Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’— for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. Luke 8:26-30

A block away from where we live, there is a large number of homeless people, maybe about 300. In fact, they are not the only ones. Just outside our apartment building, there is a small group of them, about ten. Around the corner, there is another small group. Our neighborhood is surrounded by little groups of homeless people. This is not true for all the neighborhoods. There are places in this city where not a single homeless person can be found. People living there might think that there is no homeless problem in this city. They just have to step out a little bit and discover the truth.

There are several reasons why there are so many homeless in our region. We live what is known as the old historic center. Once a upon a time, it was where the wealthiest people lived. In early late 19th century, the coffee barons built extravagant mansions; new flourishing companies built impressive skyscrapers at that time. All the major newspapers are printed in this region. The very first skyscraper of this city was also built here. Coincidentally, it is near where we meet our homeless youth. It still stands today and it is less than tenth floors high. It looks quite pathetic by today’s standards. As time went by, the local government decided to discard the old and develop a new center. The old center was left to ruins. The mansions and once glorious buildings started deteriorating. The old city became a graveyard of the past. Eventually, it became the place to hide what society considered as undesirables. The homeless were pushed to this area. Red light districts and illegal gambling dens grew rapidly. Once a upon time, they called this region the “mouth of the trash”. The homeless children found their haven in this place. However, now things are beginning to change. There is a trend in tourism to visit old historic places. The homeless are now being constantly harassed and forced to move out without much help and assistance. Simplistic solutions are offered. Solutions which don’t correspond to the reality of their lives. The world has no patience, nor interest for these people. They treat them as problems and not as complex people. They do not care to know the names of the demons which torment these individuals.

Among the homeless, there are crack addicts. Not all homeless are crack addicts. In reality, most of them despise those who use crack. Different groups have different vices. Their use of vices are due to the different issues tormenting them. Once a crack addict struck up a conversation with me. He wasn’t trying to hit me up for money. For some reason, he wanted to share about his past. He claimed that he was once married and has two children. He also had a good job and a nice home. One day, he was offered crack by a sex worker and after this he abandoned everything and became an addict. I was a little confused. I asked him why would he try crack from a sex worker if his whole life was great. Many people walk by crack addicts everyday. We can see the devastating effects of crack on an individual. Therefore, why would someone who has a good life even consider using such a thing? There was an awkward moment of silence between us. Then he turned and walked away. Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked the question. I think it brought “Legion” out into the open. Since he just met me, he wasn’t sure if I was ready to help him in the healing process. He returned to his secluded and isolated place.

We can take this gospel passage of the healing of the demon possessed man and make it out to be something supernatural and far-fetched. There are churches in this city of São Paulo whose whole focus is on exorcism. This has become their favorite passage. It almost becomes the basis of their exorcism ritual. They focus on the “Legion” and not on the gospel. They film their conversations with the so-called demons and display them on social media. It becomes a spectacle for the devil. It reduces the profound message of this gospel passage. Rene Girard, a sociologist and philosopher, used this same passage to show the incompatible nature of the Kingdom of God and the world. Not just in terms of values but from the perspective from which they view Life in general. The world looks at Life from top down. Jesus looks for the one lost sheep. He is concerned with the one whom the rest of the world considers as irrelevant. I find this view point of Girard directly relevant to our ministry with our youth.

The man from the gospel passage was forced to stay away from the general public and sometimes abused and tortured in order to isolate him. This did nothing but strengthen the darkness in his soul. He retaliated against the violence with greater force of violence. His negative reputation must have spread to the neighboring regions. Jesus must have heard about him. He was the only person in the gospel whom Jesus went out to cure. In the other episodes of healing, the people constantly sought him out. However, this man was Jesus’ personal project.

It is likely that this place was a place of Gentiles. The Jewish people would never be a in a place where pigs were reared. Pigs are ritually unclean animals and a first century Jewish person would avoid this type of place like the plague. The gospel tells us that Jesus deliberately went to this place despite all the criticism he might have faced for doing so. Besides, from the story, we can see that the people of this place were not prepared to receive Jesus. They did not share the Jewish tradition of a coming Messiah. Jesus was a nobody to them. However, Jesus went out to seek someone important to Him. He saw Light in this demon possessed man when others only saw darkness. This is perhaps the biggest difference between the Kingdom of God and the world.

Just yesterday, a homeless youth accompanied us part of our way home. His name is Rone. This has become a regular ritual. Everyday after we are done with the youth, he walks with us to have more time with us. It has become something really special for us. Yesterday, he made the comment that we tend to look at the homeless youth with rose tinted glasses. I corrected him and said that we are neither optimistic nor pessimistic about Life. We see Life in all its expressions and seek the Light which is eternally present in people. God is real and alive in this world. His Light is burning brightly in all creation.

Jesus taught us,

‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!’ Matthew 6:22-23

Immediately after these verses, Jesus warned us about the impossibility of serving two Lords. The god of this world will only want us to see the darkness because its power comes from instilling fear and ignorance in the hearts of its servants. Our God is the God of Light and Healing.

Without seeing Light in the other person, we cannot be agents of healing. We can do ‘house’ cleaning by just trying to treat the symptoms. However, seeing the Light in the other person is recognizing their importance to our lives and how God can use them to help us discover the true nature of God.

The demon possessed man saw that Jesus truly loved him because Jesus sought him out. The mere presence of Jesus sufficed to convince him of our Lord’s Love. It also drew out the demons tormenting this poor soul. There can be no healing unless all the demons are confronted and expelled. This man’s violent temperament was not due to one thing or other but a series of lies and bitterness that had dominated his heart and mind. They dominated his soul to an extent that it dimmed the Light which dwelt in his soul. However, Jesus could see it and the darkness could not prevail against him.

This man was considered a hopeless case, even a useless one. Many did not see the point of healing him. They kept him from plain sight. Consequently, his healing did not bring joy to city. They were more concerned about their economic loss. They did not want Jesus to be there to bring His Light into their lives. They were perfectly happy living with their demons. They had established a well functioning system in the dark. The Light was very inconvenient to them. Jesus did not argue with them. He came just for this one man. He did not bother to convince the political leaders of the city. He was just concerned for the so-called hopeless case. He came for the one lost sheep. He came to heal the sick and not those who think that they are well. The Kingdom of God comes for those whom society considers as losers or inconvenient. The world will never understand the Kingdom of God.

Some people may wonder why we are living in a neighborhood with so many homeless people. It is because we like living in a place brightly lit by the Light which dwells with us eternally.

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. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
John 16:13-15

I am a gossip. This should disturb some people seeing that I am also a priest. People often share deep and personal things with me especially our homeless youth. The things they share would make good gossip. Of course, I am held back by my vocation. I made a promise to obey the canon laws. It is funny that there should be a law in the church to prohibit priests or anyone from betraying the confidence of another. It seems like a given. Perhaps, there are a lot of people like me. Most likely, I am surrounded by gossip mongers, blabbermouths, and rumor mongers. It is amazing that our language has a long list of names for gossips. It covers all the sophisticated ways we disguise gossip. Some people like to say that they don’t like to gossip but it doesn’t stop them from being informed about other people’s lives. The truth is we are all gossips.

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday. You might be wondering why am I writing about gossiping instead dwelling on the glorious doctrine of the Trinity. Well, just bear with me. I will get you there. Anyway, when the doctrine was officially formulated in the Nicene Creed, it generated a lot of gossip among the people. It was the first church council of its kind. There were bishops from all over the world at that time to debate the true nature of Jesus and His relation with God. Some of them disagreed with each other with a passion. Some considered the others as heretics and dangerous elements in the Christian faith. Historical documents reveal that common people were talking about the council at the barbershop and local butcher store. There were a lot of things to gossip about. The first church council had a good share of controversies, betrayals, and political maneuvering.

You can see this provided hours of gossip. It made them excited to talk about something which united them. Rich and poor gossiped freely amongst themselves without allowing their social prejudices to come between them. Most importantly, gossiping gives us a sense of connection with the other. At the same time, we don’t have to divulge our own personal life.

A renowned historian, Yuval Noah Harari, in his book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, claimed that historically gossip played an important role in helping people bond. Good or bad, it has been the glue holding people together. Animals which are social creatures hunt together and groom each other to bond. Perhaps, we did these at one point and today we have settled down and just talk about other people. Not just any person. It has to be someone whom we like or despise or even just know well. This person has to hold all our interest to the point that we feel united and connected with each other whenever we talk about him or her.

In the New Testament, Jesus was this person. The gospel tells us that even in His hometown, people were gossiping about this strange Carpenter Son of Mary. I am sure that they were talking about her being pregnant before marriage. The Pharisees went around spreading malicious lies about Jesus; claiming He acted in the devil’s name. Even Jesus asked His disciples what the local gossip was about His person. It is interesting that Jesus never told them to stop the gossip. He just wanted to set the record straight with his disciples. In other words, if there was gossip about Him, he wanted them to have the right information. You see, it is almost pointless to stop gossip.

I am not encouraging anyone to gossip. This is not about giving people the license to do anything. It is about understanding our nature. The better we understand ourselves, the easier it becomes for us to live a life worthy of the gospel.

There is something in us that seeks to be united with others. There is also a conviction in our souls that this something has to be something beyond our lives. Until we discover this, we will stick our nose in other people’s business.

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is an answer to this need. Actually, Jesus is the answer to our need. The doctrine of the Trinity reveals to us how we should talk about Jesus and why He is an interesting subject for our personal gossip. In the church, we use the word, evangelism, a lot. It has become a religious word and sometimes it terrifies people. Most of the times it is done in a way that is extremely preachy and irrelevant. I have often times related that there is a group of preachers in the streets who have been there since the time we first worked with the homeless youth in the mid-nineties. They have preached the same message. No one stops to listen except for their own church members or some extremely drunk homeless adult who accidentally wonders in their circle. Their message is boring. They talk about Jesus, sin, and hell. These are topics that could make interesting gossip. However, this preaching lacks life. It lacks concreteness. Good gossip needs concreteness. True evangelism is like a good gossip. Actually it is gossip. We are gossiping about our Lord who is concretely present in our world. However, we cannot gossip about someone whom we cannot see in action. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in.

The Holy Spirit is the only one who can open our eyes, ears and heart to see Jesus. I am not talking about this in a metaphorical manner. Neither am I referring to a lofty idea of some doctrine. No! The doctrine of the Trinity is not a theory but it is how we, as followers of Jesus, can experience the living God in our everyday life. The Holy Spirit can and will show us Jesus present in this world. Now, if Jesus was a mere man, He would have been dead and buried. We wouldn’t have to look for Him today. However, if He is God, then His presence in this world is inevitable. Without God, this world would not exist. This world moves and acts because God is present. Unfortunately, our eyes might be so prone to negative gossip that we only see bad things in our city. We may not perceive Jesus’ active presence. Wherever Jesus is present, there is hope. Wherever Jesus is present, there is Light. Wherever Jesus is present, we see the infinite Love of our Heavenly Father. If we are able to perceive His presence, then we have something wonderful to talk about. However, not in a dry religious manner. Jesus is doing something great and exciting in the most ordinary places. It is infinitely better than any plain gossip. Jesus works in the most uncommon places. He is present in the lives of everyone we meet. He is God. God is omnipresent. He was also a hundred percent human. Therefore, He works and acts in a concrete manner moving people to become aware of the gracious Love of the Father. Without the divine presence of Jesus in this world, the world would slip into complete chaos. Then the gossip that the local media spreads would be true. Thanks to be God, the Holy Spirit only reports what is true. We have to open our hearts and minds and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus in our everyday lives. Then we have exciting things to talk about. Then we would be engaging in holy gossip, otherwise known as true evangelism.

Almost every day after our time with the homeless youth, Mary and I stop by a grocery store. It is one of the best in our neighborhood and always crowded. Unfortunately, the grocery clerks are not always in the best of moods. In fact, some of them tend to be a little grumpy. We don’t blame them. They work long hours and their salary is very low. Most of them travel literally hours to get to work. However, recently, two of the clerks started talking with us. One is from another state and is miserable here. She misses her home. Her mother died and she had to move in with her brother in this city. The other is from the outskirts where most of the poor people live. She is a single mother who has adopted a girl. Everyday, they share a little bit of their joys and struggles in the short period when we pay for our groceries. Everyday something new is happening. Jesus is doing something here. One day we met one of them in the neighborhood. She gave us a hug and we talked for a long time. Something exciting is happening. Jesus is present here. We will keep you informed. God bless.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:1-4

There are many ways to interpret this special day in our Christian calendar. Some say that today marks the beginning of the Church. Others say that this is the day of Christian mission. None of these interpretations would interest our young homeless people. None of it affects them personally. However, they are interested to know how this day influences my life. I think there is something to be said here. This day is not a mere historical event, at least according to our faith. Besides, many might argue that it cannot be proven historically. They are right. It is not a dry historical detail. It is a living manifestation of God. The day of Pentecost is a day of celebration because God has come to dwell with us permanently. It is a promise fulfilled. God is permanently in our midst. We should interpret the meaning of this day according to our encounter with the Holy Spirit.

I would tell my homeless youth that this coming of the Holy Spirit is about the opening up of our minds and hearts. At least, this is what happened to me. I can argue that this is what happened to the apostles, too. All of us are restricted in the way we act and believe. It is just our human nature. Most of the time we are restricted by fear. Not just irrational fear but also fear based on true concrete facts. The apostles stayed in a upper room in a house (Acts 1:13) because they had reasons to be fearful. Many strange and disturbing things had happened. They saw their Lord unjustly tortured and crucified. Then He resurrected. An occasion we celebrate because we are looking at it from a distance. They actually witnessed something which had never occurred before. If anything, it would be the most confusing event they had experienced. Now, they were in a small space physically and mentally because they were not sure what the future held for them. Perhaps they were excited initially just like we are excited whenever something positively new happens but eventually reality sinks in and new apprehensions take hold of our hearts. It is very human to feel this way.

In 2012, Mary and I came to São Paulo for a short visit. The trip was recommended by our then bishop. He wanted us to see if we really felt that we could return and work with the homeless youth here. We stayed at our friend’s apartment who was away visiting her family. It was located just a couple of blocks away from where we work with the children. I remember clearly our first impressions. The apartment looked tiny and spartan. However, this was not the thing which bothered us. We felt a strong sense of loneliness. To make matters worse, we could not sleep at night because it was extremely noisy. Cars passed through the streets non-stop. Sometimes we heard people yelling in the streets. We did not want to look out just in case we saw something we did not want to see. This place was our upper room. We sensed that God was calling to something new. We were excited but now reality confronted us. We were leaving a lot behind. Things can be easily replaced. However, loneliness was something else. We had dear friends in Florida. Friends who shared a history with us since our time in Maine. Besides these, stepping into the unknown was unnerving. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to show us how to proceed.

There were no violent winds, neither was there any tongues of fire descending on us. Instead the Holy Spirit send an elderly woman from England who served as a missionary to Brazil for forty years. We visited her on the same trip. We shared our plans and she smiled. She told us that she always knew that we would return to the ministry. She shared that she came to Brazil as a missionary with her husband when she was almost forty. She had lived a life. She had firmly planted her roots in England. Then they sensed the Holy Spirit leading them to this unknown land. At first, everything which could go wrong went wrong. She wanted to pack up and leave immediately. However, she could not do it because, according to her, she received her “instructions” from the Holy Spirit. The amazing thing is that she was a cradle Anglican and as traditional as they come. I say this because I don’t want to give the impression that she was someone from the pentecostal church. Nothing wrong with this but Anglicans tend to feel a little hesitant when using language like this. Therefore, it made it even more powerful. The message was clear for us. Despite all the negative things she experienced, she knew whatever the Holy Spirit had in store for her was priceless in comparison. Both her ashes and her husband’s are scattered in the parish grounds where I was first a priest. We visited the church a few months ago. It was the place where we first met her and she continues to live eternally in our hearts. Her parting words to us were to receive our instructions from the Holy Spirit alone.

This is not an excuse for us to become mavericks. There are many who misuse the name of the Holy Spirit to do whatever they fancy. She meant that we should not allow circumstances and situations to restrict what the Holy Spirit can do and is doing in our midst. Most importantly, we have to remember that, according to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is here present in our midst to reveal the person of Jesus to us. In other words, when we sense the voice of the Holy Spirit beckoning us, it is really our Lord inviting us to participate in what He is doing here on earth. Our Lord is always present in an active and concrete manner. After all, He is the Incarnate God. He is God in action and only the Holy Spirit can open our eyes and hearts to perceive His real presence. Wherever Jesus is present, there is peace and hope. Only peace and hope can overcome our fears. Only peace and hope can give us the courage to open our hearts and minds to see what God is doing in our midst.

One of our greatest fears, in modern times at least, is not being able to fulfill the task entrusted to us. We are afraid to fail. Many prefer to remain in a safe place than venture out because of this. Recently, I realized that I have very little contact with the younger generation classified as “gen z”. To be honest, I am not sure if I actually believe in these superfluous classifications. Just to clarify, the youth I work with are marginalized and they don’t really fall into any of these categories. My interaction with this particular generations is mainly through our church. Because of my role as a clergy, I have the privilege of hearing some of their personal thoughts. Some have confided in me that they don’t want to become adults. These are young people in their early twenties. In other times, they would be considered adults but things have changed. My first reaction, inwardly, of course, was that this is absurd. One cannot stop the natural cycle of nature. Then upon further reflection I realized they are not very different from our homeless youth. They don’t want to become adults not because they are lazy or spoiled. This is the unfair reading which usually rises to the surface. They are really afraid of failure. This is a sentiment common to all generations. They are questioning whether this standard of success and failure that the world is imposing on them is really what it seems. They have seen so-called successful people living miserable lives. They don’t think there is hope for a meaningful life. The fear that a meaningful life might just be an illusion is real for them. I am sure that this went through the minds of the apostles in the upper room. It went through our minds when we decided to return. It still goes through our minds whenever we are faced with a challenge. It is something that is very real in the minds of our homeless youth.

The only comfort we can give to our homeless youth and the many people who are afraid in this young generation is that the day of Pentecost is a real event. The essential message of this blessed day is that there is hope because God dwells among us in the concrete form. This is not a doctrine. It is not wishful thinking. It is something within our grasp. We can sense the real presence of God in our hearts. The Holy Spirit will open our hearts and minds to see the true Hope of all humanity. However, I can’t say how it will happen. I can only testify that it happened to us. It happened to the saintly missionary. It happens daily everywhere. There are no barriers. There is only hope and where there is hope, there is joy. This, in turn, gives us the courage to move forward and face all the challenges life throws at us. God is present in a real and concrete way. This is the message of the gospel. This is the meaning of the day of the Holy Spirit. This is the message which we called to testify.