From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Matthew 16:21-23

“I used to have a good job, a wonderful family and a nice home. I threw it all away because of this thing!” He showed me his crack pipe. “A prostitute invited me to try some and I never turned back since then.” I really wasn’t sure why he was telling me his story. I had never seen him before. I did not even know his name. He just felt like talking and I was there. It was quite simple.

I listened, of course, to his monologue but I was a little confused. “If you had a great job, good family and a decent house, why did you need to use drugs? Obviously something was missing that made you feel the need to escape.” From the look on his face, I realized that I touched on something too personal. It wasn’t my intention to challenge him. I was just a little confused and curious. Without saying a word, he turned around and walked away. It was the appropriate answer to give to a complete stranger like myself. I never saw him again. Hopefully, one day he will meet someone with whom he can truly explore the real reason why he has abandoned everything to live in the streets. He is never going to get healed until he goes beyond the superficial. Crack is a deadly drug but it is not all powerful to make a happy person abandon everything. It is something that unhappy people flock to in order to escape this world. It is a demon making us avoid facing the harsh reality of our lives.

Demons are not as powerful as many claim. They just keep us swimming in the shallow end of life. They lie to us that it is safer to remain where we are. We are constantly surrounded by them. They can be sinister like crack or innocuous like binge watching a favorite TV series or engaging blindly in any movement making us live in an abstract world. In the case of today’s gospel reading, the devil manifested himself in Peter. Regardless of their shape or form, demons’ function is always the same. They make us avoid facing the harsh realities of life. They create an alternate existence where we feel safe and in the end we end up with a meaningless life. Jesus was right in his rebuke. Peter was indeed being Satan. He wanted Jesus to remain in the superficial role of a Messiah. However, Jesus is concerned about abundant life.

The gospel is meaningless unless we are willing to look at the world as it is. It is not a world that is going to change for us. Some believe in God because they think that He will change their circumstances. Peter thought that since Jesus was the Messiah, things are going to be different. He was going to make everything right in this world. Instead, Jesus told the disciples that He was going to be tortured and killed. He was going to suffer just as a powerless person would in a self-destructive system. It was the last thing anyone wanted to hear from the Messiah. They had practical expectations for Him. Yet, God is not pragmatic like us. He sees things from a different perspective. We just see the superficial. Sometimes we think that this is the only reality that matters. Jesus, however, wants to take us beyond what our eyes can see and our ears can hear. He wants to walk with us to the deep end of life.

I shared this story before but this time I want to emphasize Alex’s faith. I am sure some would remember his many misadventures with dogs. He tended to adopt the sickly ones and the result was always tragic. Once he had a healthy dog and it looked like it would survive. Unfortunately it went missing. Alex really loved this dog and he began to get desperate. Someone told him that it was in a field near a highway, not too far away from where the children sleep. He wanted me to go with him to search for the puppy. To be honest, I wasn’t too keen. We needed to cross a busy highway to get to the field. However, it was important for Alex so I went with him. As I walked next to him, I heard him mutter a prayer quietly, “Please, Lord, let my puppy to be safe and sound.” As we approached the fields, his prayers became louder and they were accompanied with tears. I will never forget this. It was heart breaking. He kept repeating this prayer until we reached the fields. Alas, the dog was nowhere to be found. I became a little desperate and prayed Alex’s prayer. I was concerned for him. I thought that if anything happened to the dog, it would be devastating for his faith. Alex found it much later in the evening. It had died. I am not exactly sure how it died, maybe out of fear and hunger. The children dug a grave with their hands and buried the puppy. God did not heed his prayers.

We did not see Alex for a few days after the incident. We were a little concerned. Then we saw him. He was back to normal. His faith was intact. He was not angry with God that his dog died nor the fact that his earnest prayers weren’t answered. He did not even need an explanation for God’s silence. In fact, this is true for most of our children and teens. They have prayed countless prayers, sometimes to escape physical and sexual abuse. Most of the time, their prayers were not answered. They suffered and even watched some of their friends die from these abuses. They never falter in their faith. If they heard Jesus say to them that He was going to be tortured and murdered unjustly, they would say that Jesus was exactly like them. It would not diminish their faith in Him. He would continue to be their God and Savior. Our children and teens are not pragmatic in this sense. For them, God does not have to serve a purpose. They are happy if He is with them. This is one thing that is clear in the gospel. It is about the fact that God is with us. Where God’s presence is strongly felt, there is abundant Life.

Jesus warns us that being his disciple means that we forfeit the privilege of seeing life from a cozy corner. We are to engage in life with all its brutalities. We don’t face them as judges but rather as people who are willing to submit to life’s harsh realities without being overcome by them. Our children and teens are born in an unjust society where they will never be able to overcome all the many obstacles before them. It is important that they see this reality as our Messiah saw the cruel future awaiting him in Jerusalem. Something tells me that perhaps our children and teens are more prepared for this more than us. Most of us reading this come from a different environment. We are privileged compared to our children and teens in the streets. However, it would be a mistake to think that our fortunate situation is how life should be. Consequently, we might end up believing that it is incumbent on God to maintain us in this comfortable situation. God is not pragmatic. He made it clear that He won’t make the world amenable for us. He is going to face it as it is and invites us to join Him. If we are willing to take His Hand and walk with Him, then we will discover that all the cruelties and abuse that this world throws at us cannot stop us from discovering abundant life.

Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 15:24-28

I won’t say that she was disturbed. Something bothered her and she needed to share it with someone. We were there walking beside her to our home. We had seen her before. She was in her mid-eighties. She had witnessed an altercation. Alcohol was the catalyst and two adult men were on the brink of lunging at each other’s throat over something trivial. Then one insulted the other calling him a dog. Our narrator took offense at this. She looked us in the eyes and said, “Dogs are kind and lovely creatures! These two men were irresponsible and immature.” This woman had lived a long life and seen many things but this really bothered her. She is right. Dogs are kind creatures. Calling someone a dog should be a compliment, not an insult in our society.

Jesus called Canaanite woman a dog in the gospel reading above. To think that this was an affectionate term would be committing the sin of anachronism. These faithful animals do not have an honorable place in all societies. In the land where Jesus dwelled, they are considered as unclean animals, just a tiny bit better than rats. In fact, physical contact with dogs would make you unclean religiously. Calling someone a dog in this context is a grave insult. The term was derogative and in the context of Jesus’ time could be considered a racial slur. However, to jump to the conclusion that Jesus was being racist would also be committing the sin of anachronism. It was a different time with different values. It doesn’t mean it was right.

Jacques Ellul, a French theologian and sociologist, wrote that there is a significant difference between the incarnation of the gods in the pagan mythologies and the gospel. In the latter, the incarnated God embraces all our limitations without resorting to His divinity to overcome them, whereas in the former, they maintain their godlike powers. Jesus grew up in specific space and time, subjected to the values as well as prejudices of the period. There is no such thing as a community or society or an individual that is free from prejudices. It is part of our human nature to harbor prejudices. This does not justify it by any means. It just implies that Jesus also was not immune to all this. However, He shows a better way to deal with it.

Jesus did challenge some of these attitudes, especially the ones towards Samaritans. He made a Samaritan as the protagonist of his most famous parable which has found a permanent place in the imaginations of many peoples. Now, He turns His focus on the attitudes towards the Canaanite people. Jesus basically stated what everyone thought about her including his apostles. She was considered an outsider and barely tolerated very much like a dog at that time. No one gave their best to the dogs then. Therefore, everyone in the room with Jesus were in agreement that it was not much point in wasting time with her. I have heard these words said to me before in regards to our children and teens. Sadly, many times they came from religious leaders. They thought that we should focus our attention on the young ones and not waste precious time on the older ones. If I am honest with myself, I am guilty of harboring such attitudes too, albeit not in the same sense. Sometimes I think that I am wasting my time talking to certain people in the streets when I could be doing something else. I never once considered it to be a problem but the Light from this gospel story is revealing something else. I see myself as someone calling another person “a barely tolerated dog”.

Jesus used language that seems harsh to our modern ears. It does not mean that we are more sensitive to the plight of the marginalized of our time. It could mean that we don’t like see hidden attitudes being drawn out into open. Jesus, on the other hand, is about being the Light of this world. He exposes everything, good and bad. He expressed exactly what everyone present in the room thought about this woman. She did not deserve what Jesus had to offer because she was not part of the privileged group.

No matter what our ethical and political positions, we always think that we are the ones who are privileged enough to know what is truly right or wrong. Those who believe differently from us are the dogs or whatever is derogative in our present times. We believe that we shouldn’t waste too much time with them. Maybe we are right. There are people in this world who wallow in their ignorance and are belligerent to those who think otherwise. Maybe we shouldn’t waste too much time with them. After all, Jesus did say, “Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you” (Matthew 7:6). However, at the same time, this is not a license to discard people like things.

Last week, one of our youths shared a negative experience he encountered in a church. He decided to attend a church service near the place where the homeless teens hang out. It was a Pentecostal church. Towards the end of the service, the minister had a time where he “prophesied” over the lives of the people. He singled our young friend and told him that God revealed to him and this young man was going to suffer the fate of all young drug dealers. Needless to say, he walked out with the church deeply saddened and disappointed. He has never in his years in the streets engaged in any criminal activities. The minister just saw a homeless youth and jumped to conclusions. He allowed his personal prejudices to inform him about the young man but the fact was that this teen wanted to be in the church. He went there because he wanted to grow in his faith. Instead, he was discarded by someone who used God’s name in vain.

Jesus was born in a community that had its fair share of prejudices. He did not pretend that they did not exist. He did not believe that they would have gone away without confronting them. He allowed His faith to see the faith and devotion present in the marginalized woman. His faith transformed not just the life of the woman but He also gave her a permanent role in our spirituality. In other words, a “dog” of his society was given a place of honor. I am sure that the elderly woman I shared about initially would approve of this.

Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Matthew 14:16-18

I love Mondays. It wasn’t always like that. I mean I used to despise them with a passion, especially when I hated my job. I also hated school, but I liked my classmates. They made school pleasurable. I belonged a huge class. There were forty boys crammed into one classroom. We remained in the same class for six years. Most of us took it upon ourselves to make school fun and tolerable, consequently making us the nightmare of most of our teachers. They had to admit that we were a creative lot, especially when it came to mischief.

We were passionate about two things; science and play. The rest was dispensable, we thought. Maybe we were right. Most teachers avoided our class like the plague. We used to be proud of this fact. My friends made Mondays tolerable when I was in school. After all these years we are still in contact. We call ourselves brothers of class…We truly are, more than I expected. This Monday, I received news that one of them passed away suddenly. He was one of my closest friends back then. Even though I haven’t had any quality time with him for thirty years, I still felt something dear and special in me was gone. Suddenly, there was a sense of lost and disorientation. My cousin called me. It so happened that he was part of my class too. I haven’t heard his voice for ten years. He called and was in tears. My departed friend had been his best friend all these years.

Mondays set the tone for the week. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to focus on what was left of it. Regardless of how I felt, I decided to meet with our homeless youth. I was hoping to see Daniel or even Wanderson. I haven’t seen or talked with them for weeks. They weren’t around yet. I dropped by Felipe’s residence. Most of the people were hanging around outside the building. There is still a recommendation for social distancing. However, almost everyone, including Felipe and his family, here lives in a tiny windowless room. We cannot expect a family of five or six to be cooped up in small spaces all day. Felipe was among them.

We went together to where the teens usually beg. Only Bruno was there. His first question was whether I was aware of a tragic incident in the streets. Last week, one of the teens died suddenly. I heard it from Felipe but Bruno just received the news. Obviously, everyone was shocked. The young man just collapsed while talking to the other teens. Apparently, his heart just gave out on him. His name was Maxwell. He was a little different. Mary and I used to joke that he always looked grumpy. It was true and even Bruno and Felipe admitted this. He hardly smiled. He hardly talked to us too. Then one day, he came up to us and asked us if we wanted to play a game with him. It was his first contact with us. Strangely, he pronounced our names perfectly even though he never spoke to us. Our names, as common as they might be in an English speaking culture, are a rarity here and quite difficult for the local tongue. On top of that, we were surprised that he wanted to do anything with us. We gladly obliged. The next few days, he looked for us to play a game. Then one day, it happened. He smiled and even laughed. He decided to let his guard down. After this, he was extra respectful to us and always greeted us. We had brief moments with this young man but they were genuine moments. It was powerful enough to leave an impression in our souls. Maxwell is now gone but there were many tears shed for him. Thankfully, he did not leave this world as an invisible person. His absence was strongly felt in our hearts. Before I left home, I checked my phone for messages. Guilherme who has been home for the past few weeks wrote to me. He asked if I knew that Maxwell had passed away. He must have just heard the news. He needed to share it with someone else. This is what happens what someone dear leaves us. We want the whole world to know and mourn the person’s departure. However, the rest of the world were too busy to notice Maxwell’s absence. They have never seen him smile.

Whenever I read about above gospel reading on the feeding of the five thousand, I am struck by the disciples’ response. My understanding has matured over the years. I used to read with a self-righteous perspective secretly chiding the disciples for their lack of faith in Jesus’ capabilities. Then, I thought maybe it has something to do with having a more positive outlook and not disregarding what we have to offer. Now, I am beginning to feel that it is a realistic assessment of life. When we look at this world with all its immense needs and problems, there is really little which can be done. Whatever we attempt to do will be like trying to feed thousands with hungry souls with five loaves and two fish. Unfortunately for us, we don’t have Jesus with us all the time to multiply our meager offerings. Sometimes, our five loaves just remain as five loaves. They just don’t simply multiply.

Maxwell is gone and he won’t come back. He lived his whole life in the streets. There is a documentary floating around somewhere about his life. A filmmaker decided to focus on Maxwell when he met him on the streets. He wanted to accompany the life journey of this young man. This is how we first met him about 8 years ago. He was in the midst of a film crew and he was the grumpiest looking character there. He was born into a family that was homeless. He never had a chance. Maxwell is one of the countless people in this situation. They are more than five thousand. Maybe there are at least two million people who are considered so poor that they are called the “miserable” class. If Jesus were to ask us to feed these people, we wouldl realize that all our resources amount to nothing but five loaves and two fish in comparison with the immensity of the problem facing us. However, it doesn’t mean that our offerings are pointless.

Perhaps, the most important lesson is that what we have to offer is enough. Maybe it is not about our offering but rather our availability. If we are willing to give ourselves regardless of who we are or what we have, then we might open ourselves for something to happen. Despite being in the same school and class, my childhood friend and I did not have a lot in common. He was from a well off family and I was from the working class. We lived in different neighborhoods. He had his own circle of friends who were very different from mine. However, he was available to me and I was to him. Then a miracle occurred. We became eternally united in our souls. Likewise, Maxwell came from a world which gave him very little reason to smile or laugh. He suffered from malnutrition which stunted his growth. Despite all this, he availed himself. At first, only to a limited group. Then he opened himself to us. He was able to smile in our presence. We are grateful to God for this moment. It may not seem much to the outside world. For us, it was a miracle. Now, this is how we will remember Maxwell.

This last Monday made me feel a little impoverished. However, it doesn’t mean that I have nothing to offer. I will always have five loaves to spare and for Jesus, this will suffice to create eternal bonds within our souls.

R.I.P. Maxwell and Warren

Grant Thy eternal rest unto these thy children, O Lord and let Thy perpetual Light shine upon them.