And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” – Luke 23:33-38

There was a manifestation here in support for the President. They believe that he is chosen by God to be their leader. They demanded that he institute a military dictatorship. They thought that more power was needed to bring the country back to its Christian roots. They are convinced that they are doing all this for Christ the King. However, Jesus never sought the support of the politicians or the military to impose His Kingdom. On the contrary, they were the ones who crucified him. It would be strange to think that those who hated Him enough to murder would be His allies today. Of course, there was Pontius Pilate. He was the best of the lot at Jesus’ trial. He might have made a weak attempt to save him but he was too afraid to the right thing. He could be considered the best of the politicians at that time. Even then, history tells us that he was a cruel man. Nevertheless, none of them hindered Jesus from establishing His throne. He was glorified between criminals. The politicians and religious authorities did not understand His Kingdom then and even now. His kingdom is unlike that of the world. He has no use for the authorities of this world to establish His throne. He manifests Himself in the places the rich and the powerful of this world avoid. He is exalted as King among criminals, forgotten people and rejected women. His Kingdom is truly not of this world. Therefore, it is wise for us on this Blessed Sunday dedicated to honor Christ the King to remind ourselves once again, to look for our Lord in places where He is always welcomed.

I saw a simple gesture which I have seen countless of times. I never paid much attention to it. Hundreds walk by the front of the Cathedral and make the sign of the Cross. Sometimes they will stand at the main entrance and make a gesture of reverence. Hundreds do this everyday but only one young person caught my attention. He was a homeless transvestite, probably a former prostitute. He knows that he cannot enter the church without subjecting himself to scrutiny. He would be considered an outsider on many accounts. All this didn’t stop him from reverencing the One person who still accepted him. He was bowing before Christ the King. Only this King knows his struggles and loneliness. Only He knows the rejection and pain of this young person. For most of us, we only know this young person from what he shows to the world. We never know his tears and yearnings. However, this young person has a King who knows him even better than he knows himself. He knows that he is loved by this King and this is why he stopped and bowed before Him.

I saw him a few weeks ago. This was the last time we sat on the steps of the Cathedral. It has served as our waiting place for the children. Things have changed since then. We have stopped waiting for the children and teens. Now, they have invited us to be with them in their place. They beckoned us to come to where they meet with their group. It has been a year since we waited for this moment. We did not want to impose ourselves on them. We wanted them to invite us to be part of them. The tragic death of Renan opened the door for them to approach us. They came to us one by one. Now, we have new names to learn. There are some who under twelve. There are even toddlers with their young teenage mothers. Most of them have young innocent faces but unfortunately many had their innocence stripped away from them at a very young age. Now, they are weary of the world. Some of the teenage girls that started doing activities with us. The girls are always the toughest ones. They take the longest time to open up. There were so many new names that we can’t remember them all. It has been almost a year long since we had this problem. One young teen asked us what was our focus in the streets. She is a quite perceptive young woman and asks thought provoking questions. If she didn’t smile, she would look very intimidating. Her past had demanded her to put forth a tough exterior. It has helped her survive all these years. Fortunately, she wore a smile for us. It was the first thing we noticed about her. It was her way of saying that she wanted to open up to us. We did not leave her question hanging in the air. We told her that we help young people living in the streets to discover the one thing that is needful for them to find peace in their lives. We help them to ask the necessary questions and even walk with them in their search for it. She consented and added that many people don’t understand that they are in the streets not because they want to be here. It is because they are looking for something but no one really knows what. She has been coming up to us ever since this first encounter.

The one needful thing is right there in the place where they eat and sleep in the streets. At least, the symbol is present there. The Cathedral sits towering above all of us. It is the symbolic throne of Christ. However, it is hidden from them. The children and teens come to the street looking for someone who would take them seriously. Someone who would listen to their pleas and sufferings. Someone who would give them the strength to move forward in their lives. They want to meet the King of Kings in the streets. However, his symbols have been kidnapped by authorities and placed somewhere which is not accessible to the people whom He loves. They have made him a friend of corrupt and selfish leaders. Nevertheless, the gospel reading tells us that Jesus was enthroned among thieves. He was among the poorest of the poor, he was among the most despised people of society. He also warned us that only those who serve the least of his brethren can enter the Kingdom of God. Owing to the fact that he dwells among them. This is where Christ the King of the gospels sets His throne. The church and authorities can create a version of Him that fits their image. However, it cannot change the Truth that Jesus was born in a manger, He lived without a home, He died among thieves and He revealed His resurrected self to women who were considered second class citizens. He prefers to be in a place that is not tarnished with gold and silver. Christ the King is King to those who are rejected or ignored in our society. This is the gospel image of the King. If we want to bring Christianity back to the forefront, then we need to be present where the King is found.

The young teenage girl told us that she was in the streets looking for something. We are here for the same reason. In fact, we are here because we know that we will find what we are looking for. This is the difference between us. The children sometimes lose hope. They think that there might be nothing at all for them here. They need us to remind them that Christ is indeed here. We need them to remind us that Christ is enthroned among them. He is the only reason why we are all here together. He is the only reason why you are reading this too. We are looking for Christ the King ! And He is always present among the least of his brethren.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” Then Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:10-14

Whenever I have read this parable, I pictured myself as the tax collector. I know that I am not the only one. No one wants to imagine themselves to be the antagonist. We always picture ourselves in the role of the one who comes out victoriously in these stories. It is human nature. We always tend to think that we are better than others even if it is secretly in our deepest thoughts. This is the function of parables. It exposes who we are. The fact is we have as much in common with the Pharisee as with the tax collector. We are not one or the other. We are both the Pharisee and the tax collector. We start out as the tax collector and then we forget and eventually become the Pharisee. The latter is the one who forgot where he came from or who he is. This parable is a warning to our souls not to forget where we came from.

We almost forget these names. No one has mentioned them for a long time. We had no reason to talk about them until last week. Some one wrote all their names on separate pieces of paper and below each name was written, “Present!” One name struck out for us. It was Mateus. His death and murder was similar to that of Renan who was strangely missing from the list. After all, it was his recent murder that prompted the memory of the children and teens who were taken prematurely from us. Maybe they still could not accept the fact that he is no longer among us. We used to sit and watch Renan with his childish mannerisms. Now we miss his erratic and childish behaviors. We saw a young man dressed like him and just for moment, our hearts forgot that he was killed in a brutal manner. No one has accepted that he is no longer with us.

Mateus* and Renan were very similar in life, well at least to us. It wasn’t love at first sight in both cases. We grew to love them. They were very immature for their age. They have bodies that did not reflect their emotional state. They were very childlike in their behavior and easily amused like children. They gradually became part of our lives. Both suffered brutal death. Both suffered hate-filled blows to their heads that ended their time with us. In both cases, the people who committed this heinous crime believed that they were better than their victims. They believed that Mateus and Renan did not deserve to be treated like human beings. However, they were very human to us. They were our brothers, friends and sons. They did not expect much from others. They just wanted to be loved by God and those around them. Whenever they did not feel this Love, they used drugs to help them deal with the emptiness. They carried in their hearts a deep rooted pain that only God knew and rightfully; He is the only One who can judge them.

We sat among the children and waited for them to come to us one by one. After this tragic incident, we know that they would want to talk. They wanted to tell us their connection with what happened and their thoughts about Renan. Danyel came up and sat with us for a while. We told him to avoid this place for a while. The person who murdered once might be tempted to do it again. He agreed. We wanted him to know that he is very precious to us and we don’t want anything evil to happen to him. Danyel then asked us why we thought so highly of him. He continued to say that he did not think that he was not a good person. He believed that he was always doing things that brought harm to himself and he doesn’t think that he helps anyone in the streets. We told him that whenever we see him, we see a kindhearted young man who wants to do what is right. He is always loving towards the others. He never desires anything evil to anyone even to those who did harm to him. He always refused to engage in any activity that hurts another person. Besides, there are things we do in a given circumstances because we need to survive. Danyel uses drugs to endure the harshness of living in the streets. Our answer brought some comfort to him. He then asked me to say a prayer for him. It was the first time he has done this. I asked him if there was anything specific he wanted to ask God. He replied, with any hesitance, “Pray to God to forgive me for my sins.”

It was a beautiful moment that we needed. Danyel and the other children weren’t thinking about revenge for the brutal killing of their brother in the streets. They were thinking about their relationship with God and each other. They realized that there are many who believe that they are not worth a penny. In a way, our presence and your prayers have helped them to know in their hearts that there are some people who like them. We can identify with their emptiness and loneliness. We look at them and we see ourselves in them. We are not better than them. In fact, we are not better than the one who murdered Renan. We don’t understand why people would do such a wicked thing. We are angry with them. We may think that they are people who have succumbed to the evil that is present in this world. Nevertheless, we are not better than them. This does not mean that we are just like them. No, this is not true too. We should stop trying to figure out the actions of others. It is beyond our capacity. We are only capable to know who we are before God. Just like Danyel, he wasn’t comparing himself with anyone else. He just felt strongly that he wasn’t living his life according to what God desires of him. He wants God to forgive him and help him. Danyel doesn’t realize that God has always been listening to him and thinking the best of him like Jesus did of the tax collector.

And as the lepers went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17: 14b-19

We always spot Prince first. It’s a sign that Alex is somewhere around. Prince is his latest canine friend. He hasn’t had much luck with dogs for the last few years. Thankfully, the last one did not die on him. Someone stole it from him. It is still tragic but the lesser of the two evils. It was a police officer who took his dog. We don’t know the details and decided to leave it at that. However, it doesn’t take long for Alex to get a new dog. In reality, they find him. It is the strangest thing. He attracts lost dogs, especially the ones that are independent. They voluntarily attach themselves to him. It is more like the adopt him. They take care of themselves and protect him at night.

As expected, Alex showed up but he was visibly upset. He shook our hands and told us that he is not in the right frame of mind to sit and talk with us at this present moment. Someone had upset him. He was very angry. He told us that he will come back when he feels more settled. Both Prince and Alex took off leaving us alone at the steps. We were a little surprised. Not with the fact that he was upset. Our children are always upset over something. However, Alex was able to express how he felt. He has come a long way. It is amazing that this is the same young teenager that we met about six years when he was barely thirteen.

Alex was a severely neglected child. He was always different from the other children. He almost behaved like he suffered from autism or Asperger’s syndrome. He hardly smiled and he never responded when asked him a question. He was completely oblivious to all social cues. He did not even know how to have a basic interaction with a regular person. Most people brushed him off as a rude child. Even the other homeless teens thought that he was strange. We initially felt the same way about him. He was definitely one of the most difficult boys in the streets. He never showed any gratitude whenever you did anything for him. He thought people were a means to an end. He lived off begging which did not help him change his views about people, initially.

Once he had a toothache that was making him extremely miserable. He asked for our help. We took him to the public health clinic but no one attended to his needs. He was homeless and the health care practitioners are not the most compassionate people. They tend to neglect the homeless population because they don’t like the way they smell or dress or for other trivial reasons. After several failed attempts trying to get service, we decided to pay for a private dentist out of our own pocket. It was quite expensive but the young man was in pain. We made an appointment at a private dental clinic. The dentist told us that Alex needed to extract two teeth which was going to cost more. She was not going to give us any discount even though Alex was homeless. Such is life. We agree to pay for the whole treatment. Everything went swiftly. She extracted both his teeth in less than ten minutes and Alex came out of the room smiling. His pain was gone. Then he just walked out of the clinic without saying thank you or even goodbye. He just walked away. Thankfully we have grown accustomed to his strange behavior. Nevertheless, we were still a little offended.

This was a few years ago. Alex gradually changed. He began to smile more. He started feeling comfortable talking to people. He was still awkward but people were patient with him. Eventually, he developed a habit of expressing appreciation and gratitude. At first, it was a mere formality. He did not really mean it, or least, it did not make any difference to him. He was saying these things more as a means to an end. Then, something started changing in him. He began to enjoy saying these things because he liked the response he got. People started talking to him more. He started developing a social life apart from the homeless youths among the business owners and store attendants in the city center. The security staff of the stores where he begged started treating him with affection. Sometimes they would even keep an eye on his things when he used the bathroom. Consequently, Alex became one of the most successful homeless teens. His bags were full of food and chocolates even though he doesn’t seem to like them. On his birthday, people would buy him a cake and give him presents. Alex learned something else. He learned to give what he received. He became aware of those who suffer. He was extremely sensitive to people who had physical challenges. I saw in several occasions helping homeless adults or giving them some of his food. He even wanted to buy special cards for the people with whom he corresponds from the States. We had to convince that it wasn’t necessary but he still insists. Alex has changed but he is still different from the rest. Now, the difference is not his awkwardness but his sense of gratitude. He has a genuine appreciation for the people God has put in His life. He still has a long way to go. All the neglect he suffered doesn’t go away so easily. However, he has found a way the road to healing.

When I read the above gospel story about the grateful leper, I saw Alex’s face immediately. He was once like the other nine who just walked away. Back then, he did not know that you don’t take people for granted. He did not have anyone in his early life to teach him this simple fact. Now, Alex has discovered that people like him for who he is. He is becoming to feel more like a genuine human being with a definite place in this world. As a result of this self-discovery, he has become more grateful. He says “thank you” not because it is the socially acceptable thing to say. He says it because he is grateful that his humanity is being restored each time someone shows him love even in the smallest way.

It is amazing that Alex is able to acknowledge how he feels today. He found the words to say, “I won’t be good company right now.” Even in this simple act, he has shown us that he believes that we deserve his best behavior. This is definitely a powerful transformation. For those who don’t know him, they might think that we are making too much of a simple gesture. However, we have seen him when he first came to the streets, we can hear angels singing and praising God because this young man has discovered something that he once lost. He has found the joy of living. We are glad that we are here to testify to this wonderful transformation. There is still a long journey ahead and we don’t mind it. We are truly grateful for what we have seen so far.

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Luke 17:5-6

I am not sure if my life would be better if I could uproot trees or move mountains literally. However, it would improve a lot if I could overcome some of the obstacles I find within my soul. My life experiences contribute to who I am but there are some things that obstruct my path of discovering more great and wonderful things about God and eventually about myself. They are intricately connected. These stumbling blocks need to be removed. Sometimes they are a huge mountain that stands in my way and I need to have the courage to move it and cast into the sea to be destroyed. These personal obstructions are more often than not pernicious and detrimental to our souls. They are our Goliath: our monsters that hide under the bed. They are the things that paralyze us from becoming more Christlike in our spiritual walk.

For no rhyme or reason, a homeless adult that was sitting in front of us turned around and said, “Praça da Sé never changes!”. This is the actual name of the place where we minister to the children. It is funny that I have never mentioned it all these years. I always say that we meet at the steps of the cathedral or the “old center”. However, the official name in English means “the Cathedral’s Square”. The man was right. When I came to this place in 1993, there were a phenomenal number of homeless children walking around wrapped in old blankets and on top of this, there were hundreds of homeless adults scattered around. Today, the scene has not changed. The children even use the same type of blankets to wrap themselves. The country has gone through diverse economic and social changes over the past twenty something years and yet nothing has changed. This place remains the same. We have been here for more than six years and things remain the same at best, or in same cases they have become even worse. The plea of the apostles resounds with us, “Please increase our faith!” Sometimes it is hard to feel hope in an apparently hopeless situation.

On our way home, we heard someone calling out after us. We turned around and it was Camila. We met her six years ago when we came back to Brazil. She was only fifteen at that time. I don’t recall having much interaction with her then. She was involved with a group of teens that dealt with drugs. Even so, she would come to us and talk to us from time to time. Our conversations were always very brief. Then she disappeared for a while. We ran into her after few months later to find out that she had been imprisoned in the juvenile detention center. Over the years, our relationship become one of casual encounters. She was always happy to see us. She attributed many things to us that we honestly cannot take credit for. Camila progressed from a lost teenager to a determined young woman who fights for the best for her life. She has grown into a beautiful woman full of life and joy. She came up to us and gave us a big hug. She wanted to walk with us. Our conversation was simple. There were victories and challenges involved. There was nothing extraordinary about these. However, Camila is an orphan and spent most of her life in the streets. She is still technically homeless. She squats in an abandoned house with her boyfriend. She is presently 8 months pregnant. They sell bottled mineral water in the streets to survive. She told us that she has everything she needs for the baby now. She told us that she is going to move on and slowly overcome the mountains in her life. Camila told us in several occasions that we always have been a source of encouragement to her. This is strange for us because we hardly did anything for her. Regardless of this, Camila found something in us that helped her. We literally did nothing for her. However, for Camila, we did a lot. Maybe we are looking for something big that we did for her life. On the other hand, God used our little mustard seed conversations with her to give Camila the strength she needed. Motherhood is going to be challenge for her. Nevertheless, this young woman is going to garner all the faith she has to face the mountains before her.

Faith is something personal and yet it is contagious. It spreads to those around us. It helps them see things that perhaps they never consider before. Camila does not expect faith to change the circumstances of her life. She is too smart to believe this. On the other hand, she needs faith to help live in harmony with what God is doing in her life. She has taught us an important lesson. Praça da Sé might always remain the same. There might always be countless homeless children and adults here. Our faith is not going to change these things. It is not about changing things. It is about helping us become more Christlike. Jesus was and is the most perfect servant of God. He showed us through his life that our faith is sufficient to teach us to be a good and faithful servant, nothing more and nothing less. We are not meant to be political messiahs nor superheroes. We don’t have enough faith for such things. We have faith to be simple servants. Even though we get dismayed with the injustice and violence that surrounds us, we need to use our faith to see that beyond these things. We need to see that there is a hopeful Presence in the midst of hopelessness. This Presence gives us the hope to move on even when things fall apart. We don’t need to be spiritual giants to see this Hope. All we need is a mustard seed faith; something that all of us have within us.

“And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” Luke 16: 9

There is a reasonable comment floating around about money. It claims that money is really neutral. Good people who have it do much good with it. On the other hand, evil people do wicked things with it. Sounds like a pleasant approach towards understanding money. No one feels uncomfortable with this idea. It sits well with most of us. Unfortunately, it is not the way Jesus would define money. He had many things to say about money but He never said that it was neutral. Christians don’t have the option of thinking that money is neutral entity. It represents something dangerous and we need to carefully heed the words of Jesus.

All in all, Jesus had an uncomfortable relationship with money. He needed money to function in the world. There were some wealthy women who supported his ministry. He healed and brought comfort to many people and some of them were wealthy. He always had access to great wealth. However, He chose a path that refused to give money any dominance in his life. He even demanded the same of those wanted to follow Him. The early Christian community sold all their belongings and lived together. Money was always regarded with disdain even though they had to use to survive in the early Christian communities. In the above gospel text, He relates a bizarre parable to drive His point to us. It is almost an uncomfortable read. Jesus appears to praise the actions of a corrupt man. It is completely inappropriate to our modern sentiments. Unfortunately, this is not the most difficult part of the parable for most people. He tells us that wealth is dishonest or unrighteous depending on the translation of the original Greek word. No matter how we look at it, He did not consider it to be something positive. Many tend to get stuck here. We like to believe that wealth can be acquired through hard and honest work. Jesus doesn’t draw an argument to explain why He termed money the way He did. He had a higher goal. He had something more important to say than to talk about the role of money in society. However, if we cannot move beyond this controversial terminology, then perhaps we need to worry about our souls. It would appear as if mammon has taken control of our senses already.

Maybe I should say something about mammon or money since it shows its ugly head around for most part of our lives. I am not sure what I think about it exactly. I need money to survive in this world. I have bills to pay, I need to buy food, I need to pay my rent. I am just like everyone else. The more money I have the easier it would be for me pay for my basic needs and some luxuries too. I am just like anyone who is reading this text. However, Jesus warns us that mammon is not happy just being our servant. He wants to be our god. This is the problem. He is not our friend and we should never forget that in reality he is our enemy. He should not have the seat of honor in our hearts and minds. He is our enemy! If we are not careful and turn our backs on him, he will strike us. Jesus tells us that he will wound our souls. This parable is about how to deal with our enemy.

We witnessed something outlandish in the streets recently. We were in our regular place waiting for the children and as usual, we were in the company of homeless adults. A woman sat down on the steps close to us and started making loud and rude comments about society in general. No one paid any attention to her. Everyone assumed that she was one of the many mentally-ill people on the steps. However, everything changed when she opened her wallet and took out a hundred dollar bill. Everyone’s attention was on her including us. This is not a safe place to wave money around. It made us feel a little uncomfortable but the homeless had a hopeful gleam in their eyes. They knew that one of them could be the possible recipient of the luxurious hundred dollar bill. The fortunate person was the one sitting closest to her. Then the atmosphere changed. Her action brought the worst in people. They gathered around her like vultures and asked for more donations. She took out a wad of 100 dollar bills and asked everyone to queue up in front of her. The situation grew progressively inhumane. Some were fighting to get ahead of each other. We were a little worried. The whole scene seem to be prelude to a riot or something worse. Then she saw a passerby who wasn’t homeless join the queue. This annoyed her and she then got up walked away leaving the long line of homeless adults empty-handed and disappointed. Then a homeless man burst out laughing and everyone eventually decided to see the humor in it too. The woman was obviously rich. She gave her money away but she did not make any friends. In reality, her actions did not bring out the humanity in the homeless. She dehumanized them further. She gave her money away but she was still a servant of Mammon.

Felipe got another job recently. He couldn’t survive with one job so he had to find a second one to supplement his income. His new job required him to work 60 hours a week and his salary was not sufficient to pay for his groceries. On top of this, the only place where he could eat his meals was at a lunch place owned by his boss. The food was overpriced and Felipe had no choice to ask the boss to deduct from his salary. In the end, he worked longer hours than his first job and earned much less. He had no choice. There were four mouths to feed. Finally, he got sick from the long hours and the boss docked his salary for being sick. This was the last straw. He had to quit. His situation was quite desperate working for a servant of mammon who did not give him much hope. We shared with our friends about Felipe’s situation and how unjust things were for the poorest of the poor. Fortunately, our friends knew of an owner of a restaurant who gives jobs to people regardless of their experience or educational level. The salary is enough for Felipe to survive on it. My friends never met Felipe but they desired to know him. They pulled all their resources together to help Felipe. There was no vacancy yet in the restaurant but Felipe is first in line. He has to wait patiently and he still has four hungry mouths to feed. He can’t think about anything until he has food for them.
It is impossible for us to have a deeper relationship with Felipe without participating with him in anguish and frustration. Thankfully, we have an enemy in our household that needs to leave and needs to know that he is the first to go when a friend is in need. Our friends also feel the same way about mammon. Now, Felipe’s circle of friendship is growing because mammon was not allowed to take the role of being a god.

I don’t really have much to say about money. I need it but I know that it is also an enemy. Jesus taught us how to deal with it. Mammon wants to be our god but we have to remind him that he is merely a means to an end. For Christians, Jesus established that the end is building relationships that would last for eternity. Mammon is an enemy that wants to be our god but there is only room for one God in our lives. He is the only One that helps us to keep mammon in His rightful place. We are powerless to fight against him because we are too weak. We can fall prey to his seductive words. We have a High Priest who rejected mammon successfully in this existence. When we pray and ask Him to help us deal with mammon, He will send people like Felipe and many others to teach us that life is much better when we keep our enemy at bay.

Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:25-27

“So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” Luke 14:33

There was a question that always bothered me when I was in seminary. It was quite a simple and almost basic question; “What is theology exactly?” I can’t think theologically if I don’t know what it means. I read theological works that were almost meaningless to me. I memorized them and accepted them as my own. I even understood them superficially. However, they never became my words because I did not really know what I was supposed to do with them. Eventually, I discovered the answer to my question. I did not find it among Christians nor the professors of my seminary. It was hiding among agnostics, former believers, and non-religious people. The discovery is still an ongoing process. It is becoming even more clear as we minister among the homeless children and teens. Now, I can’t imagine being a Christian without being a theologian.

Every time we read something from the gospel, it seems like Jesus is saying something uncomfortable and extremely difficult. Whenever He mentions about being His disciples, He throws some outrageous demands at us. It almost seems like He is making it impossible to be his followers. There are few options open to us whenever we hear His tough sayings. We can ignore these verses and go on with our lives. In this case, we will join the ranks of those who travel with Jesus in the gospel text above without any real commitment to Him. They just stood close to Jesus to reap some benefits from Him without making any firm commitment. We can just sweep everything under the rug and pretend that it is not there. In this case, we need to question ourselves whether we are really interested in Jesus at all. We can confront this text like his disciples and be completely disturbed and confused about it. When we do this, then we would truly become theologians. Theologians are not people with all the answers. In fact, the ones who claim to have all the answers are not usually theologians. They are something else. Theologians are common people who have their feet grounded in reality and cannot deny the paradoxes of life that confront them. They know that the Truth is in the words of Jesus and yet they find it hard to live according to His words. I believe that Jesus wants us all to become theologians, or in simple terms, He wants us to think about our faith, or rather, count the cost of becoming His disciples.

Jesus demands that we give up everything that we possess including our families. It sounds like Jesus is going against everything that the modern church has termed as “family values”. Jesus tells us that they are a hindrance to our salvation. No one in their right mind would think that these so-called “family values” are wrong, even the Pagans would agree with us. They are the fabric of every society. Nevertheless, Jesus always swam against the current of cultural norms. He challenged whatever our culture told us was right and good. Almost every saint in our church calendar took these words of Jesus literally and seriously. We can try to make it more amenable in order to deal with it. This attempt would only serve to dilute the intensity of the gospel. These words are what they are. Therefore, we have to do something about it. Most of us are just common people. We are not saints like those in the past. We sense a responsibility to our family. We need to have possessions in order to survive in this world. Yet, we want to follow Jesus and take His words seriously. There are no easy answers. This is why we need to be theologians. We need to think and struggle with these difficult issues. There are no easy answers. Perhaps, there are no answers at all.

I realized all homeless teens and children have done this. They have abandoned their families to be in the streets. Their families were stifling their lives, tormenting and smothering their spirit day by day. They had to abandon them to be free. There were countless times we heard from social workers who visited the homes of some of our children and reported that the streets with all its violence and dangers was better than the homes of these children. We don’t need to see it for ourselves to believe it. It is quite obvious. No child or teen from a moderately adequate home would prefer to stay in the streets. There is nothing attractive about sleeping in the streets. It has been extremely cold in the streets for the past few weeks. The children refused to go to a temporary shelter to keep warm at night. These shelters remind them too much of their homes. It is too traumatic for them to spend the night in a place looks like a home.

For these children, it was necessary for them to abandon their families to discover life. It is just lamentable that in this day and age that the streets are the only possible place of refuge for them. Our children and teens would appreciate Jesus’ words better than us. For them, his words here are the gospel. They are guaranteed that there is life and acceptance outside their oppressive family ties. However, Jesus, in the gospel, was not strictly talking to children, teens or women who come from abusive and dysfunctional homes. He was talking to regular people like us. We need to give up everything in order to be His disciples.

I think the children helped me understand what Jesus was trying to teach us here. The children had to abandon their families to discover something new. As long as they remained in their familiar environment, they would never discover any new possibility. It is necessary to leave the old and familiar to discover something greater and better. Our children had to leave their families. It wasn’t an easy decision for them. It took a lot of courage for them to abandon what they knew to be normal. As human beings, we always choose the familiar over the new. For our children, the living streets was a huge change. It is better than the old one they had. However, it is still not good enough. One day they will to abandon their life in the streets in order to embrace something better. Perhaps, it is going to be ongoing process for them and maybe even for us. This is perhaps the greatest challenge for them. They are comfortable where they are. They don’t want to move forward. They like to remain where everything is familiar. They are just like us.

Life is a question of abandoning the old to embrace the new. This pattern starts with our birth up to the time of our death. Those who hold on to to their past look quite sad and pathetic when it is no longer appropriate for their age. We don’t have to forget what we leave behind but we cannot hold onto it and expect to appreciate the new. Jesus’s words are tough because they are brutally honest and realistic. Jesus, through his wisdom, reveals to us the true nature of the family. It exists to prepare us to become His disciples in the world. It doesn’t exist to shelter us from the world. Unfortunately, families are made up of people of this world. They manipulate and control and exploit feelings and sentiments like any citizen of this age. Sometimes, we need to cast them away in order to discover the abundant life that the gospel ushers into our lives. Nevertheless, we have to count the cost. We have to ponder upon it carefully before we act.

These verses taught us a valuable lesson this week. Our task in the streets is to be theologians. We take the words of the gospel to the streets and struggle with the reality that confronts us there. We know that there is truth in the words of Jesus and we need to discover the Truth in the context of our reality. On the other hand, we are also confronted with the task to teach our homeless youth to become theologians, in other words, they need to learn how to count the cost. After all, it is impossible for us to be Christians without being theologians.

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:12-14

It is wise and reasonable to be selective about who enters our household. Not all friendships are equal. Only the special ones get invited into our homes. After all, our home is a sacred place. Whenever we have a special dinner or luncheon in our home, we are concerned about impressing our guests. There is nothing good or bad about this. It is just human nature. I always want my guest to be impressed with my cooking skills. I want them to say that their time in our home was memorable. This is why we invite people over. We want them to be so amazed by our hospitality that they want to keep coming back. Jesus never said anything against this attitude because it is the right one to possess if we are a host. However, He had a few things to say about the guest list.

Those who walk through the doors of our homes reflect who we are. If we are going to change the guest list, then we also need to change ourselves. We need to change how we perceive people and their social status. If we only deem those who look and act like us to be worthy of being in our homes, then we are no different than the world. In Jesus’ words, we would be just like the Pharisees. Jesus has a higher standard for his disciples. They are to see and judge people according to the Father in Heaven. He has a preference for His guest list. More often than not, it is very different from the ones we make up.

In the area where we meet the children and teens in the city, there are always cultural events. There are always excellent musicians who fill the air with beautiful music. There are always crowds that come to watch these performance. However, one thing is very obvious when we go to these cultural events. There is hardly any homeless person around even when the event is held in the open space. This is quite incredible when you realize that there are more than a thousand homeless people living in the area. Even then, not one of them is present at these special events. No one stops them from participating. They just feel that there are not welcomed. They are not wrong. People do notice them when they are around, unfortunately, not in a positive way. No one is rude to them but it is obvious that they are outsiders. It is strange that the homeless are outsiders in the very place they call home. They are outsiders to everything that is good and edifying that happens in the streets. On the other hand, when there is a crime committed in streets and even when it has nothing to do with them, they are usually the first suspects. They are invisible to everything good and the visibility given to them by society is that of a public nuisance. These are the people Jesus wants us to invite to our homes.

I haven’t mentioned Igor for a long time. He was perhaps the first one among the older teens to become our close friend. We haven’t seen him for sometime. However, we will always remain as friends. He told us something that happened to him once that impacted his life perhaps forever. He had been in the streets since he was 8. Regrettably, from a very young age, he engaged in petty crimes to survive and eventually he graduated into robbing with a gang. He had been imprisoned in the youth reform center more than 20 times. In the peak of his crime spree, he befriended a couple who worked near where he slept in the streets. It started with a casual conversation and eventually grew into a friendship. One day, Igor needed assistance in doing something and the couple volunteered to help him. Immediately after work, they invited him to their apartment so that they could change their clothes before doing what needed to be done. Igor told us that he entered the apartment and noticed that they had many valuable items in their house. As his mindset was that of a thief then, he quickly noticed things like this. There was a moment where he was left alone in the living room while they changed. He was never tempted to steal anything there. He told us that he thought that could never do such a thing to someone who treated like a real person. It was the first time he felt like a human being. He was friend to someone who trusted him enough to open the doors of their home. Igor shared this story in the living room of our house. He was the first teen from the streets to enter our household. He always comes back for a surprise visit. Recently, his visits have been more of a troubled nature. He is struggling and he wants to do what is right. However, in our home, he felt that he could be himself and be vulnerable and not be judged for it. We felt enriched by his presence. We hope to have a visit from him soon.

When Jesus told us to invite people into house, he wasn’t telling us to randomly bring people into our house. Maybe some might read it like this way. I am not in the position to argue with them. They could be right. However, for the time being, I don’t read it this way. I believe that it is a challenge for us to expand our circle of friends. Actually, it goes beyond this. Jesus is challenging us to make it a priority that these “invisible” people become the core of friendship. This requires time and patience and wisdom. All of these can be attained through careful prayer and reflection. The “invisible people” are hidden from us by society. God knows where they are because they are His favored children. There are the ones whom Jesus sought in each place He went. He tells us that they are the source of our blessing. They are the blessing. Each person we know and love as a friend opens a world to us that is previously unknown. The “invisible people” have been rejected by society but they strive because they are remembered by God. They have something to say about God that perhaps the rest of us have taken from granted. Any fresh and new understanding of God is a blessing. Igor thought that the hospitality and trust of the couple made him regain his humanity. However, he did not realize that he was also giving the couple a chance to discover their humanity too.

Sometimes, not often, people ask us what is our objective with these children and teens. Our children and teens come from extremely poor backgrounds. They are the poorest of the poor in the streets. They have survived without us and will continue to do so in the future. The way society is organized, nothing is going to change. Our children and teens will continue to struggle with poverty for the rest of their lives. However, this does not mean that their poverty should dehumanize them. Their social state should not make them invisible as human beings. Jesus showed a concrete way to overcome this exclusion and it is through a friendship. He did not tell us to have a friendship ministry. He just told us to become friends to those who often find themselves friendless. He was friends with the disciples and laid down his life for them. This is his bar. We should start small. We pray that God sends a person who is considered “invisible” and then open our hearts to receive them when we meet them. They could be living next door to us. They could work in our grocery store. They could be anywhere. Maybe we have walked passed them everyday without noticing. Now, Jesus has made it clear that the citizens of His Kingdom need to have a different guest list than the world.

The leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” Luke13:14-16

Sabbath is a glimpse into eternity. I read this somewhere many years ago. I think it was Abraham Herschel. The Jewish people considered this sacred day as their connection to eternity. On this sacred day, all the boundaries of earthly time diminish and eternity unites the past, present and future generations of the Jewish faith. The Sabbath is the symbol of their eternal vocation as God’s children. Consequently, a religious Jewish person orientates his life around this day. The days of the week serve as a mere countdown to the Sabbath.

As Christians, we find this hard to understand. We don’t have the kind of religious commitment that sets aside a period of time to reflect on our vocation. We attend church on Sundays for two hours at best. Then we go on with “life”. This is a poor imitation of Sabbath. Perhaps, this makes it difficult for us to understand the intensity of the debate between Jesus and the Pharisees on this subject. We don’t understand why the Pharisees were scandalized by Jesus’ action. We cannot truly appreciate the disappointment of Jesus to see how the Sabbath was reduced to mere dry religious rituals. The Sabbath is essentially about time and how we use our time to take a peek into eternity.

Unfortunately, we, Christians, are very secular when it comes to time. We understand that time is precious but not for spiritual reasons. Our time is a means to an end. We feel like we need to occupy our time with things and sometimes we are indiscriminate with the things we employ to occupy them. We consider certain things as a waste of time when in actuality they are God given moments for us to savor the reality of eternity.

This last Sunday, we went to church thinking about the Sabbath. It wasn’t because of the service nor the Eucharist but because our good friend, São, passed away earlier that morning. He is not stranger to my writings. I wrote about him once. I called him a window to eternity. On my journey to church on Sunday, he continued to serve as window into eternity for me.

One of our last encounters with São happened by chance. We ran into him on our way home from the streets with the children. He told us that he walked down the same street everyday to go home from his new job. It was strange that this was the first we bumped into each other. I may not look like the type but I usually have a strict schedule on how I spend my evenings. It’s my time to replenish myself spiritually. However, on this particular day, São took priority. He had terminal cancer and he was undergoing experimental clinical treatments. They were doing wonders. He looked his healthiest. He was full of life and joy. We went out for coffee and talked until the cafe closed. In the same week, São came by our apartment one evening. Once again, he took priority. We talked about everything; his cancer, his healthy choices, his young 3 year old son, and, most importantly, how he sensed God’s presence in the most unexpected places. He ended up going home close to midnight. I had many things planned for the evening but they seemed irrelevant compared to our talk with São. He gave us an opportunity to take a walk into eternity. It replenished our souls. Besides, this was the last time we saw him alive.

Everyday after these two encounters, we would walk down the same street where we bumped into him. I was always on the lookout for São, hoping that we would run into him. Unfortunately, it never happened again and never will. Later I discovered that soon after his visit with us, he caught an infection and it aggravated his cancer. He was in intensive care since then. Now I walk down the same street without any hope of meeting him. Our time with São in this existence has ended. I know that there is the resurrection but we are here now. We miss him in our present reality. Life just seems a little more melancholic with his death.

To see São lying still in the coffin was extremely difficult especially when he was such a joyous person who filled the room with his laughter. I touched his cold hands and closed my eyes. I pictured all the eternal moments we shared together in my mind. It made me weep but São deserved my tears. In our last conversation in our home, he said that his cancer has made him more sensitive to God’s presence. He talked about walking in a soccer field and sensing God’s presence in an inexplicable manner. He talked about a conversation with a receptionist at hospital and he sensed God speaking to him through her life experience. We talked about classical literature which was our common passion. He talked about living many lives through the writings of the great authors. He knew that his life would be short and he transformed the limited time he had into the Sabbath.

In Brazil, everything happens within 24 hours. The passing, the wake and the funeral happened on the same day. Then on Monday, we went to the streets and it started out as a cold cloudy day. All of the sudden, about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the traditional time of Jesus’ death, the sky became as dark as night. No one understood what was going on. Some people went to take pictures but everyone, including ourselves, were little dazed and confused. It seemed like something ominous was in the air. Later we found out that it was due the deliberate forest fires in the Amazons and other parts of Brazil that had brought the ashes to the city. The following day, there was an unrelated and unnecessary riot where we meet the children. We had to take shelter in the Cathedral and we were locked in for half hour before we were allowed to leave. We came home obviously unsettled. We realized that we take the time that we have for granted. In reality, it never belonged to us. São knew this for a fact and he was zealous in seeking to keep the Sabbath. He opened his life up to relationships. He was never a saint. He was a simple young man who enjoyed life. He did not have much but he gave his time. He left us with memories of time we spent together.

We went back to the streets the following day. Nothing changed. Mary took the bus to the streets and she witnessed a scene of violence. I decided to walk to the place where we meet the children and saw the aftermath of a robbery. All these things reminded us that nothing is stable or certain therefore we need to stop running around and trying to fill up our time with activities. We need to allow God to transform our limited time into the Sabbath. Jesus showed the Pharisees how to truly keep the Sabbath. Unfortunately, they preferred to take the easy route and keep it as a merely religious event. São showed us that the Sabbath is about people. Having a glimpse of Eternity is about building relationships that reveal the face of God to us. This is the only thing that is real. We sat and waited for God to bring eternal moments to us. Then Wallace came the steps and gave us a big hug. He was our window to take a glimpse into eternity on this day. Tomorrow it might someone else, we never know but we need to make the time for God to give us the gift of Sabbath.

“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.” Luke 12: 49-52

All wisdom comes from God. Whenever I hear wise words being spoken, they tend to find their way into the most intimate part of my being and then they linger there for a while. They wait for my response. They cannot become part of me until I allow their light to expose my vulnerability. The tough sayings of Jesus are words of wisdom. They require something on our part. Honesty is indispensable. We have to confront the difficult questions that these words pose to our souls. The first and foremost is whether I want peace in my soul. Of course, the conventional answer would be a resounding “Yes”. Who wouldn’t? However, these questions go hand in hand with the admonishment of Jesus when he advised us to count the cost before agreeing to something. This is the other problem. Many a time we say, “yes” without thinking about the consequences and then the powerful words of wisdom remain barren in our souls. They cannot bear fruit unless we are willing to pay the price. They eventually just whither away. They become dead words.

Peace is not cheap although there is an imitation out there. This is the emotional sensation that gives us an illusion of relief. We don’t need God for this kind of “peace”. Drugs can do the job. The peace that Jesus offers changes who we are. Our circumstances might remain the same but our eyes are opened to see something greater and permanent in this world of instability. If I want peace, then I have to change who I am. Not just a part of me but my entire being. This is the beginning of the conflict. Normally, we are comfortable with who we are. We just want our circumstances and the people around us to change so that we can have peace of mind. However, the Prince of Peace wants to bring something genuine and eternal into my soul, requiring a radical change in how I see and understand the world and the people around me. This is where the conflict begins. We, as human beings, resist change.

In the streets, we strive to bring peace to the lives of the children and teens abandoned there. However, we cannot truly transmit peace unless we change our views and understanding of eternal peace. We live in this world that values security and stability. Jesus lived in it without any security and stability.

“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Luke 9:58

He was very much like our homeless youth. We have less in common with Jesus than these children have. In the past few days, the local temperature dropped drastically and we had a hard time trying to keep warm in our apartment. Just imagine how the children and teens must have felt sleeping under the bridge? Nevertheless, they refused to go anywhere. They preferred the warmth and comfort of each other than sleeping in a “cold” shelter with complete strangers. On the other hand, we would lose our minds if we were forced into their situation. We realized that for us to have peace and comfort, we need lots of material things. Whenever we imagine a secure and peaceful life, it is one based on many material comforts. The children and teens have nothing but each other and they are satisfied with this. They also trust God to keep them safe. Our apartment building has a staff person to ensure we are safe and sound. We say God protects us but we have a complex security as a backup plan. We don’t trust God completely like the children. Of course, we can argue that we are wiser than the children. However, Jesus was more like them than us. Therefore, how do we share about God’s peace to these children? It appears like they sense His peace in a more profound manner than we do. Maybe they are God’s agents of peace for our lives.

This week we met with Felipe. He was discouraged. He has been working in a job for almost 8 months. He has never missed a day and has done everything he was told to do. He did not even skip work when he was feeling ill. Today they told him that they received an anonymous complaint that he wasn’t doing his job. They were not able to give anything specific. Most likely, it was all made up, just one of the unjust tactics used in many businesses. Felipe is reaching the one year mark which means he qualifies for some benefits. His manager told him that he would be fired if they receive another complaint. The young man did not understand. He has always sought to do everything right. However, this is the reality we live in. Mary and I are relatively safe from these harsh situations. Unfortunately, Felipe and the rest of the young teens will face this their whole life. The only advice I could give to Felipe was not to retaliate. We cannot fight fire with fire. Felipe is going to suffer injustices like these many times and he needs to be prepared for it. This world does not belong to us. It belongs to another kingdom. My words may seem like something weak and fatalistic. Nevertheless, they are the only words that I could conjure up. We told him that we will deal with what comes together. He met us with his 6 month old baby. The baby smiled throughout the whole time. He had the peace of God which passes all understanding in his smile. We sensed God’s peace too. However, unlike the little baby, we knew that something will change in our lives. We have made a commitment to Felipe. He was relieved to know that he was not going to be abandoned. He doesn’t know what we can do and we don’t know what we can do. However, God’s peace reigns supremely in our hearts and we know something eternal will come out of it.

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:13-15

There is nothing controversial about the above verses. They even come equipped with an excellent loophole for all of us who come from affluent countries. Our minds can do wonders with the phrase, “against all kinds of greed”. As long as we can convince ourselves we are free from greed, we feel comfortable with our money. Never mind the fact that we never define what constitutes greed. However, Jesus didn’t stop with these verses. He relates a parable that is more problematic. It is about rich man who was very prudent. He made some careful investments to ensure that he would have a prosperous life in the future. His goal was to enjoy his latter life relaxing, eating, drinking and being merry. I think that I heard of this investment plan many times over. By the world’s standard, he is a wise rich man. This is something that I want for myself. I have savings for the future. I have a pension plan that gives me a sense of security for my latter years. I do want to relax, eat, drink and be merry when I am older or even now. I am a lot like the rich man in Jesus’ parable even though I don’t consider myself as greedy, or rather, wanting more than necessary.

Maybe I can argue that I am not really rich. This is true when I compare myself by the American standard. I am an average middle class person except that I don’t have a car or own a house. I can also say that I come from a poor family or I don’t make too much money. All these arguments are irrelevant. When I stand among the “little ones” that Jesus called us to serve, I am a rich person. I am not speaking in the spiritual sense. We need to avoid spiritualizing wealth or poverty when we read this gospel passage. Jesus is speaking about concrete material wealth. It has already been established among the homeless children and teens that I am a rich man. Now, the question is whether I am a fool like the rich man in Jesus’ parable.

Someone asked Gigi a question in the beginning of this week. We have known her for a long time. However, we never asked her this particular question. We have our reasons. It was quite a simple and straightforward enquiry; “Where does she see herself in ten years time?” She responded without a moment’s hesitation. She said that she wants to own a house and have a steady job. More specifically, she plans to be a school teacher. The person asking the question was delighted with this answer. Unfortunately, the person disregarded the fact that Gigi is 24 and completely illiterate. She does not even know the sounds of the letters. She has lived under the bridge in a tent ever since she was 18. Before that, she lived in a shack in the slums. She spent many years in school and never learned to read or write. Her education consisted in convincing her that she is incapable of learning anything. In reality, she is very intelligent. Unfortunately, it is going to take long time before she can be convinced of this. The answer she gave was not based on her true desires. She just answered according to what she believed the person asking the question wanted to hear. In fact, if you ask any of the children or teens this same question, you will receive a similar answer. This is why we never ask this question.

Gigi is not lying but she is not telling the truth. It is just that she never thought about the question. In fact, no one living in the streets really thinks about their future. It is something people from affluent backgrounds think about and, very often, quite obsessively. The homeless adults, teens and children only think about today. The future is a luxury that their unfortunate past did not afford them. For them, tomorrow or ten years from now are not reality based. Therefore, there are no true or false answers to any questions regarding the future. It is all fantasy. According Jesus’ parable, she is closer to the truth than most middle class people like myself. Tomorrow is not something that is guaranteed. Somehow we like to think that we have control over the future. Maybe it has something do with money. It gives us an illusion that we have control over our destiny. In reality, the future never belonged to us.

Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

If having money today makes us worry about not having it tomorrow, then we are most likely obsessed with it.

It doesn’t mean that we live carelessly today without any concern for tomorrow. This would be a silly and immature conclusion. Living wisely in the present moment will prepare us for what appears tomorrow. Most importantly, Jesus’ words beckon us to reflect on the role of money in our lives. If we look to money to ensure a better future for us, then it is playing a certain role that only pertains to God. Some saints in the past including St Augustine and, of course, St Francis gave up wealth and their social status to embrace a life of poverty and simplicity. They wanted to trust God completely. Unless some angel of God appears to me in a vivid manner and tells me to do this, I am going to remain as I am. I need money to survive in this world. It opens the doors for us to be here in the streets with the children and teens. Jesus knows that this. Even He had people, especially wealthy women, financially supporting him in His ministry ( Luke 8:3). He was exposed to the dangers that money posed to his own personal life. He could have spoken these words to himself. After all, He was fully human.

The best way to free ourselves from the dangerous hold that money could have on us is to serve those who don’t have any of it. This is not saying that we become their financial contributors. If we do this, then we just contaminating others with money. Our money can help us build a spiritual bridge to connect with them. Money is not something neutral. Jesus never considered it to be neutral. It is, in fact, very dangerous. It is a wild animal that always wants to be our master. Therefore, we should never be comfortable with it. We can control its influence in our lives. We use our money to acquire true eternal treasures. We can use it to help us to be in places which are usually closed to us. We can use money to build stronger relationships with those who have no one in this world. Each of us have to figure out how to use our money to discover eternal treasures. However, money in itself is never a blessing. It is only a blessing when we use it to foster long-lasting relationships. It is not an easy task. It is something as Christians we need to consider with fear and trembling.

Gigi does not worry about the future. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a great life either. Her daily life is a struggle. Everyday, she needs to figure out a way to get her food. There is nothing to ensure her safety when she sleeps alone under the bridge. Her meager possessions are sometimes confiscated by government authorities just because they want to discourage the homeless in a certain area. Unfortunately, they don’t provide any shelter for them as an alternative. She has too much to worry about today so she cannot overburden herself about the future. On the other hand, I don’t have to worry about these basic things. My personal wealth frees me from all the things that Gigi and the other children and teens are concerned about. I am free in this sense. It would be a pity if I wasted this freedom by being occupied with tomorrow’s possible situations. Besides, the future does not belong to me. My wealth and my freedom are not necessarily a blessing. However, if I am wise with what I possess, maybe together with Gigi and the other homeless teens and adults we can discover how to live a meaningful life in the present. Perhaps, we can even discover what it means to be have abundant life in God.