I do not believe that there is a teenage girl in the streets who hasn’t fallen in love with him before. It is not hard to see why. He is a handsome young man with a wonderful personality. Despite sleeping in the streets since 12 years of age, he has never been involved in crime. He has an older brother in the streets too. Their father was an abusive alcoholic and it was their mother who made their home life tolerable. Unfortunately, she died prematurely which prompted the boys to flee to the streets. His older brother got involved in crime almost immediately and ended up being drawn deep into it. He spent most of his teenage life in juvenile detention center and then eventually in prison. We met Wallace when he was 17 years old. Even though he was considered one of the older and more experienced homeless youth, he never lost his innocence. He kept his childlikeness intact. His brother, on the other hand, bears the scars of a life of crime. People usually feel a little intimidated by him. We were a little unsure about him too. Wallace is always very open and warm towards us but his brother, Wilton, always kept his guard.

Despite being charming and sociable, Wallace never had any ambition for anything. We were not sure if he had what it takes to leave homelessness. There was a time when he was using so much drugs that we could hardly talk to him. He would slur his words. It was heart wrecking to watch his slow degradation. One day I couldn’t handle it anymore and I told him that he needed to stop with the drugs. He just smiled at me blankly. I thought that nothing had registered. Then a week later, we found him sober and waiting for us at the steps of the Cathedral. He wanted to do some activities with us. He said more time with us means less time sniffing paint thinner. Eventually, he stopped using everything. I am surprised that he listened. You just never know.

Wallace yelled out to us before running up to give us a big hug. Wilton followed behind and to our surprise, he hugged us too. We hardly saw the brothers since the Pandemic. They are both doing some odd jobs now. Wilton got out of prison and decided enough was enough. He was determined that both him and his brother were going to get jobs and take care of their once abusive father. He has mellowed down a lot since then and health issues have something to do with it. The brothers decided it was time to forgive him. Wilton was working on getting all his documents so that he can eventually register to go to school. Both brothers are illiterate. Wilton wants to better himself and I am sure Wallace will follow in his footsteps. For now, he was helping his older brother to get his documents together, something we did for him few years ago. It seems like he is doing for his brother what we did for him.

We would have never expected that these two brothers to be doing what they were doing now. We thought Wilton was a

lost cause. Thankfully, he proved us wrong. He still has a tough exterior but there is a change. He looks calmer and more peaceful now. Wallace is just happy that his brother is back with him and now they can move forward as a family.

We said our goodbyes and they replied, “É nois.” This is slang here to say we are together and one. Later that evening, Wilton left a message on my phone. He said that he got all his documents and got home safely. He told us not to worry about them and thanked us for everything. It made us feel like we did something special but we are not exactly sure what. It doesn’t matter. Love triumphs in the end.

And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. Luke 9:52-56

There is always a history behind most things. The Samaritans did not reject Jesus because of His Ministry or His Life. There was something hidden and deep rooted lurking behind their actions. James and John did not want to curse this village because of their zeal for Jesus. Their enthusiasm concealed some hidden prejudice and hatred. Jesus was able to perceive and understand the Truth behind people’s actions. We have seen this several times in the gospels. He was never impressed by the crowds which followed him nor did he allow their enthusiasm to influence his decisions. Jesus never dwells in the outward manifestations of life. Many would not have gone beyond superficial impressions. Perhaps this might be truer in our present times. It is not because we are living in exceptionally superficial times. We seem to occupy our time with things which rob our energy to see beyond what is presented to us. However, following Jesus demands that we walk in the footsteps of our Lord. It is no wonder that immediately after this episode, Jesus talked about the cost of being His disciple. In order for us to be disciples of Jesus, we must be willing to understand the world the way He understood it. We cannot continue to be like those who look, but not perceive, and listen, but do not understand (Mark 4:12).

Maria was very excited to see us. She gave us a hug and immediately sat herself next to me. She claimed that she has been clean for three months now. I do not think that she was lying but her sense of time could be a little off. It does not matter. The point is that she wants to be clean. This is in itself a radical change. She said that her mind is clearer now and she is even trying to go back to school. However, she realizes that she lacks the basic knowledge. She asked if we had text books on Portuguese grammar and mathematics. “They can’t be too hard,” she stressed. “I don’t understand complex stuff yet.” This was quite an interesting thing. Most of our youths are quite proud. They pretend to know more than they do. Their attitude is understandable. It is not something just peculiar to the homeless teens. It is just plain human nature. It pains us to admit that we don’t know as much as we claim to know. Unfortunately, for our children and teens, pride is one of the greatest obstacles for their progress. They cannot admit the fact that they need to be learn from someone else. They consider it too humiliating and in the end they give up.

Maria, fortunately, is different. She does not have these inhibitions. She does not feel the necessity to impress others. She recently got a notebook and now she is recording everything she knows in it. It sounds like it might be her very first notebook. It is quite sad in a way. Maria has been in the streets for a long time. She belonged to the first group we met in the streets. Actually, the very first blog post I wrote after we arrived here in 2013 was about our interaction with her brother, João. Their mother named her two children, João and Maria. Incidentally these names are the Brazilian translation of the Grimm’s fairy tale, “Hansel and Gretchen”. Both children were in the streets but not because their mother deliberately abandoned them in the “woods”. They ran away because they were afraid for their safety. Their mother suffers from mental illness and was unstable. Unfortunately, the children were not spared from it. Both João and Maria suffer from it too. João went deep into the “woods”. He now lives in the dreaded place called “Crackland”. People in this place are in a constant crack induced stupor. Maria managed to stay away from this place even though she always self-medicated with other substances. I have never written about her before because she always ignored us. Sometimes it seemed as if she was deliberately rude to us. Once she yelled at us for not being there for her. In her mind, she thinks that we did not keep our commitment over some things she imagined that we had promised to her. We thought for a long time that Maria was not interested in having any relationship with us. Then, unexpectedly, she sat next to us to tell us about all the wonderful things which are happening to her.

There were other times when she talked to us previously. Most of the time there was an ulterior motive usually involving money. However, this time it was different. It was something genuine. To be fair, this is not the first occasion when she showed her genuine character. There was another brief moment when Renan was murdered. Daniel asked us to pray for him and Maria came up and just sat next to us in silence. She sat with us for a long period without uttering a single word. Renan was her boyfriend. Now she was just talking non-stop but not in a negative way. She had interesting things to say. We listened to her silently. It was amazing to see her in this light. She displayed a sweetness which we had never seen before. She did not expect anything from us except to share all the good things that were unfolding in her life. She knew that we would appreciate them and be happy for her. Then some of her friends came around and she left with them. She almost forgot about us until her present boyfriend reminded her. She turned around and apologized and then said that she wants to show us her notebook the next time.

We just had a glimpse of the real Maria. It took a while to see the real person behind the mental illness and drugs. She is, by no means, healed. Most likely, she will never be completely healed. Nevertheless, we have seen enough to see her in a new light. Although, it is very possible that she might ignore us in the future, it will be different. A lot of things in life require several attempts. To expect Maria to overcome every obstacle in a short period of time is an unreasonable expectation. Healing is a process. The fact that she wanted to share with us her joys means that she considers us part of this healing process. We are eternally grateful for this. Beside, she taught us a valuable lesson; never come to precipitated conclusions about anyone just because they might appear to be indifferent or hostile. There is always a history behind people’s actions.

The Samaritans endured a history of hatred and rejection from the rest of the Jewish people. This history went back a long time and Jerusalem was the symbol of all this hostility. Jesus understood this and He did not take to heart their rejection. John and James were acting on their own prejudice. They were not acting as disciples of Jesus who taught repeatedly to forgive and heal, instead of harboring hatred and violence. There is no room for these things in the hearts of Jesus’ disciples. However, it is easy for us to feel angry when we see people acting in ways that seem contrary to what is right. We can be tempted to label these people with unflattering labels like criminals, lazy or spoiled. All these might describe their behavior but it is not who they are. Jesus saw beyond the behavior of the Samaritans. Therefore, as people desiring to follow our Lord, we need to see beyond behaviors and not let ourselves be fooled by so-called religious or pious actions which conceal something more sinister and detrimental.

In our hearts, we gave up on Maria a long time ago. We never outwardly rejected her but we never imagined that we could have any meaningful relationship with her. It took her a while to come out of all the dirt that has been heaped upon her since the day she was born. Now, she realizes that there are some people waiting for her on the other side. I am glad she considers us to be among those waiting.

There is another youth who is either 18 or close to it and never says a word to us. We don’t even know his name. We have never seen him smile. He always puts on a tough exterior. Unfortunately, he is steeped in criminal activities. Nevertheless, every time he sees us, he will shake our hands first before greeting any of his friends. He always does this. There is something special in this young man. Maybe one day he will be able to show his true nature to us. Till then we are not going to give up on him. Thank you, Maria, for this precious lesson.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:4

I used to like post-apocalyptic movies but recently, they have lost their appeal. Everything changes when our reality reflects what once was a mere fantasy.

Every day we see abandoned buildings, increasing sense of lawlessness, trash scattered everywhere and families living in makeshift tents cooking their dinner on improvised stoves, while the police walk around armed to the teeth as if we are in war. All this we see in our own neighborhood and we live in supposedly the richest city in Latin America. I thought maybe I am just being negative. Recently, we received a visitor in our home. It was a friend who is living in Europe presently. He is back on a short family visit. He decided it would be fun to walk to our place from his temporary lodgings. It’s not anywhere near us, almost two hours walking distance. Perhaps it sounds like a crazy idea for some but our friend is a very unique person. Besides, it is something I would do easily in his place. He wanted to get reacquainted with the city and this seemed like a good way. When he got to our place, he told us that he felt like he walked through the scenery from a post-apocalyptic movie without any of the entertaining element. It is not just my opinion then. We are living in a post apocalyptic state.

The place where we meet the children and teens is considered the old commercial center of this city. Sometimes the word “historic” is added to its description to attract the tourist. However, you have to be a pretty naive tourist to come here. It is quite dangerous and frightening. We are part of the environment now but it does not mean that we are immune to its dangers. We still need to be aware. There is a new group of children and teens who have moved to our area. Most of them do not know us. There are about at least 50 to 60 of them and they are mostly under the age of 12 with some older teenage girls in the mix. All of them are runaways from orphanages. We do not know exactly how they met. The pattern is always the same. The children and teens ran away from their situation and joined up with others like them and eventually they migrate to the historic center. The first thing they do is to prove how tough they are. As a result, any unfortunate soul wearing a gold chain is sure to lose it in this old center. I wish I was exaggerating but this is the sad truth.

A group of European looking tourists came walking towards the church and few seconds later they were running away from a bunch of children trying to rob them. An older teenage girl pounced on one of the tourists to steal her chain. She managed to get away with her things intact but I am not sure about her state of mind. It was quite an unsettling scene. The teenage girl behaved like a dreadful monster. However, it impressed the other children. No doubt this was her intention. She has proven herself to be one of them. Now she has a story to tell. The next day the same girl came up to us and asked if she could color with us.

She colored in silence. There is something about her face which revealed a timid gentle soul hiding behind a tough exterior. She spoke to us in curt sentences. She chose her colors carefully and then when she was finished she showed us her end product. It was truly beautiful. She stood up and walked away with a satisfied smile. The next day, when she saw us, she gestured to us to sit with her. She started coloring again and did not say anything. We did not want to burden her questions. The following day she called our names with a big smile. We do not recall telling her our names. Suddenly the images of the girl attacking an innocent tourist were not compatible with this girl we are beginning to know. She appeared to be a little child now. She asked Mary to teach her a few English words. She wanted to know how to say “sorry” in English. Ever since this day, she always comes up to us and sometimes she just stands next to us without saying anything, never hiding the fact that she is happy to see us. Our relationship is slowly developing through silence. The Holy Spirit gave us the capacity to speak the language this young girl understood without uttering a single word. She just wants to be close to someone who will let her be herself. It is apparent that she feels safe with us and we feel a sense of love creeping into our hearts. Suddenly, the world does not seem so dark and gloomy anymore. The Spirit brought a little girl who wants to be in a place where she can feel safe and loved. We are grateful that Holy Spirit considered us for the role.

Her name is Giovana.

Some Recent Interactions

Perhaps few days after I wrote this, we saw her in the streets playing with another teen. I suppose it is her boyfriend. We know him but we do not have any strong connection with him. She was playing with him like a little child. She ran up to him expecting him to catch her as she jumped into his arms. A game a little child would play with her father. When her boyfriend caught her, she was laughing and completely oblivious to the world. There was something sad about it.

A little later she came up and stood next to us, smiling. She wanted us to know that she had just celebrated her birthday. She added that the doors of the orphanage are permanently closed to her. It means that she is 18 now. We told her that we will do something special together. She smiled and thanked us. The next day, Mary wrote her name in beautiful calligraphy with special birthday wishes. We also included a box of good chocolate and a pair of warm socks. It has been cold recently and anything warm is always welcomed. The next day, she came up and gave us hug. Our relationship has progressed to hugs. This is a pleasant development. She did not know that we had a gift for her. She was taken by surprise. She saw the chocolates and the socks. There was not much of a reaction beside a smile. Then she saw the hand written note. She showed it to the other kids who were more interested in the chocolates. She sat down and shared her chocolates with the others but held the note in her hand. It was something that just belonged to her.

Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. Luke 8:30-33

I heard one of the most disturbing things and at the same time, I was encouraged. It might appear that I have violated some Law of Logic here. I hope Aristotle would give me a moment to explain myself. Before I can do this, I need to introduce Ron. Actually it is somehow pronounced as Hon. In reality, his name is Tiago. I think I am confusing everyone. Sometimes things are little confusing in the streets. To make matters worse, the children and teens refer to him as a “she” even though he has never once dressed as a woman nor behaves like one. They say that he is a trans. We respect people where they are and Ron knows this but has never asked us to address him as such. Therefore, he will be a “he” here.

Ron is not really a teen. He is not even a young adult. He is in his thirties. We know his exact age. However, he made us promise not to reveal it so I am obliged to keep our word. He has been homeless since he was a teenager. This is why he has an affinity with the children and teens. The children adore him even though he finds them to be annoying. He often refers to them as a bunch of lazy criminals. Despite his caustic humor, he has a deep affection for them. When Wesley died a few months ago, I saw Ron hiding in a corner to cry. The former used to annoy Ron a lot when he was alive. The children think Ron is funny and feel safe with him. He is part of the children’s environment just as we are part of it too. Anyone who wants to foster deep relationships with them has to accept those in their environment. I’m sure that they observe how we treat Ron. Fortunately, we enjoy his company. This can not be said of everyone in the children’s environment which includes some dangerous and unsavory characters. We just acknowledge their presence and keep a safe distance.

Ever since the Pandemic started, the local government has set up hygiene stations where the homeless can take a shower and wash their clothes. They also provide clean undergarments. A simple thing as such has improved the quality of their lives radically. The older teens take regular showers now and often look very neat and tidy thanks to this service. Ron also takes full advantage of this. He has a bag full of clothes and washes them once a week. He is quite an organized fellow. This week while he was waiting for his clothes to get done, he came and talked with us. He timed himself so that he knew exactly when his clothes would get done. Unfortunately, he got distracted and was five minutes late. One of the staff chided him saying it was unacceptable and banned him from washing clothes for the rest of the month. It was a little disproportionate. She even refused to let him dry his clothes. He carried all his wet clothes and laid them on the floor so they could dry in the sun. Naturally, I was appalled at this callous attitude of the staff. This is Brazil. People are always late. Whenever I have my friends over to my place, I know that everyone will be at least half hour late on a good day. The norm is one hour. No one is hardly on time for any appointment. It’s just part of life here and usually no one really minds. Moreover, no one ever thinks of apologizing for being late. No judgement here. It is just the way things are and it’s neither bad nor good. However, apparently the staff at this place is either from another country which is most unlikely or mean-spirited. I reiterated that being five minutes late is not that big of a deal especially for the homeless who don’t have watches nor mobile phones. Ron replied by saying this is the norm. It is not about tardiness. Most staff who work in the government social programs hate the homeless. He said that all the children and teens know this. Even when those give out food at night, they can be mean and say degrading things to them.

In a way, this is not news. I have observed the social workers and other governmental agencies in the streets. They do treat the homeless either with indifference in most cases or unprovoked hostility in some situations. Ron said that the homeless are used to this hostility. It is just part of their life. Then he said, “You like us.” I almost did not hear him saying this. I was disturbed by the fact that people who choose to work with the homeless continue to disseminate attitudes of hatred and rejection towards them. To be fair, I have met some social workers who were excellent but they never stay long in the field. They always get frustrated but not with the children and teens. They feel like they are working against an army of demons. Of course, these are not their exact words. I am interpreting what they said.

Unfortunately, the word, demon, tends to conjure up caricature images in our minds, no thanks to cheap and vacuous movies and literature. If we believe that the essence of God is Love and the ministry of Jesus is to reconcile us to this love then demons includes anyone who promotes hatred and alienation of any group of people. In all societies, these demons are present. Sometimes they have a permanent place. Legion is not just peculiar to Gerasene. It has a foothold in this city too. It doesn’t want to leave this place. Unfortunately there are many here who are willing to give Legion a place in their lives whereas the irrational beings like the pigs would rather die than be a host to such destructive forces.

Jesus did not need to go Gerasene. This was explained to me by a scholar who likes to study New Testament geography, something which I lack the inclination to do. It makes complete sense. No devout Jewish person would wonder into a place where swines are livestock. Nevertheless, Jesus made a special trip to this place to do just one thing. He wanted to heal a man who the whole village kept in an alienated state. He served a purpose for them. Maybe he kept strangers away from the place. Perhaps he was the perfect scapegoat for that particular society. They were not interested in his healing. They wanted him to remain in his state. If this wasn’t the case, then they would have been happy when Jesus healed him. Instead they were more concerned for their livestock. The economy was much more important than the healing of a human being. They would rather cohabit with demons than lose some money. They did not want a savior to upset their well-established order. Despite the rejection of the people, Jesus fulfilled his purpose in that place. He came to heal just that one person. Legion still remained in that particular city. It did not matter. Jesus healed this one soul. The kingdom of God was established in that place.

In every society, there are demons who like to keep things the way they are. We need to make sure that we do not become one of their host. Clearly, no one wants this. All of us want to be agents of Love and Reconciliation. Yet, wanting something is not enough. Our Lord would go out of His way to bring healing to people who suffered the most by the oppression of these demonic forces. It is an active vocation which does not happen naturally. We must act to become agents of healing.

Jesus did say that before we take the speck out of the other’s eyes, make sure we don’t walk around a log in our own eyes. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves if we are being agents of love to the homeless. It is not a given just because we are ministering among the children. The staff who was mean to Ron also works among the homeless. Later than evening, I remembered Ron’s words. “You like us.” He is easy to like but there are those who are not that easy. They need God’s healing and reconciliation too.

Jesus came to preach the good news to a specific people but He made His detours as the Spirit led. We have the same Spirit here with us to guide us to become God’s agent of Love and Reconciliation where He has placed us. In this world, we can be either vessels of Legion and disseminate destruction or we can be agents of love and reconciliation.

There is a street cleaner of the area where the children stay. Every day she sweeps around the area at the end of day. She always has a smile for everyone and always speaks lovingly to the all the homeless. Everyone loves her including us. Sometimes she makes little comments which make the children and teens feel loved. She is just a street cleaner to the world but in reality, she is a genuine agent of love and reconciliation. No one will ever hear about anything written about this woman. Yet, her love will always be remembered by the homeless and by us as well.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. John 16:12-13

Some days nothing happens. Sometimes something which seems like nothing turns out to be something important. Today, Kawanna was just thirsty.

She did not ask us to buy her some water. She wanted to know if the other children and teens could spare her some. No one had any. It is strange that no one talks about thirst. Water is such a visible commodity and is hard to imagine its scarcity. It is easier to get food than water. I mean potable water. Quite frequently, the homeless would wander around at night seeking for a place which would give them a cup of water. They would wake up extremely thirsty and unable to sleep until their thirst was quenched. The concierge of our building told me that he is instructed not to give out any water even from the tap. The management is afraid it might be become an habit. I did not realize thirst was a habit. Thankfully, our concierge disobeys this order and secretly has two liter bottles of water ready each time someone comes by asking for it.

We decided to buy Kawanna a big bottle of water. It is such an easy thing for us to do. There is a convenience store right where the children hang out. It is one of those nondescript stores which have cropped up ubiquitously ever since the city has attempted to regain normality. Surprisingly, the children and teens are comfortable entering this establishment. They are prone to avoid stores because they feel like everyone is eyeing them suspiciously. This one is different for them. It’s their store. They mostly buy water or drinks there. Thirst is a truly a problem.

Mary entered the store with Kawanna and I stood outside because I was too lazy to put on a mask. As I waited for them, I saw a young teen coming out of the store. I have known him since he was a very young lad but he hardly does anything with us. He used to be annoying but now he has mellowed a bit. He saw me and gave me hug. Anyone observing us would have thought that I have a strong relationship with this boy. I was quite taken aback myself. Nevertheless, he chatted for a while, just small talk, nothing profound and gave me another hug and left. Then two other older teens came by. They belonged to the group which was involved in crime. These do not usually interact with us so much, albeit they are always respectful. One of the boys hugged me before going into the store. I do not even know this boy’s name and never realized he was even aware of our presence but he knew my name.

Two teens who hardly gave us any attention when we are with the other children suddenly are showing warmth and affection towards me. Maybe I was standing in a neutral area and they felt free to be themselves. All in all it was a pleasant experience. Mary and Kawanna were taking a long time. Then before I knew it, someone hugged me from the side. It was Daniel. This one was expected. He is one of our favorites. I was getting lots of love just waiting in front of this store. Again, a casual observer might think that I am someone really popular with these homeless teens. There were a couple of policemen looking at me. It was not the kind of attention which I wanted. Mary and Kawanna finally came out. There was an issue.

It was really nothing, not worth going into details at least, just a rude older customer trying to provoke them. Thankfully, Kawanna did not take the bait even though she was upset. She confessed that she wanted to react and say something but controlled herself instead. Mary tried to explain to her at times it is best to just ignore these antagonistic people. Kawanna shared a recent incident where a random stranger attacked one of her friends for no apparent reason. She had to defend her friend by punching the guy until he released his choke on her friend. She added that it made her feel awful as she hates violence. This is quite interesting hearing from a girl who spent years in the juvenile detention center for being an accomplice in a violent crime. She was divulging something to us which she may not have the freedom to say with others. It is important to put on a tough exterior in the streets especially for the girls. All of us can imagine why this is necessary. However, they know that with us they can be themselves without any fear.

Perhaps you might be wondering how this is all connected with the Holy Trinity. In a way, it has nothing to do with it if we are talking about the doctrine. The doctrine itself can be a monotonous and tedious concept wrought with technical terms. For most of us it might sound mild fascinating but mostly irrelevant. We just want to discover and understand the Love of God. It is good to remember that the fundamental intention of this doctrine is to discover how God’s love operates in this world. A full knowledge of the complexity of the Holy Trinity is not necessary. The Holy Trinity is about encountering God, not about learning a doctrine.

Our children and teens need to encounter the Trinity in their daily life. Most of them are orphans and it is important for them to know that they are not abandoned, despite the fact that the world rejects them. They often say that their only true parent is God. They are not saying this because they are in a so-called religious culture. It is based on their experience and hope. Furthermore, they need guidance to live their lives in a way of Love. They need to encounter the person of Jesus in the lives of people so they have a means to understand how to imitate Him. Most importantly, they need the strength to face the Truth about themselves. Most of them are afraid to do this. However, one can never understand Love without facing the Truth and one cannot face the Truth without the strength and power of Love. It is an almost impossible task for us to reconcile both of these. Most of the time, we tend to adopt a sentimental expression of Love without the Truth or we speak the Truth in a harsh and loveless manner. Thankfully, what is impossible for humans is possible through the divine act of the Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, Truth and Love cannot be reconciled.

Therefore, every attempt to share God’s Love is essentially living out the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Kawanna was thirsty. We just wanted to buy her a bottle of water but we ended up giving Jesus a glass of water without thinking about it. Where Jesus is present, Truth is seen and heard clearly. These boys who are apparently cold and distant are actually thirsty for Love. They were not hesitant to show it when there was an opportunity. Maybe we need to hang out outside the store more often, maybe not. I think that the Holy Spirit will open doors for us at the right moment. We just have to make ourselves available and not discard an opportunity just because it appears to be insignificant. After all, we serve a Lord who can turn water into wine. I am glad that we did not disregard Kawanna’s thirst because of its simplicity. In reality, the most profound moments of Love are encountered in the simple things and actions.

Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ Acts 2:7-13

It has been almost ten years since I preached in a church. Well, we visit churches in Florida every two years or so. I usually preach a sermon but mostly focused on our work here. It has been a while since I walked up those tiny stairs leading to a pulpit and addressed a congregation on a feast day like today; Pentecost Sunday. I accepted an invitation to preach two weeks ago. Now, I am miserable. I am not sure what I am going to say. I have to face a group of people who do not look anything like the homeless children and teens. For starters, the place will be clean; no trash and litter lying around. No one will sniffing paint thinner or smoking. Everyone will be sober, at least we hope. It is going to be a completely different congregation for me. I feel a little lost. I kept staring at the text above, hoping something would pop up. I am drawing a blank. Maybe I made a mistake accepting the invitation. It is too late now. I have to say something. I think I will start with Jesus. After all, He is the One who links the people of my street church with this congregation of well-dressed people.

Jesus said that you cannot put new wine into old wineskins. It is interesting that the scoffers on the day of the Holy Spirit said that the disciples were filled with new wine. They were right. New Wine was being poured out into the world. Unfortunately, the scoffers in their arrogance were more interested in humiliating the disciples instead of asking the right question. I think that this is often the problem. They were satisfied with their superficial reading of the situation instead of seeking true understanding. Fortunately, there were people who were sensitive to what God was doing. They were amazed that Galileans were speaking in foreign languages. For some reason, people from this region did not garner much respect from the general public in Jesus’ time. Nevertheless, they were the perfect candidates for the Holy Spirit. It was important on this special day that no one doubt the power of the Holy Spirit in action. The first miracle of Pentecost was the speaking of languages of all the peoples present there. This is of uttermost importance. It changed everything for the disciples. It changed how they understood God’s Truth in this world. They were right in asking the question; what does this mean?

A language is not just words joined together in a grammatical order. It is a treasury and library of traditions, concepts and beliefs of each culture. The disciples of Jesus were Jewish. They believed that God can only be addressed in their liturgical language which was Hebrew. It was not because they believed their language was superior. Many of them knew Greek. They were aware of its sophisticated philosophy and literature. However, they were convinced that God chose Hebrew as the language to transmit His Truth to the world. It contain the symbols and concepts necessary to comprehend the Truth about God. However, in an instance, all this changed when God’s Spirit gave people the miraculous capacity to speak and proclaim God’s praise in all the languages of the world. The sacred was no longer a property of one language. It is present in different traditions and cultures. Every people group have within them the capacity to receive and express the Truth within the context of their own cultural experience. In other words, God was no longer the exclusive right of one nation or people but His Truth is universally present everywhere. Consequently, Jesus is not just the Messiah of the Jewish people but Jesus is the Messiah of all peoples in the world. This radically changed the way the disciples understood the person of Jesus. It changed how they treated people from different religious traditions or nationalities. It broke down the walls which separated people. They did not go to other peoples to debate or convince them that Jesus was the Messiah. They went searching for the Messiah revealed in other traditions. It was not necessary for the world to become Jewish to receive Jesus. They just have to discover that Jesus is present where they are spiritually as a people.

Jesus prepared the disciples beforehand for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He said that the Spirit will reveal the truth about Him. Consequently, the Spirit led them into the world where they discovered the true nature of Jesus. Despite this, there was still the temptation to restrict Jesus to a certain tradition and culture. In the New Testament, this struggle was obvious. It is still present today. Each group wants to present a Messiah created according to their own image. However, the voice of the Holy Spirit beckons us to come and meet and rediscover the true Jesus. He is not hiding from anyone. He is always present in an active way. The problem is that we do not ask the right questions in order to find Him. Many times, we are impressed with the dismay and chaos around us. Many times, we imposed our version of the Truth instead of listening to what the other has to say about their lives and spiritual encounter with God.

We ran into Alex a couple of days ago. Some of you may remember him. Some might have written to him. Alex was a severely neglected child who displayed autistic like behavior when we first met him. However, it was not autism. Alex was so neglected that he did not know how to react or respond to another human being. Well, he is no longer a child now. We have known him for almost nine years. He is going to turn twenty soon. He came up to us and gave us a hug. This is something new. He even said that he missed us a lot. He still sleeps in the streets but has found a job as an informal night watch person. They hardly pay him anything. In fact, they are exploiting him. In spite of this, Alex likes the fact that he does not need to beg anymore. He reminded us that his birthday is around the corner. For several years now, Alex always wants to spend his birthday with us. He always wants us to take him somewhere and on many occasions, this did not work out. Once it rained heavily. On another occasion we were away. The reality is that we only spent one birthday with him but we always made sure that he had something for his birthday. He always asked for the same thing, a notebook, despite the fact that he is illiterate. He likes to ask people to write his notebook. He also likes people to know that we gave it to him. Alex has given us a special place in his heart. However, it was not always like this. He used to ignore us whenever we saw him. Sometimes he would not say anything when we spoke to him. Initially we thought that he was rude. Thankfully the Holy Spirit taught us how to speak his language.

On one occasion Alex stopped us and asked if he could draw with us. He really wanted to share an experience with us. It was a time when he rode a horse. The orphanage where he stayed briefly organized an excursion to a ranch. He had never seen a horse till then. It was a special moment for him. His face was full of life when he shared that moment with us. It was not about the horse. Alex’s life has been a sequence of tragic loss. All his memories of his family were ones of sadness but the experience with the horse made him realize that there are moments of hope and love too. We listened to him. It was a precious moment for us as well. He spoke eloquently and the Holy Spirit gave us understanding that in his simple words he was sharing something sacred with us.

Alex is a different person now. He has changed. He is able to say that he likes us. He is able to express love. He is a new creature. He wanted to get our number so that we can arrange to meet him on his birthday which is in a few months time. Alex has no concept of time. Nevertheless, he has a strong concept of Love and it started with a horse. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit opened our eyes to see that the Love of God in this simple encounter that this young man had with an animal. It was the bridge that Alex needed to be connected with us. We did not discover any deep theological thought with Alex neither did we discover new doctrines about Jesus. We just encounter the living Jesus whenever we are together with him. This alone suffices to make us feel that life is indeed rich and beautiful.

This is what it means.