As Jesus entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’ Luke 17: 12-19

One of the most successful homeless youth is Bruno.

No one would say this by just looking at him. His appearance is the epitome of a homeless person. He wears clothes which should have been thrown away months ago. He also drags around a blanket like the character from the Peanuts. He uses it as a makeshift bed for his pet dog, Lala. He carries a bag pack with a broken zipper and it looks like all its contents would fall out any moment. In other words, Bruno looks like a complete mess. There is nothing there to suggest that he is a successful person.

He has a tragic past too. His infancy is one of abandonment and rejection. To make matters worse, he suffered abuse in the hands of his caretakers in the state orphanage. Everything which could go wrong went wrong for him. Bruno is also very intelligent. He could have gone far if he had the opportunity when he was young. Unfortunately, the unstable circumstances of his infancy and teenage years in the streets stagnated his intellectual growth. He is still quite advanced but his reasoning is very much like a highly intelligent 14 year old. This intellectual stagnancy is common among our youth. They don’t have much stimulation and opportunities to grow intellectually.

Many people have tried helping Bruno. At least, they have tried to help him in their way. Some people give him clothes. Others have offered a place for him to stay. A woman even asked him to work for her circus. The circus is still a thing in Brazil. Bruno has refused all these offers. As sad as this sounds, he has accepted the fact that he will always be a homeless person.

In the past, he did attempt to do something different. However, life has never been fair to him. In most cases, people weren’t able to follow through with their promises. Sometimes, people with good intentions just don’t understand the complexity of helping someone like Bruno. This young man carries a lot of emotional and spiritual baggage. He needs to deal with them at his own pace. Sometimes people want to rush things and they end up getting disappointed. Bruno feels disappointed with himself. Perhaps this is why he feels that it is safer just to accept that the fact that he will always be a homeless person. It is easier for everyone concerned. Whether we agree with this or not is irrelevant. Sometimes people tell him that he can become whatever he desires to be. In this city, we have thousands of homeless people and none of them desired to be where they are. I am sure that they had hopes and dreams. Many did not achieve what they wanted. There are millions around them who have settled to a mediocre existence. Cliches don’t reflect real life even though many like to throw them out liberally. We decided that we are not going to be one of these people. Instead, we choose to listen to Bruno and allow the Holy Spirit to use us in his healing process.

One day, Bruno shared that someone walked past him and commented to her companion that it was tragic to see someone like Bruno. This was said within his earshot. He was a little offended. He did not think that he was such a tragic case. He said that he has everything he needs. Furthermore, he continued, his circumstances do not determine nor hinder the person he desires to be. There was no need for him to elaborate any further. He is one of the few homeless youth who is actually living the life he wants to live. Bruno wants to be a person who loves people. I am not saying that Bruno is a saint. He is far from being a saint. No one who knows him will say that he is a saint. However, everyone will agree that he loves to be friends with anyone who stops and talks to him. He is one of the most open and welcoming youths in the streets.

Almost all our youth beg to survive. Some do odd jobs. A small minority are petty thieves. Bruno doesn’t really beg per say. He actually talks to people. He hardly asks for anything unless it is dog food for Lala. The people give him food and money. Sometimes they even buy him clothes. He sometimes asks us to keep the clothes because he doesn’t want them to get ruined. Most of the time, he ends up giving them away to someone else. Sometimes people give the strangest things to him, like a pound of uncooked rice. He is homeless and there is no way he can cook. Everyone knows this. At least most people do. Bruno takes these and gives them to families he knows who need food. Some of these families told us about it. He shares whatever he receives even with people he doesn’t know. We have seen this in action several times. People like to give things to Bruno because he is different. The thing that sets him apart is his sense of gratitude. It goes beyond the conventional means of expressing gratitude.

In the streets, the homeless people say, “God bless you” whenever someone gives them something. Over the years, I have heard this phrase countless times. It is quite mechanical. It is not, in essence, a genuine expression of gratitude. It is just like how most people say, “Thank you” to a grocery clerk. It is not really gratitude but more like saying “the transaction between us is over”. It is a far cry from the spirituality of gratitude which the gospels convey. Therefore, it would be wrong to assume that saying all the culturally sanctioned phrases of gratitude transforms us into grateful people. Don’t get me wrong. A society which doesn’t use any expressions of gratitude would be a horrible place to live. However, gratitude shouldn’t be reduced to mere saying of these words.

In the parable from the gospel text above, only the Samaritan returned to thank Jesus. It is interesting that Samaritans and the Jewish people at that time did not interact with each other. In fact, the Jewish people despised them. It is interesting that their common suffering helped the Jewish lepers overcome their societal prejudice and receive the Samaritan as one of them. At least, they allowed him to seek healing together. Jesus just saw them as people who needed to be healed. They were suffering and He had the power and compassion to heal them. Jesus advised them to follow the ritualistic protocol for lepers which enabled them to return to society. The Samaritan, however, was not allowed to go to the Jewish temple. The Samaritans have their own temple and priesthood which still exists today. This particular man could have gone home to his temple and perform the required rituals to be integrated into society. However, he saw something in Jesus which the others failed to see. They were so concerned about getting something from Jesus that they hardly paid any attention to the Giver. The Samaritan saw the face of God in Jesus. He felt the need to return to Jesus to thank Him for allowing God’s love to shine through Him. Jesus said, “Your Faith has made you well.” The rest were just healed of their leprosy. This man received something more. His soul was renewed and restored through his faith. He went home knowing that God loved him.

Bruno wasn’t always a grateful person. We have known him for a long time, almost twelve years now. We see him everyday. We have witnessed his growth. I used to chide him for his lack of gratitude. He used to be one of those who expected to receive without giving anything. Then something started changing in him. When or how this change happened, I could not say. However, we witnessed a change in him. The most obvious change was that he used to sniff paint thinner all day long. Now, he doesn’t do it at all during the day especially when there are people around. He would rather talk to people. He discovered that each time he speaks to someone, something good and holy stays with him. He has become more aware of God in his life. He is not particularly religious. At least, not in the conventional sense. You never hear him say “God bless you”. However, he likes to write in his notebook, “I love and adore you, God.” I used to think this was strange because he doesn’t usually exhibit any religious sentiment. Now, I realize that Bruno is growing to recognize God’s face in the people whom he meets. These people approach him, not because they feel pity or sorry for him. They approach him because they too sense God’s love drawing them towards. It is God’s love that is slowly changing him. The proof of this is his gratitude because this is only way we can respond to God’s unconditional love. A person who knows he or she is loved is always a grateful person regardless of their life circumstances. In this sense, Bruno is quite a successful young man. He always has something to be grateful for: the mere fact that he is loved despite having nothing materially.