And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God. John 3:19-21

This week, Light was shed to reveal something disturbing.

We got reacquainted with some of the homeless youth whom we haven’t seen for some time. Most of them are older now, maybe in their late teens or early twenties. They were very affectionate and hugged us. Some of them we have known for years. We have colored, played games, and talked with them since they were little children. We have many wonderful memories of them. We know that all of them had great potential to be good and loving people. Unfortunately, they were gathered to together to rob innocent people in the subway station. We have been doing this long enough to see the signs. We knew what was going to happen and our hearts were deeply saddened. These young people prefer to remain in the darkness. They are not, by nature, bad. They just like the darkness. They want to remain in it. They are so consumed by what they want that they are indifferent to the woes of their victims. There is a name for the root of these evil deeds. It was given in the past but has fallen into disuse in recent times. Not because it has lost its relevance. Most probably we prefer to hide it in the dark. The name of this evil was known as acedia. Sometimes it is referred to as spiritual or mental sloth or, in more concrete terms, a sense of apathy or indifference towards the suffering of others.

Over the years, we have had the misfortune of witnessing countless robberies. It is part and parcel of this ministry. The toughest thing is that usually the perpetrator is not unknown to us. On more than one occasion, we had to console the victims and weep within our souls for the sins of our own children. It is heart-breaking to see how they can commit such horrendous things without care and concern for the feelings of the victims. Unfortunately, this is how the world functions. We have seen thousands of people walk by homeless children and young teens, even families sleeping in the streets everyday without any care or compassion towards them. They treat them as invisible at best or as pests at worst. Everyone is too busy with their own lives that in order to survive and strive in this world we need to perfect this wickedness of acedia. We have even developed technologies to aid us with this. I can give more examples of this sin but I don’t want to dwell in darkness. There are more interesting things to focus on.

The Light shines brightly and darkness is powerless to resist it.

There are a group of homeless youth who have decided not to allow this evil to dwell in their hearts. These are the ones who have opened themselves to us. Recently, we had a talk with them about this matter. They shared with us that when they were younger, they used to steal just like the others. They said that it was almost impossible not to be involved because of the peer pressure. Rone shared that one day he robbed a drunk man in the streets. He wasn’t a drunk but someone who had too much to drink during an office outing. He was completely out of it and had an Ipad on him. Rone saw the opportunity and stole it without any resistance from his victim. However, before he could walk away, something touched his heart. He returned and gave the item back to the victim. I asked him what was the reaction of the victim. He told me that the guy was so out of it that he did not know anything had happened. Nevertheless, this was the last time he stole. Now, he survives by recycling and doing odd jobs. He even refuses to beg for his food because sometimes begging dehumanizes people who give. This is, perhaps, a topic for another reflection. Incidentally, this same young man introduced us to a new experience last week. He got some money together and asked our help to get a certain document. We agreed to do it for him. He wanted to meet for lunch before we do the documents. However, only on the condition that we allow him to pay for our lunch. We insisted that each person should pay for their own meal. He insisted that either we allow him to pay or he won’t go with us. We went to a cheap restaurant which was actually quite good. He had planned this for a while. He went around looking for a restaurant within his price range which would be appropriate for us. There are quite a number of scary restaurants here. We sat in the restaurant for more than two hours. No one realized that there was a world of homelessness which separated us. We shared a meal together as brothers and sister.

Rone and the others have similar stories why they stopped stealing and hurting others. They stay together and spend time with us during the day. In fact, we have increased our time in the streets which is a good thing. Bruno shared something interesting with us. He talked about his friendship with a woman who recently passed away. She was a bank officer. This woman used to give him money regularly but she spent time with him for hours sometimes. He said that he liked her honesty. She did not censor her words with him. Sometimes she confronted his lifestyle. Bruno uses drugs very often. Despite all this, she still helped him with money and food. Bruno said that he missed her friendship. She did not pretend that he was someone else rather than who he is. It comforted him. In a subtle way, Bruno is saying that he wants us to be honest with him always. We have been honest with him and also with the rest of the youth who are with us. They are drawn to honesty but only when it is seasoned with Love. The Light can be a terrible place if there is no unconditional Love and healing. These young people who decided not to steal are not saints by any means. They are drawn to the Light because they are touched by Love. They have responded to Love and it gave them the courage to leave behind their state of apathy and indifference towards the Light.

Those who walk in the Light are not perfect. In fact, walking in the Light highlights our imperfection. Rone and Bruno are very aware of their imperfections. To the contrary, the ones who robbed think that they are basically good people. This is generally the attitude of those who live in the world of indifference and apathy. They are often times lost in the darkness of self-righteousness. The Light gives the courage to see ourselves as who we are. This courage gives the strength to shed the sin of acedia within us; the indifference towards the suffering of others. In the darkness, there are countless excuses to justify our apathy but in the Light, Love reveals a better way to live our lives. It is not a perfect one. However, there is a simple promise for those who respond the calling of Love to walk in the Light.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John1:7