the obstacle that was stifling his personal growth. He needed to know that he was abandoned in the orphanage not because something that was inherently wrong with him. It was just an unfortunate state of the world.

Our conversation was frequently disrupted because of a bad connection. However, before we hung up, Bruno wanted to say something to us. He wanted us to know he appreciated the fact that we called him and still desired to be in contact with him. He said that many people come and go in his life. Most of them just see him as a homeless young man and take pity on him. The fact that we called meant that we considered him as a friend and desired to have contact with him regardless of his situation. I was quite amazed how much a simple phone call could convey to him. Honestly, we called because we were happy that Bruno found his family and we wanted him to know that we are rooting for him. He called back a few days later and asked us to visit him when this pandemic is under control.

I never realized this, but the children and teens are unsure which of the people who claim to help them are weeds or wheat. Some churches go to the streets and feed the children regularly. However, not without taking tons of pictures to put on their website. In the end, they just meet an immediate need in the children without helping them sense that they are more than just mere homeless youth. Some groups are in the streets because it is their job. Some are there because they think that it is their religious obligation. However, they never see the children and teens as anything but homeless children. We like to imagine ourselves as being different but you know our minds can play tricks on us. After all, no weed thinks of itself as a weed. We might be a weed without knowing it. The ones who know which ones of us are weeds or wheat are the ones whom we serve. Bruno blessed us by saying that at least to him, we are wheat. As for us, he has always been wheat in our lives for many years.