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.