Author: fr.stephendass@gmail.com

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Jesus of the Palms or of the Passion

And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: 

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”- Matthew 21:8-9

Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”-Matt. 27:22-23

At first Jesus was accepted joyfully.  They thought Jesus was a problem solver. They wanted a Jesus that would heal their illness, they wanted a Jesus who would be a political reformer, they wanted a Jesus….. They wanted a Jesus who would solve their problems. Jesus actually did all these things in his ministry but they wanted him to just do these things. The real Jesus had much more to offer. He is much more than just a solution to a crisis.

There is a danger in our ministry to preach “Jesus, the crisis manager”. The needs of the homeless are so overwhelming that there is temptation for us to present Jesus as a solution. However, this would be watering down the gospel to the level of marketing. The church is called to sell the Jesus product. Jesus is more than a product. Some people argue that we can use the tools of marketing in evangelism. I think we can only use these tools when we preach a different Jesus. The Jesus of the gospel was not selling anything. He won’t be reduced to the level of a product. A product is only good until it fulfills its purpose. This is what happened after Palm Sunday. Jesus was no longer necessary for the people’s purpose and He had to go. They killed Jesus because He outlived His utility for the people.

This is the problem with the “Jesus, the crisis manager”. Once the crisis is over or unsolved, Jesus loses His purpose. We cannot preach this Jesus to the homeless children and adults. It would be kinder to leave them in the streets than to give the false hope that Jesus is their crisis manager. Jesus does not want to fulfill this role and He won’t do it. Jesus is much more than this.

Who is Jesus then? Only Jesus can answer this question. The best we can do is to walk with people to the foot of the Cross. This is why I am a priest of a liturgical church. Good liturgy teaches me the meaning of evangelism. It is not convincing people that they need Jesus but it is walking with them to the foot of the Cross as we do symbolically during this week. The answer is at the foot of the Cross. Jesus came to fulfill one purpose and this was to hang on the Cross. St. Paul was right when he said that this sounds like foolishness to the world. It is a disappointment for those who are waiting for a social or political reformer. Yet, for those who can see and hear the Holy Spirit, they can testify with the centurion, “ Surely He was the Son of God.”

The best we can as do in our ministry is to walk with the homeless to the foot of the Cross and experience the Living Presence of God hanging on the Cross. This Jesus on the Cross is not a disappointment.

 

 

 

 

 

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Life Gets Harder

Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. Acts 14:22

“When I was involved in crime, everything came easy to me and now that I decided to leave that life behind me, everything is hard.” Estello was smiling when he said this.

I was doing first aid on a wound that he sustained on his head while going through the trash for recycling materials. We met Estello and his wife living near Cracolândia in a small shack made out of recycling materials. He has been clean for a year or so. It is amazing that he is living in the midst of the drug culture and yet he was not tempted to return to the lifestyle. I asked him what brought about the change. Without any hesitation he said, “God.” When we told him that we were from the church as well, he smiled and said that he just learned that God is Love. This was the truth that captured his heart. It was his turning point. He attends a Pentecostal church close where he lives. He does not really consider himself a pentecostal or belonging to any denomination. He just wants to learn about this God who is Love. He recognizes that everyone that comes in Love to serve the poor and forgotten are sent by God.

It is quite common to hear people use religious jargon in the streets. Sometimes the worst drug dealer uses religious rhetoric but there was something different about Estello. You can literally see the joy in this man’s face when he shared about his newfound faith. He is really transformed by an genuine experience of God’s love. However, life has become tougher for him since he found his faith.

I would also like to follow up on another person’s story whose life got remarkable tougher after she decided to do the right thing. I shared the story of Suely in a previous posting. I wrote that her long-lost mother showed up pregnant and drugged out at her doorsteps. Suely is expecting a child soon and she and her husband are taking care of her two siblings and a young child. They work all day and are paid salaries barely sufficient to keep their heads above the water.

Suely’s mother went to the doctor for her pre-natal check up only to discover that she was not really pregnant. It was a cyst that was causing the symptoms of pregnancy. She had it removed and she decided that it was time for her to sober up. She asked for our help to find a drug rehabilitation program. This is good news but it does not mean that Suely’s life is going to get easy. Her mother is mentally unstable which makes it hard for her to keep a job. She needs help and she is willing to get help. Suely is the only one who could help at this moment. Suely wants to do the right thing. This means she is going to carry an extra burden. Her mother has nobody else except her daughter.

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)

Looking for the easy road is what brought many of the adults and children to the streets. It is the easy path to self-destruction. Life is not easy and easy has never been associated with Good. Putting our faith in God does not open the pathway to an easy life. Our faith is not a solution to our problems. It is an answer to a burning question in our soul: the answer that we need to face the challenges of this world. It is the strength that comes from within to give us courage to face the harsh realities of life and know that they cannot overcome us. It is the wisdom that reveals to us that nothing can separate us from the Love of God.

Suely and Estello can smile despite their challenges because they have discovered this Faith that is the foundation of their joy.

 

Link to my original post about Suely:

Cooking with Yuri: Suelen’s Story

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O Patio do Colegio

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. -Philippians 1:6

On the 3rd of April, there was a big celebration in the local Catholic churches because Pope Francis canonized Fr. José de Anchieta, a Jesuit missionary who is considered as one of founders of the city of São Paulo.

Fr. José was originally from the Canary Islands, Spain. He came from a wealthy family but decided to leave everything behind to answer his call to the priesthood. He eventually became ill while he was a novice and some sources say this was due to his excessive austerity. The Jesuit Order decided to send him to Brazil hoping that the weather would help his health. He did not particularly have a call to serve the people of Brazil. He came here because of illness and God used this to transform this man into an apostle of the gospel here.

Fr. José and several Jesuit missionaries arrived in the coastal village of São Vicente. There they heard about a small settlement of indigenous people inland who had been exposed to systematic violence and exploited by the Portuguese colonists. This settlement was caught between two worlds; their tribal heritage and the world of colonists. Some of the children of these indigenous people were of mixed heritage. The Jesuits being strong educationalists, they did what they know best: they founded a school. However, the school was just a premise for them to protect the indigenous people against the colonists. The Jesuits missionaries eventually developed a genuine love for the people and they even risked their lives for the well-being of these people. Even though we know that historically the Jesuits were not all saints and I don’t think even Fr. Anchieta was an exception. However, Fr. Anchieta is known today for not for his faults, but for the his willingness to be God’s instrument of love and justice despite his personal faults.  When he died, thousands of indigenous people mourned for him.

The place where the school was founded is called “Pátio do Colégio”. It is also known as the birthplace of the city of São Paulo. It is located in the old city center where we work. After five hundred years, the Pátio do Colégio still is a haven for those who are forgotten and treated with disdain. In the evenings, several hundred homeless people sleep in the square of this historic school. The homeless come here for two particular reasons. It is a safe place and throughout the night several religious groups bring warm meals to these people. Among these homeless, there are about a hundred children.

O Pátio do Colégio today.

O Pátio do Colégio today.

The Pátio do Colégio has been a good contact point for us. We have met many children here over the past few months. These children are new to the streets. Most of them come from a neighborhood that near the center. Sad to say, the Pátio do Colégio is safer than their own neighborhood. These are children are truly lost; they don’t have many options. They are looking for a safe place. They are feeling lost and abandoned.  The Jesuit priests started the school to help the indigenous people know God did not abandon them. It was not just an academic center but it was a center where people learned that they were precious beings who have much to offer to this world.

It is humbling for us to know that we are not here to start anything new. We are merely continuing the work the Holy Spirit started five hundred years ago. Fr. Anchieta and the Jesuit missionaries set the example for us. Now it is our turn to take up the fight and preach God’s gracious love to the lost and forgotten of this generation.  

Last week, after five hundred years, Fr. Anchieta was remembered in this world. He died a simple missionary who learned to love a people that everyone despised. I think this was sufficient for him. We hope to follow in his footsteps.

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Jesus Takes His Time

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” …though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (John 11:1-45)

In moments of crisis, we want God to act and act immediately. For many, this is the decisive moment of their faith. It is the moment where we know whether our faith in God is real or just a theoretical notion. Martha told Jesus that she believed that Jesus was the Messiah. It was not enough. She needs to make the transition from theory to reality. She needs to know that the God she believes in is not just a concept but a reality. It was an intense moment. In fact, the whole gospel passage is very intense. If we stop thinking about Jesus as some spiritual superhero for a moment and think of Him as a human being, we can sense the intensity of the text. Everyone was putting God on the line including Jesus. Jesus took a big risk when He waited.

Lazarus has been dead for four days. There is a common belief in the East even today that the spirit of the dead remains around for at least three days before leaving this world. Whether there is any foundation to this belief is not the issue. The people believed this and Jesus waited for more than three days. When Jesus arrived there, no one believed that there was anything that could be done at this point. Everyone had exhausted all their physical and emotional resources. There was only one thing to do now.

“Jesus wept.”-John 11:35

We weep because we are helpless in the face of the human tragedy. Even Jesus wept, He was truly human and only humans can know their limitations. Only humans can sense that there is something greater beyond their reach. We don’t weep just because we are sad. We weep because we are too weak do anything. We need something different. We need to have new strength. We need something to change the meaning of the tragedy in our lives.

This new change is the Resurrection. 

Martha knew the theory of the Resurrection but now she experienced its reality. This transition cannot occur unless we are willing to acknowledge the limits of our humanity. In order to this, we need to follow the example of Jesus, we need to take a risk. Without risk, we never discover the reality of our God. Without taking any risk, we are settling for a comfortable existence of theoretical religion. It is a religion that never realizes the meaning of the Resurrection for the here and now. Lazarus was resurrected in the here and now. We know that he eventually died but it changed the way he understood Life.

The gospel text addresses the issues of death, mourning and fear. All these make for the tragic elements of Life. These are things that most of us make every effort to avoid. Yet, Jesus deliberately faced these things because He waited to go to Lazarus. Because he waited, He helped his disciples including Mary, Martha and Lazarus have a new understanding of the Resurrection.

Jesus took a risk for us so that we can experience the new reality of the Resurrection. It is a reality where God comes piercing through our darkest moments to bring new Life. And He will wait for the perfect moment to do this.

 

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Remembering a Life

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.-Isaiah 40:11

Natasha has been in the streets for almost six years. The team has known her since she first came to the streets. She always kept to herself and was unresponsive to us. In fact, sometimes she would be downright unfriendly. She was never said anything rude to us. She would just simply ignore us. She was quite a difficult person. About a week ago, we had a volunteer come out to the streets with us. For some reason, Natasha decided to engage her. She opened up about her past and her family. She said that her mother left her house and disappeared one day and this was her catalyst to coming to the streets. This was the first time she has ever shared anything personal.

Last Monday, we went to the streets in the evening and the first news we heard from the teens was that Natasha had passed away. They were quite disturbed and shaken by it. She had been sniffing paint thinner and then all the sudden she just collapsed and was unconscious. They rushed her to the hospital but it was too late. She was sixteen years old.

Her family claimed her body and buried her immediately. There were only four people at the funeral. She is laid down to rest in an unmarked grave. No one in the streets was informed or welcomed to the funeral. The teens were quite devastated.  They wanted to say their final farewell to their friend. They were visibly affected by her death. They caught a glimpse of their own mortality. They saw how easy it was to be gone and forgotten without a moment’s notice. They did not want their passing to to be like Natasha who was buried without a tear shed and maybe in a few weeks she won’t be remembered anymore.

No one would claim that Natasha was an angel. However, despite her faults and shortcomings, she was still a gift from God to this world. We cannot just simply ignore this fact. Every Life is a gift from God. A Human Life is God’s gift to reveal His Love to us in a rational manner. Therefore, it is precious and important. Perhaps Natasha never understood that she was precious to God. Most likely she did not think she was worth anything to anybody. However, she had something to reveal to us about God. Now she is gone. That something about God that only she can show us is also gone with her.

Natasha never lived to her full potential. She never realized that she had a potential. However, we want to acknowledge before God that we appreciate the gift of Natasha in this world. We want to remember her as such. Her death has made us mature in the understanding of ministry here. We are God’s instruments to let these children and adults know that they are not biological mistakes but God’s precious gifts to this world. They have something to offer to this world and they need to allow God’s love to help them express this gift to the world clearly.

 

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Who is responsible for all these sufferings?

As he walked along, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”- John 9:1-5

Is someone to be blamed for all this pain and suffering? The Book of Job grappled with this question.  Job’s friends tried to convince him that he was responsible for his predicaments. It was because of sin in his life, they said.  Job answered that no one is truly innocent and therefore no one can really approach God with clean hands and hearts on his own merit. Yet, Job still believed that a grave injustice was done to him. He wanted an answer from God.

The question is repeated in the gospel text above. Who is responsible for this man’s blindness? This was the question. Why do we need to know who is to be blamed? I guess it is because in our minds, we think that we should only help those who deserve to be helped and not waste our time with those who brought suffering upon themselves by their actions. This is the way the world thinks and the apostles wanted to know what Jesus’ thoughts were on this matter. The answer Jesus gave them was actually quite disturbing.

Jesus said, “he was born blind so that God’s work might be revealed in him.” 

Is Jesus saying that this man suffered all his life with blindness just so that God could be glorified? Is God so cruel as to allow people to suffer most of their life so that He looks good in the end? This God would not be the good news for any one especially the poor and the needy. I cannot tell the homeless children that they are orphaned and abandoned because God wants to glorify His Name. I would have no message for these homeless people if we believe in such a God.

Jesus was not trying to answer to question of suffering and pain. Jesus was addressing the question of blaming the victim. I have heard people speak against giving drug addicted homeless children and adults food because they might use the money they have leftover to buy drugs instead of food. We are concerned about whether the poor deserve our sympathy and compassion so much so that we forget that there might be a deeper spiritual purpose for the presence of the poor. Maybe God allows this suffering and pain to exist in this world so that it would be an opportunity for us to participate in the divinity of God by being His instrument of Love.

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34)

We should not despair that the world has problems and sufferings. It is part of the living in this tragic fallen world. These things are a constant reminder to us that God is not done with this world yet. The peace that He promised has yet to come to full bloom. However, it is time for those who are called and set aside to be His instruments to reach out to those who are despised and forgotten. It is not our role to figure out whether the people we are helping are worthy of love and compassion. Most likely, they are not worthy of it just like us. God loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Now, it is our chance to reveal the unconditional love of God to those who suffer in this world.

In the Book of Job, the friends of Job were reproved because they failed to show compassion to the one who was suffering. As Christians, God calls us not to throw up our arms and despair in the face of pain and suffering in this world; He asks us to go into the world and face these situations in order to reveal the unconditional love of God.

Jesus was not saying that God made the man blind so that he would be glorified. Jesus is saying that his blindness, which is a tragic circumstance of Life, is an opportunity to reveal a greater force of Love that exists in this world.

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A Successful Christian Ministry

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.-John 4:24

I would like to start with the subject of failure. Unfortunately it is something that we encounter quite frequently. We jokingly say that it has become an unspoken prerequisite  for anyone who wants to work in this ministry. They have to be people who are willing to fail.

In our ministry, we are asking people to make a radical change in their lives. Very few people are willing drop everything they have and have known for something radically new and uncertain. Albeit, they are living in the streets and for most of us, a change in this situation would be a no-brainer. However, let’s look at the same situation from a different perspective. Let’s say your friend is a millionaire and is obsessed with work to the point that it is destroying his personal life. He needs to radically change his life. Most likely, he must choose between giving up his luxurious and wealthy lifestyle for something simpler or die a sad rich man. It is a no-brainer, but we know what the majority of the people would choose. Most people would prefer to have the best of both worlds. To change one’s life, one has to give up things of the past to move into the future. Not many are willing to do this even when things are certain. However, the straight and narrow path towards Life is not a certain and easy path.  Jesus said that only few will choose the narrow road so we know from the beginning that our ministry is not going to be very successful in the material sense. We are not going to bring a busload of people through the narrow road of Life. It is doomed to failure; so then, why bother doing it? Well, it is about worship. We are in the streets to worship God. Perhaps it is quite unconventional to think about service as worship. However, when Jesus said that God is Spirit, He drastically changed the way we are to worship God.

God who is Spirit is not confined in space and time. This means that the presence of God is not limited to the temple or churches. He is present everywhere and He is present nowhere specifically. There is not a place that can contain Him fully and everywhere is the place and time for us to seek and meet Him. Worship is an encounter with God. If God is everywhere, then every encounter with Him leads to worship. Proper worship is to honor and glorify the presence of God.

Our worship of the God who is Spirit needs to change our idea of success. It cannot be a superficial change. It has to be a true and profound change in the way we understand the world. So, how do I gauge success? Well, the point of worship is to encounter God in our reality. The encounter should change our perception of reality to see the Truth. The Truth is that the very essence of God is Love. His presence, therefore, emanates Love so much so that it changes the environment. We cannot recognize this loving Presence if we ourselves are not intoxicated with this Love. We need to know first that God loves us and then this helps us to identify His loving presence in the streets. It also shapes the way we work in the streets. This Love informs us how to serve those who living in the streets. In a way, it is not necessary that we see any physical success as much as we desire that personally. It is more important to see that God is present and in His presence, Love is always manifested. It is the knowledge of this Love that enriches our lives. This is the meaning of a successful life in Christ Jesus.

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From Water to Spirit and Truth

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)-John 4:9

This woman went to the well late. Usually one would draw water first thing in the morning, but she went at noon time. She was alone at the well and most likely she wanted to be alone. She had good reasons to do this. It was better this way. She chose to separate herself from others voluntarily. However, Jesus disrupted her plans.

The conversation between them is really interesting. They were both talking at different levels. Jesus initiated the conversation at the material level and brought it up from there. She was trying to keep things at a material level. She wanted to keep the conversation on the subject of water. Water was just an excuse the Lord used to bring this woman to new level of spirituality. Jesus wanted to her to become a true worshiper.

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.-John 4:23-24

This verse above is the heart of the story. In order to get to this point, it was necessary for this woman to recognize that Jesus had something to give. However, Jesus could not give her anything until she was willing to face the Truth about herself. And she did. She confessed that she had five husbands and was presently in an adulterous relationship. This was why she went to the well late. It was not because she was a Samaritan. They were in Samaritan city and there was no need for them to hide from the Jews. However, her circumstances made her an outcast among a people who were already marginalized. She was considered the lowest of the lowest. Yet, she was the person with whom Jesus chose to share the Truth. She was not ready for it until she admitted to him why she was marginalized. The surprising twist is that Jesus did not dwell on this. He just wanted her to know that He knew about her life and this did not change His mind. She was still His candidate to become a true worshiper.

Jesus started the conversation with water and brought the conversation level up to true meaning of worship. He really knows how to talk up. It started with water, one of the basic material elements and the discussion went on to speak about the essence of God being Spirit. Today the conversations in the Church seem to go the other way round. It seems like everything is being reduced to materialistic notions. Success is gauged on materialistic standards. Today the person that Christians want to emulate is no longer the saint who embraced poverty but the financially successful businessman. I know a group of Christians who skipped an important Church service to attend a talk on how to become a millionaire in five years. If they were at the well with Jesus, they would left Him there and went to this conference. 

In the church, we are still talking about water when Jesus wants to take the conversation upwards to worshipping God in Spirit and Truth. We will never hear the words of Jesus unless we are willing to leave behind our materialistic desires. We cannot have the best both worlds. For the true worshiper, only knowing how to worship in Spirit and Truth can satisfy the soul.

In our ministry, we see the failure of the materialistic mindset. It is not a compassionate mindset. It is a mindset that does not have room for mistakes or failures. Jesus approached a woman who was considered a failure in this world. She failed five times in her marriages and yet she was His choice to be a true worshiper.  God is Spirit and He is not confined by our materialistic notions of success or failure. He is defined by one thing and one thing only. St. John tells us that God is Love. Love is the standard by which God defines a successful person. It is the standard by which we learn to become true worshipers of God.

 

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Cooking with Yuri: Suelen’s Story

But when I looked for good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness.-Job 30:26

Many things have happened since we last cooked with Yuri. However, I cannot give a proper update without telling the story of Yuri’s courageous sister, Suelen. In my previous post about Yuri, I mentioned that Yuri’s father abandoned the family when the children were very young. Then something tragic happened to one of the boys in the family which changed their lives forever. It was something that hit the national news but I don’t think that it is appropriate for me to go into the details here. It was the final straw for their mother and she lost all grasp of reality. She started using crack and eventually ended up living in the streets in Cracolândia. The children were left to themselves with no adult presence. The three boys accepted their so-called fate and became homeless in the streets where they engaged in crime and drug abuse. Sueli was left alone with her youngest sister who was barely nine years old. Suelen herself was only about fifteen. She refused to allow circumstance to determine her life. She refused to consider homelessness as an option. She wanted to take care of her little sister. In this vulnerable state, she got involved with young man who initially appeared to be a godsend but then out to be a nightmare.  He was physically abusive and got involved with drug trafficking. She had a son with him. When she turned 18, she decided to leave him. She packed her bags and left her boyfriend with her child and youngest sister but they had no place to go.

This was about the time the team met Suelen. Yuri was incarcerated and he wanted to get in touch with his sister whom he considered as his only chance for a better life. The team took all the information we had regarding Suelen and searched for her. It took a while but we finally found her taking shelter in single room which was actually rented by another friend. This friend was a physically handicapped man who lived on his disability check which was hardly anything.  However, with the little he had, he opened up his home which was a tiny room for Suelen and her family. This man did this without any hidden intentions. It was out of pure generosity. The team managed to find ways to get Suelen the help she needed and she eventually rented a small apartment in the outskirts of São Paulo. Suelen never asked for a single cent. She worked for everything. Our mission managed to raise some funds to pay for the youngest sister’s school uniform and other educational expenses. Suelen eventually met a younger man whom she married and now they can support the household with two incomes. They earn enough to survive and provide a safe environment for the children but it is still quite financially fragile. Suelen unexpectedly became pregnant and this happened at the same time as Yuri got out of the Juvenile Detention Center. Sueli and her husband opened their tiny apartment up for him.

Everything seem to be going well for Suelen and her family then all of a sudden her long-lost mother showed up at her doorstep looking very pregnant. Suelen was expecting to deliver her child in two months time and her mother was due at the same time. Her mother was still a crack addict and has no intentions of giving up the habit. However, she wants Suelen to take care of her child. She made it clear that she was going to leave her child with Suelen and return to the streets. Sueli and her husband do not know what to do at this moment. However, Suelen knows that she cannot feed another mouth in her household. Yuri needs to return to school and complete his probation before he can get a job. Sueli’s mother is not mentally stable and does not think rationally.

I cited the verse from Job because I have been meeting a lot of Jobs recently. Suelen is a Job. She did not ask or deserve these troubles and sufferings. They just happened. There is no magic wand to wave and change this situation. Suelen and her husband want to get ahead in life but they have to consider what that means. Many of us limit the idea of getting ahead to finances. However, this is not going to happen for them. They are earning too low to even imagine a moment in their lives where they will be financially secure. If Suelen and her husband want to become financially stable they would have to kick Yuri out of the house and refuse to take care of the mother’s new child (her sibling). Only then, they might be able to get somewhere financially but they would lose their souls.

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

Tough decisions await Suelen and her family and she called and talked to us about this. She does not expect us to have the answer. We are grateful for this because we have no answer. However, she wants to know where God is in the midst of it. She is not angry with God. Suelen has gone through enough in this life to know that God is present in the midst of all this. Sueli is a living testimony of God’s gracious presence in her life. She survived the odds to get where she is right now. She has actually ahead of us spiritually. She has experienced God’s goodness in ways which we cannot imagine. Through her troubles, she did not say “no” to Life even when everything around was teeming with negativity. Suelen is a Job and we called to be her friends in this difficult time. However, we don’t want to repeat the mistake of Job’s friends. She asks us to walk with her to discover the courage to say “Yes” to Life. We are going to wait with her to discover God as the foundation of our strength.

We are going to cook with Yuri this week again.

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When Better is not Good Enough

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. -John 3:1-3

Nicodemus was a seeker of the Truth. He saw a spirituality in Jesus that was new and unique. He wanted to better himself. He wanted to know more about Jesus’ doctrines so that he could be a better person. However, Jesus basically told him that better was just not good enough.

Jesus did not wait for Nicodemus to ask his question. He knew immediately the nature of the visit. Jesus did not preach a message of detachment from the world. This was the teaching of the Buddha. He too agreed with Jesus that better was not good enough. However, Jesus gave a very different answer to the spiritual problem. He told Nicodemus that one needs to be born of the spirit.  It was contrary to detachment from the world. Being born of the spirit was coming back to this life with all its problems and injustices with new understanding of reality. Christianity does not promise a change in the political and social structures of the world. There was very little said of social reforms in the gospels. However, it does talk about the person being transformed to see reality in a new Light. We cannot follow or even understand the teachings of Jesus without this new understanding. Those who limit themselves to doctrinal understanding of the faith are settling for a better spirituality or religion. Jesus tells us that this is not enough; better is just not good enough.

This is true in all aspects. In our work, the homeless would not leave the streets for better conditions. Better for them is not worth leaving the streets. They desire something new. In fact, people in all phases of life are always talking about change. They are always talking about the new or reinventing themselves. It seems like we know instinctively that we need something new. The old has shown itself to be lacking. However, we cannot create the new within ourselves. Churches or any religion cannot give or even usher the new. This is something beyond us. We cannot domesticate the forces that bring about the new.

Jesus said: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”(John 3:8)

The new that transforms our hearts and minds can only be done through the Spirit. No one has monopoly of the Spirit. The best we can do is to prepare ourselves for the Spirit. If we invest our time and energy in the old things or values that keep us imprison in the things of this reality, then we won’t be aware of the presence of the Spirit. Those who are seeking the new are aware of the futility of the old. These will understand the words of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes when he professed, “Vanity of vanities; All is vanity.”  Seeing the futility of the old is really the prerequisite that helps us prepare for the new.

We cannot produce the new within ourselves or others. All we can do is prepare ourselves to meet the One who can transform us from within. The preparation is knowing that we are part of the new. Many in the streets have seen the futility of the old but they do not know that they can be part of the new. However, the new has a place of them. This is the good news. The New is open to all but only few seek it.

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