One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’ Luke 23: 39-43

Next year, Brazil will have a new president. Dignitaries from all over the world will be present. There will be much pomp and pageantry involved. It is customary in this world to usher its King in this manner. Regardless of who the president is, he will be restricted in his interactions. He is not free to be with whomever he wishes to spend time. He will always be surrounded by a select and elite group of people. It does not matter what his convictions may be. He is not going to be with the sick, the abandoned, the widows and orphans. If he wants to be successful, he needs to carefully choose his companions.

I actually had the opportunity to meet an ex-presidential candidate by chance. She did not run in this recent election but in the one before. She was not one of those fringe candidates whom we find in every elective process. She had some prominence among the people. The problem was that she was a kind and humble person. In our chance meeting, she made the initial move to approach me and introduce herself. By mere coincidence, on another occasion, she was in the same apartment building where we live to do an interview with a reporter. The maintenance staff of our building told us that she took time to spend with them. She is not running for office in our state so she has no need to campaign here. They found her to be a very simple and ordinary person. We knew that she will never be elected in this world. This is not the kind of king that this world desires.

The world desires a ruler who will make promises beyond their capacity to keep. One who will tell lies to get what they want and create an illusory world for people to believe. Unfortunately, quite a number of people are willing to accept all this without question. It is not stupidity nor ignorance. It is just human nature. I am not making a subtle criticism towards any president much less against the one who won the elections. Personally I felt a sense of relief when he won. However, it does not imply that everything is going to great for the next four years. I have lived long enough not to succumb to wishful thinking. Our hope as Christians is not founded on worldly rulers nor their political maneuvers. These act according to the principles of the ruler of this world, one based on deceit and lies. Our Lord responded to these endeavors in silence. A gesture that says more than any eloquent speech proffered by the most best intentioned politician in this world. However, He did speak regarding His Kingship and it was to the thief who was crucified next to Him.

At the Cross, the thief knew that there was no hope for him anymore. He saw Jesus in the same position as him, a situation of hopelessness and abandonment. Nevertheless, this did not stop him from recognizing that Jesus was indeed a King. It is the most bizarre place to come to this conclusion. Logically speaking, the other thief would be considered the smarter one. After all, what is the point of putting your hope in a King who cannot get Himself out of a hopeless circumstance. Some of us might be tempted to imagine that the thief was trying to secure his place in heaven. In reality, during that time, the concept of heaven and hell was not firmly rooted in the spirituality of the people especially among the Jewish people. We can see this from the debates between the Pharisees and Sadducees. Not everyone believed in the afterlife. The thief was not looking for a King who would serve His needs. He recognized something in Jesus which he believed was important in a King. He saw Jesus to be a compassionate and loving sovereign whose life reflected all the goodness and beauty which he appreciated even in the final moments of his life. The thief, perhaps, never had this in his life before. I am speculating here. I am basing this on the young thieves we know in the streets.

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ John 18:33-34

In recent report, people were asked in the UK if it should remain a monarchy. There was overwhelming support for it but the reasons were appalling. Most of them said that the monarchy was good for tourism or made the UK feel special for having something different. Even a prominent politician argued that the monarchy was good for tourist attraction and media attention. In other words, monarchy is nothing more than a mere entertainment gadget and something to occupy our free time. Recently, I walked by the entrance of a church and saw signs claiming that Jesus was able to change ill fortune. It went on to list a series of things Jesus was going to do for those who believe in Him. It seems like it is saying that Jesus is worth believing because He serves a purpose.

The thief saw something much more than a mere utilitarian king on the Cross. He saw Jesus pure and simple. This was enough for him to know that Jesus is King. It was genuine recognition of Jesus’ love. He did not expect Jesus to do anything for him. He just asked Jesus to remember him. A promise Jesus kept because wherever the gospels are read in this world, we remember this good thief. He might have been a notorious murderer most of his life but we remember him for his confession of Jesus.

Therefore, this very question which Jesus asked Pilate is valid for us today. Do we believe that Jesus is King because we are told about Him and things He can accomplish for us or do we see Him as King like the good thief on the Cross? The Good Thief saw the sovereignty of Jesus for Himself. None of the taunting words and jeers blinded him from seeing Christ’s true nature. His hopeless situation did not stop him from recognizing Jesus as the King even in the darkest place. He saw something in Jesus which convinced Him that this is truly the King of Kings.

This is our challenge in a world slowly slipping into something unrecognizable. In all likelihood, we are part of the problem too. It is time for us to seek for ourselves a fresh new understanding of Christ the King. We cannot rely on hearsay to understand His sovereignty. We need to see Him in action at the places where people are constantly being crucified and humiliated. The King of Kings does not dwell among dignitaries of this world. His place and throne is on the Cross where He is constantly exalted and only those whose faith like that of the good thief can see why He is absolutely different and special.

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’ Luke 21:5-6

Not too long ago, I used to start almost every reflection with the phrase, “sitting on the steps of the Cathedral”. I hardly mention it now. At times we even completely forget that we used to wait for our children there. We are still in close vicinity of the Cathedral. Despite its towering, it is easy to forget its existence. All these years, we have never seen a representative from the Cathedral reach out to the homeless. There are at least a thousand who sleep outside its doors. Actually, there was someone who did approach them once. It was not a priest but rather a transitional deacon who came out to chat with the homeless. He was not even a Brazilian but a Vietnamese. He hardly spoke the language. Nevertheless, he was well received by the homeless. The language did not hinder his love. Then he was gone. I am sure he is somewhere else doing exactly what he attempted to do on the steps of the Cathedral. Beside this young deacon, we hardly see any priest or religious orders associated with the Cathedral interacting with the homeless.

Despite these discrepancies, I like the Cathedral. I would be horrified if someone told me that one day it would be destroyed. Once someone vandalized the walls and it disturbed us. On another occasion, we heard an overzealous evangelical Christian pray for the destruction of the Cathedral. One needs to understand the mutual animosity between the Roman Catholic and Neo-pentecostal Christians in this country where one considers the other a demonic force. I do not remember much of her prayer except this one particular thing. I guess the rest was irrelevant after such a devastating statement. This cannot to be compared to horror which the apostles would have sensed when Jesus told them about the Temple. For starters, there was only one Temple and it was the symbol of their identity and unique vocation in the world. Jesus claimed that it would be totally destroyed. Unlike our over enthusiastic evangelical acquaintance, He did not harbor any animosity towards the Temple. He merely stated the fact, not to shock nor frighten his disciples. No doubt He wanted to warn them not to be impressed with the wrong things. Symbols as powerful and wonderful as they, after all, are mere symbols but not to be confused with the real thing.

Perhaps some might read about the Cathedral and feel a tinge of sadness in their souls. Yes, it is tragic that something which represents the presence of the living God is not itself a channel of that love to those just outside its doors. At the same time, it should not surprise us. Nothing in this world lasts forever. Good intentions eventually wither away too. Nature reveals to us that everything eventually deteriorates and eventually they just die and decompose. Besides, symbols of God’s action in this world cannot contain the infinity of God’s love. Even though this does not seem to stop us from trying to restrict God’s actions and power within the framework of our created symbols. The Cathedral was built to reflect God’s majestic presence in this world. Instead, it has become a place for the princes and nobility of modern times to celebrate their special events. Jesus does not need an overpowering symbol to assert His presence. He is present in a quiet and unassuming manner.

In our case, He is just outside the entrance of the Cathedral.

The problem is that it is not always easy to identify His presence outside the designated religious symbols. Consequently when these are taken away from us, we tend to feel that it is the end of the world. We think God has abandoned us. Without a doubt, there is much darkness in the world and the absence of symbols of light might drive us to despair. For some reason, darkness always seem to dominate our imagination. Maybe it is because we are discipled to be sensitive to it. We are constantly bombarded with news of the darkness in the world. Sometimes we talk about it when all other superficial subjects have been exhausted. Every time two or three are gathered, they always talk about how the world is going to h…. It seems like we only reflect about God’s goodness in the confines of our “temple”. However, all temples eventually fall apart and we need to be prepare ourselves to recognize God’s presence beyond our religious symbols.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” Matthew 6:22

We are going through a dark period in this country. It has been happening for some time now. There is surge of crime and violence. Just yesterday, we saw three separate acts of violence within ten minutes. This is disturbing in itself but what makes it worse is that the perpetrators are known to us. The victims are just regular hardworking people who hardly earn enough to survive. The cruelty and callousness of these actions brought much despair and a sense of hopelessness to our souls. Ironically, all this happened right by the side entrance of the cathedral with their security staff watching the incidents and yet doing nothing about it. This in itself is symbolic of the present state of things. This is the reality.

I have to admit that whenever I see any acts of violence, my heart is filled with disgust and rage. We have witnessed these unfortunate incidents many times and yet it still disturbs us to the core. I realize that my reactions are natural. However, if I allow them to strive in me, then I am merely perpetuating this culture of cruelty and violence which is also very natural to humanity. I would become salt that has lost its saltiness. I cannot abide by my natural instincts. I cannot feed my natural tendencies with thoughts of hatred and revenge. I need to rise beyond my human nature. The only clear example we have is in the person of Jesus.

Despite all the darkness around us, Jesus has called us to see the Light. It is a different way of looking at life. It does not avoid the difficult and cruel nature of life. He invites to look at it with a different perspective. He wants to use our eyes to seek His Love but not be impressed with the darkness.

Just before we witnessed these heinous crimes, we gave one of the older youth a gift for his birthday. It was really nothing much. It was two cans of his favorite soda and two chocolate truffles. Things that he really loved. He was one of those who decided that he was not going to engage in criminal act and not even beg. He lives entirely on donations and sometimes scavenges things for recycling. Therefore, he cannot afford to indulge in these simple pleasures. He was so happy and he said jokingly to the other kids, “These are my true friends.” The rest laughed. Even though it was said in jest, he meant it. Later on, after the incident, he was with us and brought us to another location so we would not be witnessing more scenes of violence.

Last night, my mind was occupied by the sad scene we witnessed but today I realized that we have many images of Light which we saw in the lives of these children and teens. They live in a world surrounded by darkness but the Light is present among them. The birthday boy was one of them. He is not, by any means, a saint. At the same, none of us are. All of us need to deal with our imperfections. However, the gospel draws our attention not these things but to the presence of the everlasting Light guiding and revealing to them how to live their lives in a better way through following the example of our Lord Jesus.

The world might fall apart. It is quite discouraging. However, Jesus invites to not to be impressed with the darkness around us. We are called to seek the Light in the midst of our darkness. Only then can we become the salt and light of this world.

Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’ Luke 19:8-10

Well, this is original gospel text for this Sunday. I am assuming that most churches will celebrating the feast of All Saints and consequently the gospel will be about the beatitudes. I rather liked the story about this deposed tax collector. It has always been one of my favorite stories in the gospels, resonating with me in a profound manner. Perhaps at one time I identified with Zacchaeus, albeit purely a romantic notion. The truth is that I have hardly anything in common with the little man. For that matter, neither do our children and teens. He is more like the people with whom our more criminally inclined children are in cahoots. There are wealthy businessmen who buy the gold chains which our children steal. They pay them below the market value knowing very well the origin of the product. Not exactly the kind of person to whom one would naturally feel any sense of affection or sympathy. These are the Zacchaeus of our reality.

Our protagonist in the gospel story was an opportunist. He represented everything which was wrong with society. Nevertheless, he is not the cause nor the source of corrupt state but just a symptom. One who makes it easy for the people to vent all their hatred and anger. The story is very specific about his small stature. It differentiates him from the rest. The people find it easier to hate someone who is different from them. In other words, he was the perfect scapegoat and Jesus surprised everyone by choosing to dine with him. Of all the people present, this man was the perfect candidate for Jesus to transform into a saint. I am sure the people would have thought anyone was better than this scoundrel. Anyway, we cannot count on the opinion of the mass. They are swayed easily. I guess the Palm Sunday and Good Friday liturgy suffice to prove this point. Jesus Himself said, “They have eyes but they do not see and ears but they do not hear.” They can never understand why Jesus wanted to dine with a man like Zacchaeus. They couldn’t see anything in him apart from being a despised tax collector. We need the Light of the Truth to see beyond appearances.

Our young people are not saints. I think I should make this clear. Just in case someone might think that I am going to twist my words around to make them look like saints. There’s not going to be any of that. I do have to say that sometimes our children surprise us, especially the ones who initially make me shake my head and think to myself, “This child is a terror!” Then, all of the sudden, this same child surprises me and shows me how wrong I was. If we, for a moment, are able to move away from the popular notion of saints and define saintly people as those whom God graciously uses to reveal His profound love in action in this world, then I can make a case for our children, but not all of them. I think I just did what I said that I wasn’t going to do. I am making an argument for their sainthood, well not all though. Just a handful.

Every time we go to the streets, we confront what is seemingly a hopeless situation. Outwardly, nothing has become better. From the time we started this ministry till today, the number of homeless children have tripled. The homeless adults population is more appalling. The whole situation is quite bleak. However, almost every time we leave the streets to go back to our home, we are filled with a sense of hope. I was going to add joy to that but decided against. We like to combine the words, “joy and hope” together. Sometimes they do not go hand in hand. There are many days when we see disturbing and tragic things. They fill our hearts with sadness but they do not steal our hope. It is not wishful thinking. It is something based on faith and not blind faith. The kind quickened within our souls each time we talk to a child and teen and observe something in them which perhaps no one else notices. They help us see the Light in a place where everyone only sees darkness. They give us a lot of reason to dine with them because they always reaffirm in us the Truth; “With God nothing is impossible.”

Consistent to my usual writing style, I will share an encounter with a child or teen to give an instance of what I am trying to say. Thankfully, I have many to choose from. We went through a period where we were profoundly disturbed by the arrival of the new children (close to hundreds now) who behaved like characters from William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”. They were aggressively robbing and disregarding all rules of the streets. Now, these same ones are approaching us. They are still engaging in their bad behavior but we do not see them as “little monsters” anymore. We are beginning to see the “lost child” in each of them. Most importantly, they are discovering that with us, they do not need to put up a tough exterior. I can share about any one of them. However, the one who moved me in the most profound manner this week was Eric.

We knew him when he was barely ten and today he just turned 18. To say that he was a terror is an understatement. He did not engage in criminal activities but rather displayed disturbing and cruel behavior void of any remorse. He once tried to set another teen’s foot on fire. He was quite nonchalant about his actions. Needless to say, many of the children were afraid of him. We were a little concerned ourselves. He was our least favorite person. Then one day we met his parents. His mother has serious mental illness and Eric and his brother, Enrique, had to deal with her unpredictable behavior every single day. Their step father was an aggressive and violent man. These two boys never had a chance in life. Unfortunately, this information did not help us to like them more. Eventually, Eric disappeared for a while. He tried staying in a Catholic orphanage for a period but it did not work out. To his credit, he attempted to stay there for a few years. Finally he gave up and went back to the streets. When he saw us, he hugged us as if we were his best friends. Perhaps, we were a familiar face which he needed to see. We noticed a change in him too. He was calmer and even affectionate. He will always come and give us a hug and addresses us collectively as “Uncle Mary”.

This week he asked Mary if she would take a picture of him. He does not have any pictures of himself. Actually, this is true for almost all our children and teens. We have been taking pictures of them and developing prints for them to keep. It started a chain reaction. Now, all of them want us to take pictures of them. It is good thing. We have been waiting for them to ask us to do this. I commented to Eric that it was a pity that we don’t have any pictures of him when he was young kid. To my surprise, he said that he was glad of that. “I was a terrible person then and I don’t want to be reminded of that.” I never expected him to say those words. I used to think that he was a goner. Now, I look at him and realize that we actually enjoy his company. We have also seen him to do things to help other children and teens too. Once we saw him carrying heavy bags of donated food and he was taking it an ailing elderly woman’s house. It was the grandmother of the teens. They had walked for a long distance because they did not have any money for bus fare. We gave him some money and also enough for snacks. We wanted to encourage such acts of kindness. Eric gave us the biggest hug that day. And was so happy for our tiny contribution.

Eric has given me much hope. I see some of these children and teens engage in wicked and disturbing behavior. It is easy to see that this is a hopeless situation. It is even easier to develop bitterness and hatred towards them. Then Eric shows up and proves that with God, nothing is impossible. Eric is not a saint. He is just a young boy who helps us see the powerful presence of God in our midst. In our books, he is a saint but maybe not in the traditional sense.

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”Luke 18:6-8

We haven’t seen Daniel for months. He usually comes around after we leave the streets. Last time we saw him we had arranged to take him for dessert on his birthday. This was almost three months ago. He had just turned twenty this year. It is hard to imagine that this tiny little 11 year old boy is now an adult. Back then, he was always game for anything. We had many excursions with him to the museums and parks. Nowadays, he tends to be little more reserved and melancholic. It is quite disturbing actually. We have noticed a trend among the youth who have spent long periods of their lives homeless. It seems like their mental health deteriorates after a certain time. I guess it is expected of someone constantly exposed to much hostility and isolation. The older teens and youth increase their drugs use to cope with the pressure which only further accelerates the descent of their mental state. However, when we met Daniel on this particular day, he had a happy demeanor which encouraged us. It gave us some hope for the young man.

He has completely forgotten about his special treat. Besides, it would not make any sense if we took him out somewhere for his birthday three months after the fact. Furthermore, he is no longer interested in such things now. However he was just happy to see us. He sat next to Mary and watched her color. We have been doing this a lot now. We found that the children feel more comfortable to sit with us when they have something to do.

Everyone can color and, moreover, it is fun.

Daniel was not interested in doing any coloring. He never was into it. He is more a card games person. Recently he has even lost interest in this. Thankfully, he still likes to chat with us. He asked Mary if she ever wanted to be an artist. She is quite artistic but never had the opportunity to pursue it further than a hobby. Her brother, on the other hand, is an established artist and Daniel remembers meeting him. He visited with us for a week about five years ago. When the children heard about his visit, they practically pleaded with us to bring him to the streets. They were keen to meet any of our family members. They even promised to be on their best behavior. It was quite comical. They were waiting by the stairs when we brought him over. They behaved as if they were receiving a guest in their house except that ii was on the steps of the Cathedral. Some even learned English phrases and tried their best to communicate with him. Unfortunately, for Mary’s brother, he was a little overwhelmed by the situation. It is quite understandable. There is no way we can prepare anyone to face the homeless situation here. We have been here for almost ten years this time and it still disturbs us. Sadly, this is not the worst area. There are places which are just downright depressing. Nevertheless, the children were just happy to meet someone from our family. Daniel was among them. That was a different time. Now, the new arrivals to the streets are more into criminal activity. It is not surprising as there is an increasing sense of lawlessness in the society presently. Therefore, the children and teens are merely reflecting what is happening in general.

One of the older teens came over and said something a little bizarre. He wanted to know if we thought about starting a home for them. Then Daniel added it would be great if we had one because they will live there with us. It was really the first time in all these years that they expressed this. At first, I thought perhaps this was just a passing thought and did not pursue it. Daniel asked again if we ever thought about adopting any of the children. I explained that if we adopt a few, then we will be hindered from coming to the streets everyday. Running house takes a lot of responsibility and we would need to dedicate ourselves completely to it. We decided to dedicate ourselves to be in the streets instead so that we can have contact with the maximum number of the homeless children. Daniel was quiet for a moment. It was obvious he did not quite get the answer he expected. He rephrased his question. “If you were to adopt anyone from the streets, who would you adopt?” I looked at him and said, “You, of course.” His face lit up and he hugged me immediately and then he went over to Mary and gave her big hug. It was the answer he wanted to hear. It is all true. Daniel always has a special place in our hearts. He is one of our favorites.

Daniel asked if we would pray for him. I said a simple prayer for our favorite teen and then before I could say, “amen”, Daniel sneaked in a prayer. He prayed that Mary will continue to do her art work and one day he wanted to do it with her. He also asked God to continue to guide him so that one day he will find a way out and was grateful for our presence in his life. This is not the first time Daniel prayed these words. It has been his constant prayer for several years. He is not sure how or what it will take for him to find a way out. He wants to have the wisdom to recognize it when it happens. Maybe our conversation with him today was part of the answer to this prayer. After this prayer, he laid his head on my lap and took a nap. It is not unusual. The older ones do this when they feel secure enough to revert for a moment to being a child again. It is something special that they give to us without even realizing it.

We were sitting there and slowly a small group gathered around us. They were not really talking to us but they wanted to be near us. I am not sure why. Some of them hardly talk to us. Others have a strong connection with us. On our part, there are some we really like Daniel and then there are others who are quite disagreeable and frankly speaking, unlikeable. However, all of them, regardless of whether they possess personal charm or charisma, want to be loved. Their deepest and most profound prayer is to be loved and wanted by someone else. It is not asking for much. They are not even asking for a home nor a financially successful life. They just want someone to look at them and say I want this person to be part of my life.

Humanly speaking, it is not possible for us to say the words we expressed to Daniel to some of the teens. However, what is impossible with humans is not impossible for God. We pray that God will give us the eyes to see these children and teens in the same way He sees them. This is something only God can do. If I am sick, I can go to a doctor. Technically speaking, I do not need to believe in God for healing in this sense. If I need a better life, I can educate myself and pursue whatever I need. Many have done this without praying nor believing in God. However, to love someone who is not lovable for a variety of reasons, only God can do this in my heart. To have compassion for people who do not invoke such sentiments in my heart, only God can do this. Jesus promises us that He will do it.

It is interesting that Jesus ended this parable with an enigmatic phrase, “will he find faith on earth.” Faith is something within us. It is in our soul. It helps us discern God’s answer to our prayers. Many times the answer is not found in the world. It is found in our hearts and souls. If we pray to love those who are unloveable, then God will start changing our hearts to become more available to receive from those whom we dislike. It is not an easy road. This is why we need much faith to be the answer to our own prayers. I guess that the size of a mustard will do.

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

One thing is for certain, she will never walk. Her spinal cord has developed in a way which makes it impossible. To make matters worse, she does not have complete control of her arms also. Her family is extremely poor and they work hard to maintain the little they have. Many times she was left alone in a tiny room with moldy walls. This was where we met her for the first time. Then she was always surrounded by her nieces and nephews. In fact, she was the only adult constantly present in their lives while their parents were busy working for very low wages. She never needed to raise her voice with the children. They listened and obeyed her. It is not that she has a commanding presence. The children just saw something in her others failed to see. Perhaps their faith was purer than most adults who could not get pass her disability. Their faith could not remove the “mulberry tree”. All her nephews and nieces are adults now. I am not sure if their childlike faith is still intact.

Her prayer has always been to become a “regular” person. For years, she prayed fervently for healing. Whenever she heard testimonies of miraculous healings, she would go into a depression. It made her feel less secure about God who seemed to ignore her pleas but never failed to attend to others. She wants to be healed so that she can become a contributing member in her family. Her mother worked all her life doing menial jobs. It is time for her to retire and enjoy the rest of her life. However, our friend’s disability stops her from even helping her mother. In a recent conversation, she told me that a friend had convinced her to attend a healing service. This was one of those miracle spectaculars organized by a dubious minister who claimed that he could heal the blind and the lame. Our friend was feeling hesitant about the whole affair. She has been through this disappointing saga countless times before. However, her friend was convinced that this time it was going to be different because her pastor was incredible. She was right. There was nothing credible about him. The so-called pastor told our friend that he failed to heal her because of her lack of faith. In other words, her physical disabilities were her fault. It is hard to imagine how anyone who could do such a thing to a poor suffering soul. It happens more frequently than one realizes. Maybe you know this already and I am the one who is naive enough to be shocked by this. Our friend decided that she has had enough of church. She did not stop believing in God. She just stopped believing in church.

The words of Jesus in the gospel reading could be misconstrued to strengthen the argument of this callous minister. Nevertheless, these words were meant to bring hope and encouragement to someone like my friend, not further condemnation and isolation. I should be able to say these words to our homeless young people for the same reason. They are not homeless because of their lack of faith. All of them have faith but this does not mean all their mulberry trees are swimming in the ocean. They are still there or maybe they are not what they seem to be. I am talking about the “trees” here. It is possible that Jesus does not see my friend’s disability nor the children’s condition as an obstacle. There is a strong chance that it is our lack of faith which sees it as an obstacle. Maybe just like the people from Jesus’ hometown who could not believe that a mere carpenter could also be the Christ.

Of course, my friend’s disability and the children’s homelessness are real things hindering them from living the so-called normal life. These are obstructions and the likelihood of overcoming them is very slim. Wallace and Wilton are working now. They work hard in a construction company. Their salary is enough to pay for their food and not their housing. Edson works as a security guard at night and during the day time he sleeps in a tent in the streets. Kawanna and Erica just got jobs in a cleaning company. Now they will not have to ask us for help to buy food but they still have to continue to be squatters in an abandoned warehouse. They will always be living in the margins of society. Perhaps there might be a radical shift in society which will change everything. Some people believe this. To be honest, I do not have much faith in it.

My friend has always been disabled. Therefore, she has no idea what it is like to be something else. She desires healing so that people will see and treat her more than just a disabled person. The problem is not her disability but how people see her. Our children and teens were born into extreme poverty. They do not know any different. We see children who are third generation homeless and it disturbs us profoundly. The children are oblivious to this fact. They are playing in the streets and rolling around in the dirt without a care. I am not saying that these conditions should considered as a norm. However, it is more important to see the person and not just their condition. My friend is a very interesting and life-giving person. Our children despite their homeless situation bring joy to our hearts. They help us see Jesus in a different light. This week the heavy rains stopped us from going out every day but when there was a short reprieve, we rushed out to the streets. Not because we felt obliged. It is because these children and teens bring something to our lives. They are able to give us something real and precious. However, many people walk past them and just see homeless people. Many people see my friend just as a disabled person. The mulberry tree is blocking their view.

I will be talking to my friend later this week. I think I will refer to the later part of this gospel reading to help her understand better what Jesus is saying.

So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” Luke 17:10

I know this might sound worse than the previous words especially to our modern ears. It contains two problematic words, “worthless” and “slaves”. We live in a time where everyone believes that they are free and special. I do not disagree with these ideas. However, I believe despite these hard words, Jesus wants to build us up and not tear us down. He is not trying to put us in our place. He is helping us to understand that faith is not given to us so that we can compete in life with others. It is given to us to help us fulfill our uttermost calling to be a servant of God. By the way, words “slave” and “servant” were interchangeable in Jesus’ time if that helps to overcome any uneasiness. At least, it helps me a bit. However, the essential message here is that no matter what our social or physical condition is in this world, all of us share the same ultimate vocation. Some people might be privileged to be born in a place where they can achieve most of their dreams and desires. It does not mean that they are in a better position to fulfill their ultimate vocation. To the contrary, it might become an obstacle. Most people in the world do not live in this reality but it does not stop them from accomplishing their ultimate purpose in life.

Our faith is not an instrument to get ahead in life. It is a gift to help us become servants of God. There are no such thing as super servants and regular servants. These are standards of the world which quietly creep into our spirituality. In the Kingdom of God, there are just servants and our faith will help us to fulfill this role despite our social or physical condition. Our friend was instrumental in transforming a brutal and chauvinistic man into a living saint. Of course, he will reject this label as a saint does immediately. Presently he is an Anglican priest and has started a church among the poorest of the poor where the congregation can not provide a living for him. He did not allow this mulberry tree to stop him. He will tell you that he met Jesus though our friend who was stuck in the tiny dirty room. I can say the same too. Our friend, despite her limitations, has touched the lives of many with the love of God. We met this friend before we went back to this ministry with the homeless children and teens. In many ways, she has helped to remove the mulberry trees in our paths and to see God’s loving presence in the lives of the children and teens. Our friend has done much more than most able bodied people. She did it without leaving her tiny room. Her faith is quite amazing. I have much to say to her when I talk to her later this week.

Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.” Luke 16:25

I think the subject was about hell, or maybe, it was the afterlife. I can not remember. Whenever we have Janaina over for lunch, our conversations never stay in one place. It has been years since we had her over for lunch. Two or three years, I think. Before that, she was here at least once a week. I always found her to have a curious and perceptive mind. She shared that she feels like she can share her thoughts and doubts with us freely without being judged. We are forever grateful for this. Eventually this parable came up in our conversation. At that time, I was not aware that it was going to appear again in our Sunday lectionary. She mentioned that she heard pastors use it to describe the nature of hell or the afterlife. Poor Lazarus is always getting left out. He was neglected in the parable by the rich man and now even in the interpretation of this text, religious leaders are paying more attention to the pretext than on the actual protagonist. People should always be our focus! There were two significant figures in this parable. They have something important to say to us today but it was almost time to go the streets. Janaina was planning to join us today. It was her first time after many many years. She said that she was a little nervous. It was strange to hear this.

As we stepped out of our building, many Lazarus of various degrees were waiting for us. I think this parable is closer to our reality in many ways. Thankfully, none of them had sores nor were dying of hunger. It was strange that Jesus was quite specific about the details in this one. He even gave his character a name unlike his other parables. It is possible that he knew a beggar named Lazarus, someone who the rest of the world would neglect. Sad to say, we have seen beggars with open wounds and other gory details that I am going to skip for the sake of decency. Many times, we avoided such people not because of a sense of superiority. It is just too distressing. In our context, most of them are people whom the city terms collectively as crack addicts. It sounds like they are a bizarre tribe of people. They have names too. They are people. I look away sometimes despite knowing all this. I don’t think that the rich man was a mean cold hearted person. Jesus never said this about him. Perhaps he is just like us. He did not want to think about the distressing things which existed in the world. He wanted to be in a place where he was safe from everything which made him feel uncomfortable. In the end, it ended up robbing him of his life.

Finally, we got to where we usually meet the young people. We have been experiencing unusual cold weather recently. Consequently, many of our children have been staying in their hiding place for longer period of times. It is usually warm there. I don’t blame them. We warned Janaina that she might not meet anyone today. No matter what happens it is good for us to be there waiting for them just in case someone ventures out. Sometimes hunger drives them out. It gives us an opportunity to get them something to eat. We sat and waited. Suddenly, a huge number of teens approached us. Many familiar faces but some new as well. They came over and gave us a hug. Usually the homeless youth are not so expressive with their affections. I suspected that maybe the police were watching them and they wanted to be close to us to feel safe. The police usually don’t bother them when they are with us. There were no one watching them. It was true affection. Shame on me, I thought to myself. They sat next to us and started talking. A little girl, Anna, who is third generation homeless, sat next to me. I asked her if she wanted to color. She said, “not even a bit!” It was quite amusing to hear her say this. I took out a book and started coloring, hoping to entice her to do the same. She didn’t take the bait. Instead, she watched me do it and then she rested her head on my arms. Perhaps she just wanted affection from an adult.

For some strange reasons, we were surrounded by girls with variations of the same name. There was another Ana. She has never spoken to us before. She is about 13 maybe even less. She sat and started coloring with us. She was particularly interested in Mary. Janaina sat there listening to the conversations of the other kids. It was quite amazing. Everyone wanted to talk with us or be near us today. This doesn’t usually happen. Most of them did not even notice Janaina except for Ana Paula, our third “Ana”. She is a little person. We have known her since she was a young child. I don’t believe this girl has ever lived in a house before. Her mother is homeless too. Her physical condition made it impossible for people not to take notice of her. Thankfully, no one teases or makes fun of her. Among the homeless, there is a tenderness towards people with different physical conditions. Ana Paula is very serious and interacts with us on occasions. I think she likes us but is a little reserved showing her affections. Janaina intrigued her. Finally she stood up and asked how we met her. This is a curious question. No one has asked us this before whenever a friend comes with us to the streets albeit not a frequent occurrence. We asked Janaina if we could share her story. Permission was given.

We told Ana Paula that we met Janaina in the streets in 1994 when she was about eleven years old. Back then, she was one of the children that we came to meet in the streets. My most vivid memory of her was eating a Christmas dinner together in the streets organized by Franciscan friars. It was a small and quiet affair. For some reason, most of the homeless were not around in that area where we had the meal. There were just a small group maybe thirty. It made the meal even cozier. We sat and talked together for hours. It was beautiful; an eternal moment if I could add. Janaina remembers that meal too. Thankfully, when she turned 23 or so, she decided that it was time for her to move on. She struggled for many years to find some stability. She got married and her first child helped her to decide once and for all that the streets was no longer an option. However, she still has many friends who are like family to her still living in the streets. In her heart, they will always be precious to her. Today, Janaina is a dear friend to us. We cannot imagine our lives without her presence. She brings so much light and joy to our lives. Ana Paula listened but didn’t say anything.

As we got up to leave, Janaina reached out and hugged Ana Paula. Later we had a cup of coffee together and she asked if she could go to the streets again with us. It is important for her not to forget her “family” in the streets. I know some people might think that the others will look at her and have hope for themselves. In reality, it does not work that way. They might be fascinated that she was once from the streets. Then it just ends there. They do not make the connection to with their own personal struggles. Janaina knows this. She has been there. However, she wants to go the streets because she realizes that it does not take much to bring joy and love to these children. In the parable, Jesus said that Lazarus just wanted the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. He did not expect the rich man to adopt him or buy him a nice house. He just wanted a little attention and consideration. Janaina wants to give more than crumbs.

We went back to our comfortable home later on that night. We ate our meals. It was cold outside and even colder in our homes. Homes in São Paulo don’t have heat nor running hot water. Nevertheless it could be worse. We looked out of the window and there were quite a few sleeping in the streets with just blankets to keep themselves warm.

It is quite an uncomfortable parable.

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. Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. Luke16:8-10

I have heard preachers say, “Money is good servant but an evil master.” These words are suppose to make us feel a little comfortable with possessing money. However, they are at odds with the words of Jesus. I do not blame preachers for saying this. St Paul said the love of money is the root of all evil. Some might breathe a sigh of relief, thinking as long as they do not love money it is fine to have much of it. The problem is money is a god as Jesus puts it. It does not comply to the role of being a servant nor a mere tool. It is a god and wants to have complete control of its subjects.

In Jesus’ time, money did not have the kind of influence which it does in our present reality. We are living in times where economy is the driving force of our ethics and wars. Even all the controversies related to the recent pandemic can be traced back to the economic situation. There was a different attitude towards wealth in Jesus’ world. People accepted wealth and poverty as determined conditions each one was born into in this world, not unlike the doctrine of the caste system in India. Hinduism did not invent it but merely formalized it. However, soon it became apparent that money can liberate us from the harsh social conditions imposed upon us. We discovered that nobody is condemned to the state in which they were born. Money gave us opportunities to overcome things which religion for centuries failed to do. We can even say that it helped to conquer racism, albeit superficially. People change their attitudes when they see that they can gain much from the people they secretly despise.

Needless to say, money has done much to lift people out of misery and pain. Besides it is something palpable and it provides for our needs and desires in a tangible manner. Sometimes people read the harsh sayings of Jesus of abandoning families and friends for the Kingdom of God, they feel that these demands are unreasonable. However, if a job offer comes up with a great paycheck, they will drop everything and move to some distant and remote place in a heartbeat. Many would agree that this is a wise and reasonable thing to do. This is the problem. Money brings a lot of positive things in our lives. We willingly allow it to creep and dominate every aspect of our being without any resistance. Jesus is warning us that this is an unrighteous presence in our lives. It is a warning that not everything that leads to something apparently better is good for our souls.

The homeless are not any different. They are not immune to the influences of money. Our homeless young people love having it. The young children steal not because they need something for their immediate needs. There are countless of homeless children and teens who have all their needs met without any money exchanged. However, those who engage in crime like the feel of holding money in their hands. They like to say, “This is mine to do as I please!”

There is a young boy named Lucas. I am not sure if he is even ten years old. He is so tiny and adorable that no one would realize that he is actually one of the biggest thieves in the center. He is extremely fast. He can grab a gold chain from the neck of an unsuspecting victim and disappear without a trace. He likes to carry his cash in a way that everyone can see that he is loaded. However, he hardly buys anything for himself. He likes to treat the older teens who do not rob nor engage in any criminal activities. I have seen him buy food and treats for Erica and Kawanna. Lucas suffers from some form of autism. Often times he walks by us without noticing our presence. He is very limited in the way he interacts with people. One thing he has he figured out, money is a good way to connect with people. In a strange way, Lucas uses his dishonest money in a better way than most of his victims would have. Nevertheless, this does not make it righteous money in any shape or form.

And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Isaiah 6:5

The prophet had a glimpse of the holiness of God and realized that he was nothing but a fruit of an unrighteous society and consequently, an unrighteous person himself. This is the very opposite of the spirituality of the Pharisees. They see themselves as the custodians of holiness in this world. We cannot appreciate the abundant life which Jesus gives to use freely unless we perceive ourselves and the world like the prophet did. We have to acknowledge that we are part and parcel of a system promoting unrighteousness in this world. Our attitudes on what is right and wrong are inevitably tainted too. Our little and adorable friend, Lucas, believes that he is being righteous. Perhaps he imagines himself as a Robin Hood. Despite all our romanticism, Robin Hood perpetuates unrighteousness present in this world.

Money is a fruit of this world and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. However, we need money to survive in this world. We also need money to do good in this world. Jesus understands this perfectly. He was financial supported by wealthy women in his society as the gospel of Luke informs us. We also know that Jesus never handled money. Judas did it for him and we know how that story ends.

Jesus shows us a better way to deal with this dangerous element in our everyday life. It does not mean all of us have to be like the rich young ruler. I believe that was something specific for that young man. However, we have countless examples of saints which mark our liturgical calendar who have followed this example. Even so, this is not something Jesus demands of everyone. He tells here to use our money to gain friends. Money, in our capitalistic society, is used as a form of communication. In a business, an employer wants to show appreciation for his staff, he or she gives them a raise. Words, in this situation, do not really cut it. Money does it best. It is the same in different aspects of society. Money is used as a means of expressing gratitude and appreciation in our times. In other words, the money we have in our hands can be used to bless others in a deeper way. However, if we think that by giving we will receive something in return, then we are perpetuating the unrighteous economy of Mammon. The Kingdom of God operates on the foundation of unconditional love. Sometimes we can give and not even receive a “Thank you” like the countless times Jesus never received a word of gratitude for healing people. Nevertheless, it did not stop Jesus from healing.

Jesus advises us to make friends. However, it is possible to give tons of money away without any relationship. Many do it to gain a name for themselves.

What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? Luke 9:25

Jesus advises us to use our money to build bridges of friendship. Each time we gain a friend, we gain our humanity. However, this does not mean mammon is not a dangerous thing. We have to be careful that we do not help someone in a way that they become servants of this dreadful god. We need a lot of wisdom with this. It is not an easy task. Nothing is easy when it comes to money. However, we need to get rid of it in a way that we become truly rich with friendships that will remain with us for eternity.

Godspeed on your quest to rid yourself of this unrighteous presence. Please pray for us to do the same and say a special prayer for Lucas.

Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ Luke 15:1-2

Wilton asked me what our plans were for Christmas. It might seem too early in the year to be asking about such questions. Well, we always say that and then before we know it, it’s Christmas time again. In Brazil, there is nothing happening from now till Christmas. Neither Halloween nor Thanksgiving is celebrated. Therefore, it is not really strange to talk about the year end’s plans during this time of the year. Wilton spent most of his teenage life in the juvenile detention center and then, he spent four years in regular prison system for robbery. Lots of things changed for him since then. He was determined to walk on the straight and narrow. At first, it was tough. He worked in every job available. Finally he found a job as a stone mason and now he is working full time. He managed to get his younger brother, Wallace, off the streets permanently. Now, they have a roof above their heads after spending almost their whole infancy and teenage life homeless. However, all their closest friends are still here. They have been the closest thing to family for them. They make sure that they come by once in a while to ensure the rest that they have not forgotten where their roots so to speak. Consequently, we are part of this whole group. It was all hugs and gratitude when they saw us. I have to admit that we savored every moment of it. Things are going as planned for them. This is really a miracle seeing that the whole country is slowly slipping into depression. These brothers learned to survive on very little since young. For them, it is a great joy to leave homelessness behind. This year Wilton wants to have a special Christmas. He wanted to know our plans for the season. Here in Brazil, it is usually a family affair and he wants us to be part of his celebration. He is really giving us something special.

To be honest, initially I wasn’t too keen about it. It has nothing to do with the brothers. The fact is that they live quite a distance away from where we live. In this city, the poorest of the poor have two options for shelter. They can occupy an abandoned building here in the old center where we live and become squatters. Most of our older youth are doing this like Erica and Kawanna. However, this is usually temporary and unstable. The local government can send troops of police to evict the people anytime. It is quite a frequent occurrence except recently. This is, after all, the election year. The other option is to rent a small house, constructed haphazardly without any safety concerns, in the outskirts of the city which is what Wilton and Wallace are doing. The location is usually in an area where public transport is practically inexistent. One can expect a journey of two to three hours to get there from where we live. Most of the poor spend at least four hours a day on average in public transport getting to and from from work. I feel exhausted just thinking about it. I would rather if they came to the center and we would happily take them out for a meal. We will be willing to pay for their way here too. However, they don’t want us to host them. They both have jobs now and finally they can give back something to us. Despite how I felt, I told Wilton that we will celebrate Christmas together.

I remember once we visited a family in the favelas (the people living there prefer the term “community” as favelas is used many times in a derogative manner). We used to visit them because they were fun and lovely people. It had nothing to do with our ministry. We became friends through a chance encounter and we ended up going to their place weekly. One day a lady from the community commented that we must really love Brazil to be with them. Perceiving my confusion, she clarified that we chose to be in her community which is the last place anyone would want to visit. In reality, we were there because we never experienced such hospitality from anyone else in Brazil. The same year, we invited all of them to our home for Christmas. At first, we were worried that they might feel a little intimidated. We were pleasantly surprised to see how comfortable they felt in our home. Moreover, they came bearing gifts. Before the night was done, they even helped with the dishes. We benefitted more from their visit than they did. It was one of our most special Christmases. One that neither moth nor rust can destroy nor anyone can ever steal from us.

The Pharisees would never understand any of this. Their religious convictions blinded them from seeing the humanity in the other. Jesus did not eat with the tax collectors because He was doing ministry. He actually saw them as friends and people whom He loved. In those days, sharing a meal is an intimate affair. They ate with hands and with common cups; perhaps a scene of terror for the modern germaphobes. One has to be very comfortable to be in such close and intimate settings with another. The Pharisees could not believe that Jesus would share meals with those whom they considered despicable. Their religion did not help them overcome their hatred. The faith of Jesus is one which overcomes hatred with love.

Now, Wilton and Wallace are people we love and therefore, sharing a meal with them is not a challenge for us. Jesus did not just break bread with pleasant people. He did it with people who were truly difficult and bordering on despicable, well, at least from my perspective. I need to ask myself who are the people I find it most difficult to share with a meal. I am going to refrain from listing them here. The fact is that this gospel passage challenges me to confront my own personal prejudices. I don’t like people who like the Pharisees but I don’t want my personal dislike of them to transform me into one of them. I know this sounds little confusing even for myself. Maybe Jesus can help here. It is clearly evident in the gospels who His primary enemies were but on many occasions, Jesus broke bread with them too. He did not avoid them just because they despised Him. However, He did not do this in order to convert them. He saw humanity in them despite all their hatred and jealousy towards Him. This is perhaps one of the most difficult things in our faith. Moreover, the recognition of this weakness is going to save our souls. It will keep us from succumbing to the sin of the Pharisee. We are not better than them. We are just like them and only the life and example of our Lord can save us from our personal prejudices and self-righteousness.

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Romans 14:1-2

This is not restricted to dietary disagreements nor a tool against vegans. It is a counsel on living together. The whole epistle of Romans is about people who are discovering how to listen to our faith and live in a practical way like Jesus. There are many things which attempt to separate us in this world. Those who are strong in their faith will dwell on the things that bring us together instead of what separates us. It is not about avoiding the crucial issues. It is about loving the person. Issues come and go but love lasts forever.

I love Wilton and Wallace and most of our children and teens in the streets. There are some who are difficult. They are there to remind me that I still have a long journey ahead of me before I can become anything like our Lord, Jesus. He was and is open to dine with anyone. He never did it as an obligation nor as a ministerial strategy. He did it because He truly enjoyed people as people. This is the abundant life He came to give. He showed us how to enjoy our lives by loving all those He puts in our path even the ones who are difficult to love.

There are no easy answers here. We just have Jesus as our primary example and model.

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? -Luke 13:16

Sometimes people ask us what do we do exactly in the streets. I ought to answer without any hesitance. After all, we have been here for a while. However, this is the problem. The longer we are here the more difficult it becomes to answer this apparently simple question. Perhaps part of the issue is that I feel like I have to give an impressive answer like, “we are providing food and shelters to the homeless children” or “we started an educational program in the streets” or even, “we provide training skills for the teens so that they can learn to fish for themselves.” Alas, we don’t do any of these things. No doubt these are some of the things everyone imagines as necessary when working with the homeless youth. These are great solutions from a distance. Everything changes when you have close contact with reality. We learn that we have to do something different. Speaking of fish, we went to the tropical fish store to see which is the cheapest fish to buy for a young man. We are helping him set up an aquarium. We do things like that. I am sure if I told someone this, they would say we don’t know what we are doing here and perhaps even secretly doubt our sanity.

Live tropical fish is not the best pet for anyone living in the streets. I couldn’t agree more. It is for someone who left the streets and became a squatter in an abandoned building. For some readers, this might not sound like much progress. It would take too much time and countless words to explain the present social and economic situation here to show why this is a step up. The cost of rent is ridiculously high and even we are facing challenges with it. The most viable option for our homeless youth here is becoming a squatter in one of the hundred or so abandoned buildings in the center of the city. Yes, there are that many buildings here and we also have over three thousand homeless people living in the same area. To get back to the subject, I am not sure that the person for whom we are buying this fish could be considered a youth unless you are over sixty, then everyone under fifty is a youth. He is older than most of our youth. I have already mentioned him before. His name is Ron.

He is an important figure among the homeless children and teens. They adore him. Maybe it is because of his sarcastic humor. There was a tiny space available where Felipe and his wife live. They asked Ron if he wanted to move there. The space is so small that it only fits a single bed. When he invited us over to see it, we had to take turns to enter. Even though it looked cramped and uncomfortable, for Ron, it is a big achievement. He has been sleeping in the streets since he was a child and never imagined sleeping under a roof. Now he enjoys it. He wants to make it more home-like. He thought an aquarium would do the trick. Not exactly an aquarium, just a simple fish bowl if they even exist nowadays. He remembered that he had an aquarium in his home. His mother used to buy fish often. It is one of the few joyful memories of his childhood. Perhaps in his mind, no home is complete without a fish bowl. At first when he asked us about it, we didn’t really think too much of it. We were being pragmatic. We bought him a pillow case without realizing that he didn’t even have a pillow. He used a rolled up bundle of clothes. There are so many things he needs and a fish bowl was the last thing on our mind. However, we realized that it means something special for him. A memento from his past that is necessary for his healing.

In our ministry, in different periods, different youth bond with us in a special way. When we first came here almost ten years ago, it was Igor. He was and is very special us. Then there were times with Ruan, Wanderson, Bruna and Aline. During the Pandemic, our relationship with Felipe became stronger. After which Erica and Kawanna strengthened their relationship with us. We never choose the person. These things happen naturally. Now we are growing to love and appreciate Ron more and more each day. He always makes time to talk with us each day. The other children and teens observed this. It means something to them. They see that we don’t discriminate just because Ron is a little older. Most groups that work in the streets are restricted in their interactions with the homeless. They either work exclusively with minors or with adults. Those who work with children and teens can only do so until they turn 18. Then they change jurisdictions so to speak. Most of the social workers find this approach to be absurd. There is no continuity. However, these rules are set by people who have no contact with the reality of the homeless youth.
They might make sense from a distance but human relationships are much more complex than a set of rules and regulations.

Thankfully, we don’t work with these arbitrary restrictions. Instead, we follow the example of the Good Shepherd and He seeks His sheep without any restrictions. Ron belongs to the flock of sheep that we consider homeless children and teens. There are others who older and part of this group, like Bruno, Felipe, and Patricia. Sometimes we do activities with toddlers too. They are children of some of the homeless. It disturbs us to see such young children living and sleeping in the streets. However, we need to put our sentiments aside and focus on sharing God’s love to whoever He puts in our lives.

Doing this is not always easy. We have in our minds certain notions and ideas on how to share God’s love with our neighbor. It corresponds with our own personal life experiences and notions of Love, not to mention our social status. We tend to hold on to these ideas and even become rigid about them, forgetting that it is our personal experience. God reveals Himself to each one differently. He meets people where they are spiritually. Ron’s life wasn’t peaceful. He ran away from home as a child because it was unbearable. Till today he finds it hard to articulate why he left his home. However, during his brief time with his mother, he remembered that she bought him a pet fish each week. It was one of his most vivid memories of maternal love. Watching these tiny creatures swimming around peacefully in his room was sacramental proof that he was not an unwanted nor unloved child. Of course, Ron never said this in so many words. He just wants a fish and he thought we would understand. We had to put aside our rigid ideas of what Ron needs and listen to the Holy Spirit. Ron wants healing and the fish is the first step. Therefore, sometimes our ministry requires us to go around looking for fish in a tropical fish pet store. As we already know, Jesus can do great things with fish.

I should end here. It is a great place to finish up this simple reflection. However, I feel like I need to connect this with the above gospel reading. We may not think that we are like the Pharisees but we have to admit that we do create arbitrary rules in our heads and restrict how God should act in our midst. We think that we shouldn’t help someone asking for money because….we have a set of good reasons to justify our actions. Sometimes these rules are good. Other times, compassion and mercy are much more important. Jesus just saw the woman and listened to the Holy Spirit. I guess there is nothing more to say beyond this.

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! -Luke12:49-51

The presidential election is approaching here. It’s going to be a rough one. In the next couple of months, old wounds will be reopened, old lies will be rehashed, and God’s name will be shamelessly taken in vain. Basically, a typical election process in most countries. I am sure that most of us, if not all, will agree that this is getting tiresome. It is not to say that I do not have my political views. I do have my strong convictions. I consider myself to be a very political person. Consequently, I find it hard to tolerate people who defend opposing views from mine. Even though I tell myself that these views are not important, the truth is that I am not entirely convinced. I tend to believe that my outlook is the most ethical one. This is the only reason why anyone would espouse any political stance. It is inevitable that we get entrapped in this “us” and “them” mindset. It is virtually impossible to avoid it. We are constantly bombarded with information and slanderous news to convince us to take sides. Needless to say, we live in a world sharply divided. When the devil tempted Jesus, he said that all dominions of this world belonged to him. Jesus never said anything to the contrary. On a different occasion, He acknowledged that the devil is the father of this world. One of the names of the devil in Greek is diabolos which means divider. We can see his trademark in his kingdoms. In fact, during any political debate in any given country, usually all the attributes of the devil are manifested and almost none of Christ.

It seems like Jesus is not going to resolve this dire situation. Instead, He is going to exacerbate it. In other words, Jesus is not the answer to our present political problems. Those who try to use His name to justify any political position are preaching a different Jesus, perhaps a false one who gave in to the temptations of the devil. The true Messiah was very clear,

“My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” John 18:36

The kingdoms of this world survive on strife and hatred. They understand this language very well. Anyone who is well adjusted and successful in this world has acceded to the rules of this world. Jesus, on the other hand, was always at odds with the authorities. He refused to participate in their politics of hate. His trial was perhaps the final temptation to make Him submit to their standards. Thankfully for humanity, up till His final breath, Jesus refused to become another politician of this era. In His final prayer, He chose to forgive those who dehumanized him even though He had every right to seek justice against them. This is something the world will never understand. If we attempt to mention forgiveness for the worse criminals in our society, we will become objects of scorn. Others will say that we are impractical and naive to even say such things. In some cases, they might even react in violence towards us for mentioning such “nonsense”. Violence and hatred are the language moving this world. Without these, the whole system collapses.

“I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16

Wolves and sheep have completely incompatible natures. One seeks prey to consume and the latter seeks to hear and follow the voice of the shepherd. However, it is our human nature to belong to a group and more often than not, we end up joining a pack of wolves. In a world dominated by them, it seems safer to be like them. Many adopt their politics of hate and sometimes even confuse it with God’s will. Saul, before he became Paul, thought so. However, our Shepherd tells us that there is no room for hate even when the wolves around us give us every justification for it. Jesus tells us that we are to love them especially when they are our enemies. This sounds completely absurd and ridiculous unless we change our mindset. We have to stop perceiving the world from the perspective of the wolf. We have to become like sheep who listen and watch the Shepherd.

Living in Brazil as foreigners puts us outside the political arena of this country. Officially we are immigrants with no political voice. Besides this, we have cast our lot with the homeless children and teens. They don’t have a voice in society. Together we are outsiders. However, this does not mean that we are immune to the politics of hate. I would say that its presence is felt very strongly in the streets. The police operate on hatred. The criminal gang strives on hatred. The children and teens have grown accustomed to bearing the yoke of hatred and disdain. It is an unbearable burden for them to carry. The Good Shepherd walks through this valley of hatred and death and beckons His sheep to listen to His voice. It is the voice which will overcome the destructive force of hatred. Sometimes it is not easy. The temptation is to take sides. Therefore, we need to be wise as serpents. We have to know that all sides represented here are detrimental to our souls. Sometimes it seems like one side is obviously wrong but it does not give us the license to partake in their communion of hatred. At the Cross, it was obvious who was right and wrong. However the Good Shepherd listened to the Holy Spirt and responded with the greatest political act of all humanity. He showed us the path of true politics which will change hearts of humanity.

The Shepherd is beckoning us to follow a new political venture; one that would isolate us from the rest of society, perhaps even becoming an object of scorn. It doesn’t matter. We don’t seek approval of the masses, instead we seek to follow the voice of the Shepherd. He will guide us and give us the strength to resist all the forces of hatred.

Our most precious encounter this week was with Gabriel. A young man who spent a great part of his teenage years in crime. He puts on a tough and intimidating front. He hardly spoke for a long time although it was obvious that he was curious about us. Last week, Mary brought the camera to the streets after a long time. The children love to have their photos taken by us because we make hard copies for them. Most of the time, they just have digital photos on their phones. Gabriel had his photo taken. Initially he refused to take his cap off for it. We convinced him and it was like magic. He was hiding a warm and friendly face under his cap. We gave him his photo a few days later. He looked at it and was amazed. He did not realize that he was such a good looking kid. Then he asked us why we were doing this ministry. We said that we liked being with them. He said, “You have a generous heart.” We felt a barrier of hatred was overcome in his heart. He was almost emotional.

We were grateful that we are part of a different political party; the party of the Good Shepherd. It is not going to end wars nor overcome major social problems. It does change the hearts of people like Gabriel and makes them realize that they too are beautiful and lovely creatures of God.