Author: fr.stephendass@gmail.com

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Little Ones

“For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”- Mark 9:49-50

I read a short story recently with less than twenty lines. It was a simple anecdote about a teacher writing about a comment a student made regarding an older teacher.
One particular line struck me.

“He taught me how to overcome my fear of making mistakes.”

This phrase quickened my spirit. It dominated my thoughts. Education has been one of our focuses in the streets but not in the traditional sense. Commonly people tend to say that education will help a person secure a good job in the future. We don’t talk about this with our children. We have seen enough of reality here not to make such dubious promises. However, we believe that education is necessary for our children because it is good in itself. Almost all the homeless children and teens went to school for a short period. They have been successfully taught to be fearful of school. They are not opposed to learning, they are just weary of being taught. I can understand their resistance. I remember learning a second language in school and the only thing I acquired from the experience was the fear of making mistakes. The disappointed look on the teacher’s face and the obvious lack of interest and patience in teaching me have tainted my desire to learn for years. I was instilled with a fear of making mistakes. Then later on in life, I learned to speak the very same language fluently without being taught in a formal setting. However, I still have along way to overcome my fear of making mistakes.

Like everyone else, I have been making mistakes from the day I was born. I fell countless of times before I learn to walk. I even have a big bump on my forehead to prove it. I learned not to run into walls after this. It remains as a good reminder for me; mistakes are a necessary part of the learning process. However, along the way, well-intentioned people have instilled a lie into my thinking. The day I went to school, I was told that making mistakes was a sign of stupidity. Children who made less mistakes were graded better than the rest of the less perfect mortals. I got so paranoid about making mistakes that learning lost its charm. I wanted to learn but I was afraid of making mistakes which incapacitates the whole process. However, I consider myself fortunate. I was constantly surrounded by people who loved to learn and eventually they inspired me to become a learner. Interestingly, they never tried to teach me anything. They just inspired me with their love for knowledge and humility. Our children and teens did not have the advantage of having this kind of people around.

Playing games with our children has revealed to us the kind of education they received, not just in a formal environment but in general. Whenever one of them makes a mistake in a game of checkers or a card game, the others are quick to call the another an “idiot” or other degrading names. It took us a long time to stop this detrimental habit.

It was a trembling hand that triggered this series of thoughts. The hand belongs to Wallace. He is 22 years and does not know how to write his name. He has been to school when he was young where he learned to be afraid of making mistakes. So much so that he gave up trying. He believed that he was incapable of learning. He is not wrong in one sense. You cannot learn without making mistakes.

I wanted to ask him tons of questions about his schooling. I decided to refrain myself. I realized that questions only made things worse. It would appear as if I was trying to analyze him, as if there is something wrong with him. Besides, our kids are constantly bombarded with questions from the police and social workers and even random strangers. They don’t need us to do the same. I wanted to help him without asking questions. Finally, I decided to share my own fears of learning something new and how I am learning to overcome them. I told him that I just keep doing the same over and over again until I feel confident. I admitted that I still haven’t overcome my fear of making mistakes. Wallace tried writing for three minutes and then the trembling got quite bad and we told him that he can stop and try again tomorrow. We asked what he wanted to do next. He wanted to play a game and chat with us. He talked with us for almost two hours; a rare thing for this usually reserved young man but thankfully it is becoming more common recently.

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.”-Mark 9:42

I have always heard a narrow interpretation of this verse. It is always limited to some dreadful crime or act that is distant from the kind of acts regular people would commit. However, St. James in his epistle talked about a dangerous tool that we possess which is capable of making a person paralyzed spiritually for years. It is none other than our tongue. Wallace heard enough words from people around him and even from the media to make him feel useless and fearful of doing the most simplest thing. I know young adults who were sexually and physical abused when they were children. As adults, they are able to deal with the consequences of these heinous acts against them but these same adults still cannot overcome the hurtful words someone said about them. Our children call each other all kinds of degrading names when one makes a simple mistake. They were not born with these words. Someone gave them to them.

We cannot change the past. We cannot erase these words.

I cannot tell Wallace not to be afraid of making mistakes if I am afraid of making them myself. Perhaps, this is where making mistakes in our Portuguese helps. The children and teens know that we are not native speakers of their language because of our mistakes. We make them quite frequently. However, it doesn’t stop us from achieving our goal which is to be with them. We still are able to communicate fluently the things that we want to say to them. They understand us completely. They know that we enjoy being with them.

After our game with Wallace, he said that tomorrow he wants to practice more. He added that he wants to overcome his fear of learning with our help. I suppose this what Jesus means by being the salt of the world. Salt preserves a good thing in a world that tries to destroy it. Will Wallace rediscover his desire to learn? We are hopeful.

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Things Received

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” -Mark 8:31-33

When I started doing this, the blog I mean, my intention was to be connected with people who are interested in this ministry. Its original idea was to update our weekly experiences with the children and teens. Now, it has evolved into something else. The development was natural and perhaps, we can say that it was Spirit-led. It has become a place where I can share things that I have received from God. Sometimes I don’t even realize what I received until I begin to write. The words usually speak to my soul first. Sometimes what I write turns out to be mere reporting or writing for the sake of writing. I don’t do anything with these efforts. They remained hidden in my archives. They need to speak my soul before I can share them with everyone else. In a way, this has become something selfish in a positive way.

There is another selfish reason. I am afraid of losing the things that I received. Our capacity to remember things loses its reliability over the years. There are precious encounters that I don’t want to ever forget. However, sometimes I don’t really understand why they are special. It is as if I stumble upon a hidden treasure but I am not exactly sure why it is a treasure. They just find a place in my soul and refuse to leave until I give them their due attention. Many times they are things that would seem truly mundane to a casual observer. There is nothing spectacular or sensational about them; just plain and simple everyday things.

Wallace came up and sat next to us a few weeks ago. He was in the mood to talk. He just started talking about his family. It was something he wanted to share. He mentioned his mother. He told us that he cannot remember what her face looks like. This was the second time he shared this with us. The first time was in an office where we were getting his documents. He just sat there, lost in his thoughts, and then blurted out that he has absolutely no recollection of his mother. Then he went back to his silent reflection.

This time was different. He shared that he had an older sister and his aunts say that she looks like his mother. Unfortunately, he has never met her before. He has brothers and sisters that he has never seen. We did not probe him with questions. Asking questions interrupts the flow of the conversation. Sometimes it creates a distance between him and us. Wallace wants to be closer to us, not further. We discarded the questions and just listened.

He has an older brother who also lives in the streets. They occasionally go home to be with their father, only for a few days at a time. He has a strange relationship with his father. There wasn’t any bitterness or anger in his voice. He just talked about his normal day-to-day relationship with his father. Something was clearly evident in what he shared. His father unintentionally always thought the worst of him and Wallace spends most of his time trying to prove that he is innocent of most of the accusations. Even in the streets, he avoids all criminal activities. He doesn’t try to exploit people. He begs for money just enough to pay for his food and nothing else. The thing that he desires most is peace and quiet. He is a simple young man who has simple goals. He wants to work as a trash man because he would be allowed to do his job without anyone looking over his shoulder.

He talked with us for a long time.The conversation was absolutely interesting for us, not because of the content but the person who was sharing his story. Wallace hardly shares anything about himself. He is one of the most reserved youths in the street. However, today, he wanted to give. We listened and we sensed that this young man was offering something precious to us.

As with the most valuable things in the world like precious stones or beautiful art, their value is only recognized when they shared and appreciated by others. Most of the breathtaking and gorgeous things of the world have no practical value. They just help us see and appreciate beauty in this world.

Wallace’s simple interaction with us is fruit of years of excavating into the heart of this young man. He shared what was valuable to him and now I feel like I stumble upon something that needs to be shared. I don’t share every conversation we have in the streets. Some are private and most of them are just plain boring and lifeless. These are usually conversations tainted with lies and fantasy. However, there are special encounters that take root and grow in our hearts and eventually they need to be released into the world. These are moments that do not belong to me or any person who receives them. They are too precious and beautiful for us to keep them to ourselves. We have to share them.

Often I stumble around in my thoughts trying to find the precise words to allow these encounters to flow out of me. Sometimes I can’t find the words until the right moment, then they flow out of me. It is as if someone planted the words in my mind. When this happens, my heart is filled with a deep joy. There is a profound happiness in sharing what is given to us. For the first time in my life, I can read the gospel where Peter responds to Jesus’ pivotal question, I understand the profound joy Peter must have felt confessing Jesus’ true nature. Finally he was able to put all the encounters he had with Jesus into the words; “You are the Christ.” I can also understand why he become the “devil” immediately after this fact. In fact, it was this second part that inspired my reflection.

It seems harsh to call Peter the devil. At the same time, it makes complete sense. It serves as a warning. If Peter, who confessed the perfect words about his encounter with Jesus could become the “devil”, then we need to be very careful. The Christian idea of the devil is an angel who mistook what he had received as his own right and property. Peter thought that since he knew something deep and personal about the Lord that somehow Jesus belonged to him. He thought that he had a say in the direction of Jesus’ life. This was the devil’s mistake. Nothing we receive belongs to us. Everything belongs to God and we give it back to him, just like they say in our liturgy during our offertory,

“All things come from Thee, O Lord and of your Thine have we given Thee.”
(1 Chronicles 29:14)

The encounters and the words to express them come from God. They never belonged to me. I just receive them and my soul remains restless until I offer them back to God in words. After this, they don’t belong to me anymore. Our encounter with Wallace will speak to some people and they will sense in their souls a connection and pray for him. Maybe more so than I will ever pray for him, if I were to be honest. Maybe it will take some people in a completely different direction and perhaps even away from our ministry and Wallace. It might help them to relate better with someone else that is special and precious to them. It doesn’t matter. I cannot control the direction where the Spirit will take these words and encounters. They don’t belong to me. They are just precious gifts given to me so that I can share to everyone why some rejected homeless children and teens have made our lives richer than they can ever imagine.

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Finding My Way

Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”-Mark 7: 5

And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”- Mark 7: 20-23

A conversation between friends that made me think differently about the Pharisees and myself.

Every time I read about Jesus’ interactions with the Pharisees, I am faced with two options. I could look at the Pharisees as a people completely different from me. Consequently, I judge them because I want to make it clear that they are distinct from me. In my mind, I could consider myself being better than them because I can see Jesus’ point of view clearly. Then I am reminded of another gospel passage where Jesus reveals in a parable the inner thoughts of a Pharisees regarding a tax collector. It is exactly my attitude that I just mentioned. By judging a Pharisee, I inevitably become more like them.

The other option is for me to be more sympathetic towards them. I can make an attempt to understand them. After all, they were genuinely religious people who wanted to live their lives in a way worthy of their spiritual vocation. I can appreciate this. I want to do the same. Their main aim was to prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah. Somehow they lost their way and became his enemies. Unfortunately, this is a more terrifying option. Everything indicates that in my fervent religiosity I can unknowingly become the enemy of the very person I am trying to serve.

Either option comes back to me in the negative. Whenever Jesus confronted the Pharisees for their limited way of interpreting God’s actions in this world, His words are also a challenge to me. I am a potential Pharisee or maybe I am already full-fledged Pharisee and I just don’t know it. I hope that there is a way out of this dilemma. Perhaps I need to ask the right questions and the conversation we had with our friends helped.

They are a couple. They both work in two different high-end shopping malls. They have the same clientele. It is not uncommon for them to meet people who spend exorbitant amounts every month of money on clothes. In some countries, this may not be a problem. However, in this city, everyday it is not uncommon to see families living and sleeping in the streets. Then my friends encounter people who spent what others earn in a year on one single trip to their store. The contrast is too great for anyone to ignore. Two different people had two contrasting opinions about their clients. One was more honest and perhaps even brutal. The other tended to be more appeasing and gracious, perhaps a little bit out of touch with reality. One is right and the one is wrong. This is what we like to imagine. In reality, it is not a question of who is right or wrong. Each of them have created a way of thinking that helps them deal with their reality. They chose to see only certain aspects of reality, perhaps one has a better grasp of truth than the other. Nevertheless, this is not the point. As human beings, we create a rational order in our head to survive in this world. We have to carefully choose our “truths” to help us function in this world. Naturally it also means that some things have to be discarded or ignored. We construct a world that helps us understand why things are the way they are so that we go on with life…until Someone comes disrupts everything. They don’t just disrupt our comfortable world, they also make it inconvenient for us to go on thinking like we used to do.

Our children and teens have devised a way of reasoning out their reality. They use all the tools available to them to create this world. Their religious background, their positive and negative experiences with people, the words they have heard said about them, things they observed in life in general; all these are prime materials to construct their world. However, the world we create in our minds is not invincible or impenetrable. It is imperfect and therefore vulnerable. It cannot resist change especially when it is confronted with Love. True perfect Love disrupts our world. This is why lovers are frequently disoriented. The fabric of their created reality falls apart when confronted with Love. It is possible to reject Love in order to persist in our limited concept of reality. It seems like a high price to pay. Unfortunately people do it all the time and I could be one of them, just like the Pharisees.

These Pharisees are a pain, not because they rejected Jesus, but because of who they were. It would have been easier if they were rogues with total disregard for anything religious. Unfortunately, they were self-consciously obedient to the Law. They wanted to be the ones who usher in the glorious reign of the Messiah. They followed everything religiously so to speak and thought that this alone was sufficient. Therefore, I cannot fall into this trap of complacency. As I tried to figure out a way to avoid this pitfall, the concept of virtues kept coming up. Coincidentally, several days later, I stumbled upon a lecture given by an agnostic history professor in Brazil and his topic was on the cardinal virtues. He advocated the return to virtuous living to live a complete life. Maybe it was the Holy Spirit leading me. It is strange that I hardly hear cardinal virtues spoken in churches. It seems like something we should hear among those who want to be like their Lord. Jesus was the embodiment of all what philosophers described as the complete life. He manifested all the virtues. St Paul dedicated a significant portion to Jesus’ humility in his letter to the Philippians and he was a Pharisee before.

In our ministry, humility means recognizing that the world that I have constructed in my head is the not the perfect world for everyone. That entails that I have to listen and learn how our children and teen have constructed their lives. My role is not to judge their fabrications because humility reminds me that I also have fabricated a world. We all live in worlds that are a mixture of fantasy and reality. Therefore, we cannot judge people by the standards of our imaginary concept. This leaves us with only one thing. Regardless of how people decide to see the world, Love is something that transcends all artificial realities. In the words of a former Pharisee,

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.- I Corinthians 13:2

Virtues make me realize that I need Love. This is what I understand for now. However, there is a long journey ahead of me.

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Difficult Symbols

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” -John 6:56-60

Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.  So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?”- John 6:66-67

Bruna and Wanderson went to Mass.

I feel like I am starting this in the middle. The beginning is a little strange and perhaps may seem even a little unrelated. However, this is the way I began in my reflection. Therefore, I am going to start the way my meditation began. In a convoluted way, it has something to do with the disturbing words of Jesus.

His words brought me back to 1993, my first time in Brazil, before I started working with the children. I walked passed a store with a sign that said “religious artifacts”. A statue of an elderly black gentleman dressed in a white suit smoking a pipe stood at the entrance. My curiosity was perked. I walked in and discovered a completely different religious world. Everything in the store was connected to worship but apparently nothing was directly related to Christianity. There were deities of all shapes and sizes and they appeared to be of African origin tinged with some European influence. There was a statue of St George, at least that’s what it said. It was nothing like the ones I have seen in the church’s stained glass windows. The old Black Man in white suit was apparently very important. He was represented in many of the images. There was a deity with a ferocious dog-like face which reminded me of a personality in Indonesian folklore. The most unsettling one was the figurine that looked very much like the devil of our imaginations, all red including the horns. I had to ask about this particular one. The store owner said that he just sold the items and denied any knowledge of its significance. He wasn’t very convincing. However, I did not want to pursue it. I left the shop convinced that satanic worship was alive and present in Brazil. Now, I am a little older and slightly ashamed that I jumped to such conclusions, not to mention, that such an attitude is also disrespectful. Thankfully, I kept my opinion to myself. I still don’t know what all the deities represented. I will never understand it because it is not my religion or my faith. They have a mythology where all these symbols and personalities fit in perfectly. I can read about them but I will always remain an outsider. They will always seem strange and unnerving to me but it doesn’t make them evil. I don’t remember anywhere in the gospels Jesus going around passing judgments on other religions. However, Jesus did do something quite disturbing. He told us that unless we become like cannibals we cannot be part of Him. At least, this is what it would sound like to an outsider. It is easy to jump to conclusions when you are an outsider.

Now, I can go to back to Bruna and Wanderson. They went to Mass. They heard the words, “Take and eat, this is my Body” and “Drink, this is my Blood which was given for you.” They went to a Roman Catholic Church where doctrine teaches that the Bread and Wine in a mysterious way become the Body and Blood of Christ. They take the words of Jesus quite literally. Different branches of Christianity have tried to tone down it and make His words more feasible. Something which our Lord Himself refuses to do. Instead, He intensified it. He said, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56). The word, ‘eat’ in original Greek could mean to gnaw. Jesus was really putting a lot of emphasis on chewing and eating of His body. The part still makes us cringe a little bit if we think about it deeply. However, Bruna and Wanderson heard these words and they did not feel uncomfortable. It made sense to them because they were not outsiders. It is not that they were ignorant of its implications. These words are very simple and extremely profound. Their meaning is never lost to those who have ears and eyes to see the Truth. They did not need to have access to sophisticated theological explanation to make sense of everything. I am not sure if most theologians understand the true significance of Jesus’ words. Wanderson and Bruna understood what was offered to them. Perhaps, if I asked them to explain it to me, they would be lost for words. However, they knew that Jesus was offering something marvelous to them. Jesus was inviting them to become part of His body.

They went to Mass, not because they were forced into doing it. They noticed that some Franciscan friars were saying mass in the public square. It was open to everyone. Bruna wanted to go and Wanderson agree to go with her. They stayed until the end. I am not sure if they partook in the Communion. They never said much about it. They just wanted us to know that they went to Mass.

The following day, I was reading with Wanderson. After we got done, he stood up and approached a homeless man whose arms and legs were bandaged. He looked as if he had suffered a very bad accident. Wanderson sat next to him and whispered something to him gently. He wasn’t aware that I was paying attention to his actions. They spoke for a few minutes and then he came back to where I was. He did not say anything about his conversation. Then few days later, there was another homeless man who was clearly mentally-ill and looked very much lost in the streets. Wanderson did the same thing again. He got up and approached the man and spoke to him. This time I had to ask. He told me that the Mass he attended was to give thanks for the inauguration of a new shelter for homeless adults. He wanted these people to know that there was a place for them to be safe. He said that he encountered a homeless man the day before who was initially quite aggressive towards him and then later when he calmed down, he asked Wanderson’s help to find the shelter. Ever since the mass, he has been on the lookout to help homeless adults who seem lost and helpless in the streets.

I don’t know if they partook in the communion. However, Wanderson encountered something good and wonderful and now he looks for people with whom he can share this goodness. It is almost as if Jesus is manifesting Himself in Wanderson’s life to those who suffer and are lost. Just recently, he asked me if I go to Mass every day. I said no. The conversation ended there and he did not explain why he asked the question.

Jesus did not come to be our Teacher. He came to offer Himself so His Life can shine through us. It is more than being like Him. Jesus wants His body and blood to dwell in us. Actually, the opposite is true. He wants us to dwell in Him. To an outsider, these just sounds like words of a crazy person. Someone who hears these words and some how understands their true meaning can agree with St Peter when he responded to Jesus, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”- John 6:68-69

You don’t have understand everything as long as you sense in your soul that there is Life in these words.

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The Bread of Life

No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. John 6:44

We have had only random and brief encounters with her. It would be safe to say that we have seen her less than five times throughout our time here. When we first met, she was 14. She had just got out the youth detention center. She was caught for stealing. She did not look like the kind of person who would steal or do anything bad. She has an open face; it is radiant and joyful and full of life. It was hard to imagine that she would be able to engage in any crime. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine why a child like her would be in alone in the streets. Such is life and there is not much benefit lamenting about the states of things. We don’t want to get bogged down with these abstract discussions. This story is about a real person named Camila.

It was easy to talk with Camila. Our first conversation was brief. We hardly spoke about anything of substance. She told us that she was released from the detention center to a shelter. This was the only thing I remember. Her friends came almost immediately and away she went. We did not see her again until about two years later.

This time she had grown a lot. She was taller than me but her face was still childlike. She approached us. Our first meeting was so short that it was impossible for us to recognize her after all this time. This was her first question. She wanted to know if we remembered her. To be honest, we could not recall her name but her face looked familiar. She was not offended. She reminded us and shared that she was doing well in a shelter for teenagers. She just came by the streets to visit some of her friends. She assured us that she was not going back to live the streets again. She did not stay long. There was a curfew at the shelter.

We met in two different occasions after this and they were very recent, perhaps earlier this year. She is 18 now. She is out of the shelter because she was officially an adult. We ran into her as she was getting all her documents together on her own. She told us that she found a place to stay. It was a small artisan community that occupied an abandoned historic house. They sell their art from time to time and do some social projects. We visited the community before. It was a good place for her. She told us that she got all her documents together so that she could go back to school. She was determined to complete her education. She described an incident in her attempt to register in a school. The lady at the counter was rude and disrespectful to her. She told her that she could not register for classes because she lacked certain documents. Camila decided that she wasn’t going to get upset. Instead she addressed the woman in a dignified manner and asked what she was lacking and went on to get these documents. She told us that she was determined to move forward and no one or nothing was going to make her give up. She showed us all the document she got and Mary helped her organize them in an orderly manner. Camila smiled and said that we are always so affectionate towards her. It was strange because we hardly spent any time with her.

The last time we saw her was when my sister was here visiting from Australia. We were on our way to where the children were and ran into Camila. She found a job in a hair salon and she was on her way home to have lunch. She saw us and gave us hug, she even hugged my sister. Everyone that is connected to us is her friend. I introduced my sister to her and Camila told her that we were a tremendous help to her. We tried to correct her and said that we hardly did anything for her. She achieved these things on her own. She disagreed. She insisted that we helped her. It was good for our ego but it is not the truth. At the same time, I understand what Camila is trying to say.

I was talking to another friend about Camila. He was once involved in a team that ministered to sex workers. The owner of a brothel invited them to have a religious service on the premises. It is best not to ponder too much on this complex invitation. It is enough to say that there was a prayer service among sex workers. Almost everyone attended except for one young woman. She was mostly indifferent and sometimes even hostile. My friend and his team thought that she was a lost cause and hardly paid any attention to her. Interestingly, today she is the only one from the brothel that left the lifestyle and now goes to church regularly. She credits the team for her transformation. My friend thinks otherwise. She transformed the way he thought about ministry and God. It is God who draws people to Himself and not our efforts or talents. We have nothing to do with what God does in the streets. Maybe some will find this hard to accept in practice. We want to believe that we can make things happen. However, nothing can be done if God doesn’t do it first.

We are not the Bread of Life. We are not the purveyors of the Truth. We are not the solution to the problems of abandonment and isolation. We don’t have what it takes to change people’s lives. Someone who thinks that all these things are within their power are gravely mistaken and they will reap the fruits of disappointment. Strategies, programs and good preaching do not produce the Bread of Life or life itself for that matter. These are our feeble attempts. Only God can draw people unto Himself. Therefore, the question is what is our role in all of this? Camila and the young lady in the brothel encountered life without any contribution from our part. We might wonder if it is even necessary for any of us to do anything since God is doing such a excellent job by Himself. Well, God definitely doesn’t need us to do anything but He invites us to be present when He acts. Besides, if we have tasted the Bread of Life, it would only make sense that we want to present where Life abounds.

Camila was born into a world that gave her nothing but death. She was rejected by her family. She never mentions her family. They are completely out of the picture. She was sent to a prison cell without any windows when she was only fourteen. Everything she experienced was pointing towards death. However, she encountered life in the valley of the shadow of death. Her ears were attentive to the voice of the Good Shepherd who guides her continuously. She constantly acknowledges God’s guidance upon her life. Camila and the lady that my friend encountered at the brothel are miracles. They reveal to us the power of the gospel. Camila believes that we helped her. We did absolutely nothing but God used us. We don’t know how. Perhaps she could see that it was the Bread of Life that has brought us here. Only God’s grace can do such things.

It is normal for us to wonder if we are doing anything substantial when we try to reach out to people. I am not talking about just us. I am talking about all of us who have partaken in the Bread of Life. The answer to this is that is not relevant. We are not the ones who draw people to Jesus. Everything is done by the Spirit.
The Spirit of God brings us to places and people and more often than not we might find ourselves not knowing what to say or do for them. Maybe we are mistaken in thinking that we are supposed to do something. Maybe the Life that flows in us wants to shine for these people and give them the hope that they are always included in the banquet where the Bread of Life is graciously served. Maybe each person that has tasted the Bread of Life is like an invitation card to those who hunger for eternity in this world. We just need to be present and let the Life that dwells in our soul do the rest.

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Herod like Me

And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.- Mark 6:23-29

Socrates said that the people who commit vile and despicable acts are to be pitied and not hated. They are powerless to do what they ultimately desire. They want to have a complete life but they end up destroying everything good in their path.

To be honest, I find it easier to dislike and despise them because I want to distance myself from them. It is just human nature. We think that if we have strong negative emotion against someone, we create a distance between us and them. We want everyone to know that we are not like them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work this way. Hate always produces more hate. When we hate someone for being hateful, then we are just following in their footsteps. This is why Jesus showed us a way out of this conundrum. He taught us to love our enemies. His attitude is more active and powerful than that of Socrates. When we pity someone, we are still being condescending. Love means that we are willing to see the other person as a fellow human being, or even as a reflection of ourselves. Someone just like us. Herod is someone just like us. This should be our starting point when we reflect on the above passage from the gospel.

Herod was a conflicted person. He wanted to do whatever he desired because he thought that he knew what was good for him. Yet, he was drawn to John the Baptist, the purveyor of Truth. Herod recognized that John was a holy and righteous person who always pointed out that he was on the path of self-destruction. He found listening to this disagreeable prophet to be comforting, despite the fact that he continued in his misguided path. Paul described this attitude in a concise manner in Romans 7:19,

“For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”

However, Paul was not talking about Herod when he wrote this. He was talking about our human nature. Herod thought that he had power and authority but in reality he was a helpless and weak soul. He could not do what he knew to be the right thing to do. If we are able to look deep into our soul, we would realize that this story could be about us. If we had the power and authority like Herod, we might fall into the same trap. Thanks be to God, we are not given authority and power to act as we please. These things only made Herod believe that he had something to prove and he ended up killing the only one that truly cared for his soul.

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” -Matthew 16:26

John lost his life but Herod lost his soul.

Herod was truly the person who lost everything in this story. Unless we can see this clearly then we can never to be truly effective Christians in this world. However, if we cannot see beyond the vile act of Herod to perceive his lost and helpless soul, then we have nothing to say to the world. We will be just plain self-righteousness people like the Pharisees whose spirituality Jesus admonished us to surpass. It is not our prerogative to judge Herod or anyone for that matter. Our vocation is not to judge but to love. We must look at Herod and see ourselves in him. We must recognize that we are just as lost and helpless like him. We must see that we are vulnerable to the temptations that he faced. We are also prone to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine just like him. When we admit this about ourselves, then we can see that it is only by the grace of God that we can be see all these things about ourselves. It is the grace of God that gives us the strength to press on the follow the footsteps of our Lord.

This story is not about judging but instead it is about compassion and love. To love someone like Herod is not easy. Frankly speaking, even as I write this, I would rather hate him than love him. This alone makes me realize that I am not worthy to pass judgment on him. This confession is not an act of humility but just a honest assessment of myself required by vocation. Therefore, Jesus was right about warning us not to judge anyone. I don’t have the capability or the maturity or wisdom to judge anyone. However, I can love someone like Herod, as long as I am willing to admit that I am just like him in many ways. The only difference between Herod and I is God’s grace. I don’t know why Herod was not able to respond to His grace and I am not sure why I did. It has nothing to do with my own merits that I can boast about. It is all an undeserved gift from God.

I wondered what this reading was going to teach me in the beginning of this week. Now I realize that it contains an indispensable lesson. I am not here in the streets because I am better than our homeless children and teens. It is easy to think this way especially when we compare our social and educational differences. This attitude is quite a subtle one. Many people who serve the less fortunate think that they are better than those whom they serve. It is social convention that prevents them from expressing it. Thinking that we are better gives us a false sense of power and authority. It is better to discard this attitude. It leads to the path of self-destruction. Besides, we can’t do anything valuable or special from this artificial view of ourselves. Loving our neighbor as ourselves is better way. It means seeing that we are just like them.

I look at Wanderson, Bruna, Gabriel and Dreyson. These are the teens we had the most contact with this week. I realized that if I was born into their families and given the same things as they given, I would be in the streets just like them or maybe even worse. Yet, I was given much and now God’s grace has revealed this to me. I am not more blessed than them. I have been given God’s grace to see that I have a role to play in their lives and they have one in mine. Together, through the grace of God, our lives can become richer. Herod used his power and authority to bring death upon himself. By the grace of God, we don’t have to follow his footsteps.

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We will only settle for Encounters

Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”- Mark 5:30-34

The most anticipated word blared out from the obnoxious speakers: “Goaaal!”. It unleashed joyous dancing and screaming among the crowd and we were in the heart of it. There wasn’t much room to dance so everyone just jumped up and down. We were doing it as well, rather involuntarily. All our bodies were so pressed together that we had to follow the rhythm of everyone just to avoid falling to the ground and being trampled. Mary looked a little concerned, maybe even afraid. To think that all this was our idea. Wanderson stood behind us. He was the only teen that was willing to watch the game with us. I thought that it would be good for the children and teens to experience something different. They are always outsiders to all the public events in the city. I thought that they should not miss watching the public screening of the Brazilian team playing in the World Cup. It only happens once every four years. We invited all of the children but only Wanderson was willing to come. Now, I have my doubts. Vulgarities were heard all around. People were saying obscene things about the opponents. Sportsmanship was absent. Our homeless children look like model citizens compared to this lot. Maybe it is better for their souls to be outsiders to all these events.

Mary was not thinking about any of this. She was afraid that any moment now there would be a stampede. Half-time came and we decided that it is best for us to leave. Then came the tough part, navigating our way through bodies pressed together. It required lots of gentle pushing and burrowing through a mass of bodies. As I tried to make my way through the crowd, Wanderson grabbed hold of my hand and held it tightly. He was holding Mary’s hand in the same way. It took us a while but we finally made it through to the exit. Wanderson smiled and told us that he wasn’t that interested in the game anyway. However, he just wanted to come because we invited him.

Being in the middle of a rowdy crowd, just like in the gospel text. It is almost like I planned this event so that I could write about it. I did start the week thinking about the healing of the old woman. I wasn’t think about the crowd or being in a situation as such. My mind was on the woman. She pushed her way through the crowd to have the experience of healing. She wasn’t interested in the person of Jesus per se. He was just a means to an end. All she wanted was to be healed. She had a strong faith in the power of Jesus. So much so that she believed that anything close to His body was permeating with His healing power. This is quite an incredible faith. Unfortunately, it was still immature. It was childlike and childish at the same time. She only wanted to experience healing. Jesus was just a thing to her until Jesus opened the door for her to encounter Him.

There was another episode in the gospel of Luke where ten lepers were healed and only one came back to thank Jesus (Luke 17:11-19). To the one that came back Jesus said, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” They were all healed from leprosy but only one was truly healed. All of them sought Jesus for healing but for the nine, Jesus was merely a means to an end. Only one saw Jesus as a Person. He was the only one who had a genuinely mature faith. The old woman was blessed in a way. Jesus did not allow her to follow the footsteps of the other nine. He wasn’t going to allow her to leave with a mere experience of healing. He wanted her faith to mature.

Perhaps we can wonder why Jesus made exception for this woman. There was a large crowd following Him, everyone searching for some sort of experience with Jesus. We will never know for sure what makes this woman stand out. Maybe it is because she was a woman. In His society and in present times as well, women are often treated a means to an end. She saw Jesus in the same way because it was the only way she was conditioned to deal with people. The old woman also lost everything including her dignity. It is possible that she thought that all she was worthy of was a mere experience and not a genuine encounter with Jesus.

Experience and encounter are not interchangeable. The former is limited. It is just a more like an emotional event in the sense that it doesn’t change who we are. In the religious environment, there has been a lot of talk about experiences. We are left with a spirituality that reeks with sentimentalism. The nine lepers experienced healing and they still remained ungrateful people. People can have a wonderful experience in a spiritual retreat and not necessarily change anything in their personal lives. People can have a wonderful missionary experience and still not change their outlook of life or treatment of others. This is where it gets interesting for me. I have been spiritually imprisoned in an experience-oriented missionary idea for a long time. Now I am learning to understand what it means to have an encounter. I find that these moments are always transforming how I see life in general.
We brought Wanderson to watch the game because we wanted him to have an experience. At the end of the day we had an encounter instead.

Encounters are not sensational. The soccer event that we attended had huge screens with large speakers. There were decorated stands selling food and drinks. Brazilian flags were flown everywhere and everything was geared towards creating a wonderful soccer experience. However, Wanderson held our hands tightly. This is a seventeen year old boy and he wanted to hold our hands because he felt secure. After we got out of the crowd, he asked me to bring a game of checkers the next day. He wanted to play a quiet game with us. Nothing spectacular here except that we were like parents to a boy who was abandoned in an orphanage at a very young age. All his life, he created a fantasy family. He often told us unbelievable stories about his family which were a poignant reminder to us about the loneliness that these children sense in their hearts. Recently, he has stopped with these stories. He has began to spend more time with us too.

God gives us encounters when we least expect them. It is easy to miss them if our focus is just on accumulating experiences. Albeit, these are easy to fabricate whereas encounters requires us to wait. They don’t come to us by our efforts but are graciously given to us. The woman was happy to be healed but God’s grace made Jesus stop and ask who touched him. She could have left the scene and been happy with her healed body. However, her encounter with Jesus transformed her. Jesus called her daughter. She was God’s daughter, not an abandoned old woman cursed with an illness. She belonged to God. Jesus pointed out that she had the faith to believe this but social conditioning had made her to think otherwise.

I believe that every encounter is a step towards understanding that we are truly God’s daughters and sons. Wanderson’s desire to hold our hands tightly is a response to God’s prompting in his heart that he belongs to someone. He is not alone or lost in this world. He held our hands. We are part of this physically. We are connected to him. It is a privilege God has given us. Not only us, we know that there are people praying for him too. They are also part of being a symbol of acceptance and love for Wanderson. Our experience at the soccer event will be forgotten in weeks to come but our encounter with Wanderson holding our hands like a little child will be remembered for eternity because it is a gracious gift from God.

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As God Slumbers

But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”-Mark 4:38-40

It has always been there but I never paid any attention to it. I was too distracted by the storm. The miracle overshadowed my reflection. I thought I understood what Jesus meant by lack of faith. Now, everything seems little different; I listened to the story instead. I did not try to impose my ideas on it. Just listened to it and heard the plea of the disciples, “Do you not care that we are perishing?” Then I looked around and realized that the same plea was once uttered by our children and teens.

Our ministry is with children and teens whose world came tumbling down. Most of them found to be God to be silent or “sleeping” while they felt desperate and lost. In their hearts, they believed that God must not care if they perished. Their passage to the streets is a symbol of resignation. They got tired of waiting for God to wake up. They believe that they are on their own in this life. However, none of them would ever verbalize it. It would have been better if they followed the examples of the disciples and cried out to God, “Do you care that we are perishing?” Instead they carry in their souls this poignant thought that they are alone and rejected even by the only One they hope could save them. Perhaps, this is our task here. Perhaps it is our responsibility to help and encourage them to say the words of the disciples. It was these words that woke Jesus from His slumber.

For years, I have heard and even preached a few sermons myself about the lack of faith in the disciples. However, I did not really understand what was exactly missing in their faith. I used to think that they lacked the faith to believe that Jesus could calm the storm. If this was the case, then it would be unfair of Jesus to rebuke them. No one in their right mind could have imagined this from a religious leader. Whenever there is a hurricane approaching in a given place, no one in their right mind is going to heed a religious leader asking people to stay put and pray the storm away. We expect to evacuate to a safer place because it is the wise and right to do. God has given us the wisdom to act accordingly. Besides, Faith is always in accordance with wisdom but not human reasoning. The latter is limited but wisdom is open and universal. This is where the disciples failed. They used their reasoning. They judged Jesus by the circumstances, not allowing their faith to inform them. Faith produces wisdom. They were companions of Jesus. They had seen Him heal and teach and interact with the people. Yet they doubted whether He cared for them. A simple storm doesn’t change His nature or character. We cannot allow one circumstance or incident to define who God is.

Jesus slept peacefully.

In most situations in our lives, instead of sleeping, we could say God was silent. What the disciples failed to understand is that silence doesn’t mean absence. Jesus was in the boat with them. Perhaps, for many, this does not suffice. Many don’t want a God who suffers with them but One who resolves all their problems. Some churches promote this false ”God”. They claim that our faith can make everything calm and tranquil in our lives. This is a god doesn’t exist. The atheists and agnostics have come to disbelieve in this conjecture. This false teaching also reduces faith into some kind of special and magical tool to get what we want. Whereas the gospel teaches that faith reveals to us the nature of God. It reveals to us a God who chooses to suffer rather than resolve all our problems. It is a God who looks at life from the perspective of the one who is rejected and suffers. Why suffer and not solve the problems and end suffering? Well, God truly has the choice in this matter and He makes an option to suffer. I can’t say any more than this. God is God and He has made His choice. Jesus would rather be sleeping in the boat on brink of destruction than to be safe on shore. If we want to discover this Jesus, then we need to be on the boat amidst the storms of life. We need to be with those whose world is tumbling down. Then we discover some wonderful things about our God.

“Do you care that we are perishing?”

It is not wrong to ask God this question. I think that it would be wrong for me to try to answer it. It is a question only God can answer. However, we cannot know God intimately if we have not asked this question. I am sure that most of us felt moments when we thought that God is either sleeping or not interested. It is not a question that goes unanswered. The answer comes from faith and faith comes from God; not forgetting that it is also part of wisdom.

Those who have received the answer know where their place is in the world. It is not in safe shores but in the boat in the midst of the storm where people feel abandoned and hopeless. While we cannot say why God is silent but we can testify to the fact that He is always present, perhaps even through our presence. This is our hope and prayer for our children and teens living in the streets.

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Unexpected Encounters in Uninteresting Places

Jesus also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;  yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”-Mark 4:30-32

Things overlooked and perhaps even ignored. These are the things that Jesus used to reveal the nature of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is like…someone sowing seeds…a night lamp…a plant that grows in silence…tiny black seeds. It is like everything that doesn’t sound remotely exciting. The squeaky wheel gets the grease but not so with the Kingdom of God. It is quiet and subtle. It is a challenge for us who are impressed with the loud and ostentatious things. Jesus invites us to look at unassuming things and see the Kingdom of God striving and bearing much fruit.

I chose to focus on the parable of the mustard seed. I don’t really know why, after all, it occupies a minute role in His teachings on the Kingdom of God. Perhaps, it is because I am familiar with the spice. I am familiar with its smallness. I am always attracted to small things. Maybe it reveals my lack of ambition. I have always been a pastor to small churches. There are more of them than large ones. When we think about it, the world is made of small uninteresting things. The big and the spectacular are a rarity. Small and mundane things abound in everyday life. People try to escape these boring things. Jesus points us to them. He says that they can teach us about the Kingdom of God.

I spent the first part of the week looking for something to relate our ministry to this parable. I found nothing despite the fact that it was quite an exceptional week. There were many moments when we stopped playing games or any activities and just talked. Nothing of great interest. For a regular person, our topics of conversation might seem dull and pointless. I won’t write anything about them. I want to keep your interest. However, for us, treasures are often found in uninteresting places.

These conversations are a sign that we are growing as a family. The children feel free to talk about whatever comes to their minds just like in a regular household except that we are in the streets. Sandro made a comment a while ago that he feels like he can share his dreams and thoughts with us without being judged or ridiculed.
Unfortunately, with all these good conversations, I still could not find anything to connect us the parable of the mustard seed. I realized that I was looking for something special to occur so that the parable of the mustard seed would shed light on the situation. I was looking for something contrary to the mood of the parables on the Kingdom of God. I neglected the simple and obvious things in life.

I missed the point of Jesus’ teachings. It is such a dangerous place to be; trying to reason out a biblical text while missing out on its essential meaning. I was looking for something spectacular and inspirational to write about God’s kingdom. I was waiting for it to happen, not realizing that it was already there. The Kingdom of God is real and present in the common and everyday things of life. I saw it and yet I did not perceive. I heard it but I did not listen. So I will start again…this time I will be more attentive to the Holy Spirit

This was an exceptional week. Nothing new or spectacular happened. We just played games and talked with the children and teens. We had great conversations. Then I noticed a young woman walked by and she saw our little group sitting on the floor of a square. We were a strange lot but I could see in her eyes that she understood that it was a family. She smiled. It wasn’t an ordinary smile. It was a smile of recognition that goodness and love prevailed in this world. She transmitted her love and happiness to us without saying a word. On the same day, a man walked by with bags of vegetables. His demeanor informs us that he is what we consider in this city as the extremely poor. Most likely he lives in one of the abandoned buildings in the center. He stopped where we were and started fixing his bags of vegetables. He was evenly distributing the vegetables in his many bags. Then he approached us and gave us one of the bags. My initial reaction was to refuse. He needed it more than me. It was strange that he offered it to us. Maybe he thought that we were a homeless family. This is not a bad thing. Then again, maybe we need to start dressing better. Danyel was with us and accepted the bag of vegetables. The man happily gave it to him. He just wanted to share the little he had received. I was a little surprised that Danyel wanted a bag of shredded cabbage and lettuce. To my surprise, within a few minutes, some of the children got salt and vinegar from the restaurants and ate all the vegetables. They actually liked it. Then another man approached us. He is a lawyer. The children and teens knew him. He helps them whenever they have a problem with the Law. He wanted to introduce himself to us. He told us that he has seen us often. We had never seen him before. He gave me his card and said that he was willing to help any time the children or teens needed help. Then, more people walked by and smiled. They were genuinely happy to see our little gathering in the streets.

It was strange because this was really the first time that I noticed the number of people who took notice of our little group. They communicated their love through smiles and sometimes they would stop and talk with us for a few minutes. They would ask about the game and if there is a pet in the midst, they would talk about it. They want to connect with us. We feel blessed when we sense their love. Nothing spectacular, nothing that would be newsworthy in the eyes of the world. However, it is enough to reveal to us that the Holy Spirit is in our midst. The Kingdom of God is not a place or an institution. His Kingdom is made of regular and common people. They are people caught up with the demands of everyday life. Sometimes they can’t find the time or energy to give and share their love as much as they would like. However, they are still able to plant a seed of love here and there. Time is not a gift that they have. These people walked by without realizing their smiles and kind gestures are registered in the hearts and minds of the little family in the street.

Loud and ostentatious things brag about the chaos. Jesus calls us to pay attention to the subtle and eternal Kingdom of God growing in the hearts and minds of His children.

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Inevitable Changes

…and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”- Mark 3:20-22

Everyone thought that Jesus was out of control. His relatives wanted the old Jesus back, their simple carpenter relative. It seems like even the virgin Mother wasn’t sure what was going on with Jesus. Maybe she did not like things to change too fast. The spiritual authorities wanted things to remain as they were. For them, any change was perceived as diabolical especially when it didn’t benefit them. Many obviously were happy for these new things. New doors were opened to them. They were no longer outsiders. They were considered part of a greater family as long as they kept their eyes focused on God. The presence of Jesus divided the people. There were two groups.

Nothing has really changed.

“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected.”- G.K. Chesterton

This is not a post on politics but it is about changes.

Changes, especially genuine ones, require us to modify how we relate to each other and the authorities. I believe that this is the essence of the gospel text above. It starts off by showing us that the changes that Jesus brought about were incompatible with the ideas of his own family. Total strangers were invading His household seeking healing and comfort. He was upsetting the natural order of families. He did not destroy the traditional family. He expanded the concept to include anyone who wants to do God’s will. His own family did not like the new idea. The religious authorities were completely outside of these new developments. The people did not need them anymore. This was not acceptable. Therefore, they believed that Jesus was the devil. After all, they were God’s chosen ones and since none of these changes were beneficial for them, they concluded that they must be from the devil.

We tend to think that we are living in a time of radical changes. The reality is that it has always been like this. Every age has to deal with changes, good or bad. It is a common practice for people to stand for or against changes on a personal basis. However, this is not an option for us as Christians.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, that the living God is active and present in this world through His Holy Spirit. Therefore we need to listen to the Spirit’s voice. However, we won’t be able to hear the still silent voice of God if we inundate our lives with noises blaring all out differing opinions about these changes. These are ideas based on human wisdom and are incompatible with our vocation. Changes should not be the focus of our meditation but instead we should reflect on what the Spirit is doing in our midst. However, many act as if God is completely absent or mute. As Christians, if we deliberately choose to ignore God’s voice or worse, put our thoughts and opinions in His mouth, then we might be blaspheming against the Spirit.

Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin— for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.” – Mark 3:28-29

These are harsh words. Most importantly, they are directed to Christians because we are the only ones aware that God’s Spirit is present in our midst. The world does not understand the presence of the Holy Spirit whereas we cannot be Christians unless we sense the Spirit working in our hearts. Consequently, we are the only ones who can truly reject or blaspheme against the Holy Spirt by consciously ignoring Him. It is blasphemous to act as if God does not exist or is even powerless to act in this whirlpool of changes that is happening around us. It is incumbent on us to listen to what the Holy Spirit is doing. If not, we might confuse our opinions as divine mandate and this only leads us to a dangerous path of despair.

Everyday we start our time with the children and teens with a prayer. We pray in the same spot. It takes us a good twenty minutes to walk from our home to this place. Our journey there is filled with conversations about the current political situations and problems of the world. Just like anyone else, we have opinions and political convictions. However, once we pray and engage the children and teens, the real world takes control. It is the world that the Holy Spirit is constructing in our midst. All the latest political debates become irrelevant. We forget their existence completely because they have no bearing on what the Holy Spirit is doing.

We saw Danyel by himself. We asked him if he wanted to visit a museum nearby. He smiled and quickly changed his shirt. Unfortunately he changed into one that was worse than the one he wore. However, in his mind, this was his best t-shirt. It was a museum about the history of the city. It did not take us long to go through it. We decided to have a cup of coffee and hot chocolate for Danyel. I asked him if he liked his beverage. He said, “I liked everything. Everything was wonderful.” He asked if we could take him to a library one day. He has never been to a library. The next day, he ran up to us and gave us a big hug. We were a family when we went to the museum that day and Danyel loved it. In many ways, we loved it as well. This is the change God is doing in our midst. He is bringing love into our souls, the kind of love that we never knew that was possible. In a world where changes are tainted with hatred and violence, God is constructing a family founded on the love that heals and restores. God is building a family within our souls. Danyel is our son and we are his parents. However, the world will never understand this. However, those who listen to the Holy Spirit will understand. The change that God is bringing into this world is one that builds and reconciles. It is an eternal change. Those who want to hold on to the methods and values of this world have to, by default, reject what God is doing.

Changes come and go but the things God is doing in our midst are for eternity.

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