And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:19-21

I have to admit that I find it rather annoying when people want to know about the end times, or rather, the signs pertaining to it. I also have to admit that the Book of Revelation is my least favorite book in the Bible next to Daniel. The authors had their reasons for the lack of clarity in these books; unfortunately, today they have become the playground for inventing theories. Jesus advised us not to occupy our minds with the things of tomorrow. Today dishes out certainties which are quite unbearable. We need to talk and deal with these things. One of which is Death. There is nothing more natural and certain than this. There is no need to speculate about this. There are no hidden theories. Just harsh reality.

Almost every week now, at least two people die in the place where we minister to the children and teens. Sometimes it is because of violence. Other times drugs are involved. Some just die from all the malnutrition and exhaustion. Usually, it is a combination of all of these. Our week started with the news of death of Gabrielle. A youth commented that for a long time, hardly anyone we knew died in the streets, now all the sudden it is happening too frequently. I even wrote a reflection about how things have changed for the better. Sadly, this was short-lived. Now, things appear to be deteriorating at a rapid pace.

Gabi, as we called her, was in her mid twenties. She was one of the many who spent her infancy homeless. She was an outgoing and outspoken youth. Often times fearless to express her views or even confront the police when she knew that she was in the right. Her nickname in the streets was “Vulcano”. It suited her personality perfectly. If she had been in a different situation, she would have been a diehard feminist leader of a group of college students. Sadly, Gabi’s lot in life deprived her of education and opportunities but it did not stop her from being a presence in the streets. Now her life ended without any warning. She just collapsed and moments later she was gone. Gabi will not be coloring with us anymore. She started a picture in our coloring book and promised to complete it later. Now, it will remain half finished.

Each time someone dies in the streets especially among the youth, we tend to contemplate collectively our own imminent death. Some of the homeless youth were tempted to speculate where Gabi is right now. Most of them were gracious but there were a few who insisted that she was in hell. Of course, they came to this conclusion from hearing the countless hell and damnation preachers in the streets. It is funny how many people like to take the role of God in this matter. We do not decide on anything regarding matters of the soul. This is the sole property of God. We are told God is Love and Jesus revealed to us a compassionate and forgiving God in His ministry. Therefore, all this gives us hope. Gabi was someone who experienced rejection and abuse since she was a child. However, she always believed that God was the only One who was always with her throughout her whole life.

I did not see the point in participating in the conversation about her afterlife. Gabi is gone but we have our life here. Her death reminded us that life is short and fragile. We have to decide how to live it. After all, the parable which Jesus told in the gospel was not about life after death. It is about the here and now. He is proposing a radical shift in our mindset about acquiring treasures in this world. The rich man cast his lot with his possessions or rather, in the pursuit of material security. In a way, there is nothing obscene about the man’s attitude. By today’s standard, we can argue that he was being prudent and a good steward of his wealth. Nevertheless, Jesus thought otherwise and it is the mindset of Jesus which we seek to imitate.

This parable is not about money but it is about what we consider as valuable treasures in life. Some can claim that they have lots of money but do not treasure it. Some can have a little money but spend their lives in pursuit of it. We can say whatever we want to say about this matter. In reality, this parable is not an invitation to argue about the rightful place of money in our lives. It is a challenge for us to examine our lives in private and ask ourselves what do we truly consider as treasures in our lives.

I asked the children if Gabi died alone that night. They said that they all gathered close to her even though her heart stopped beating almost immediately. They stood around her mourning her departure from this world. She started her life in this world as an abandoned and lonely child but she was not alone when she departed it. Despite her dire situation, she still had treasures, maybe not in the eyes of the world. Her treasure was the friendship of invisible people of this society. People who the rest of the world rejected and considered as worthless were Gabi’s treasures. The man in the parable died alone or maybe he was surrounded by many. Despite the countless love songs and cliches, wealth tends to buy affection in some shape or form. Gabi had nothing to her name and yet she had friends who loved her in the best way they could. In this sense, her life was richer than many in this city although her life was never easy. She had some mental health issues and many times she found it hard to deal with reality. Her life was a tragic tale but it was not a hopeless one. The gospel was always present. Her extreme poverty did not hinder her from having treasures.

It is hard for us to read parables concerning treasures, talents and gifts in this time and age and not think about them in the material sense. Our mindset is deeply rooted in material gains in this period of our history, perhaps more so than in any other times. It requires extra effort and much reflection to understand what Jesus is saying. There is a tendency for us to just ignore these words and go on with life as usual. This is actually one of the things that the parable warns against doing. The rich man put off personal reflection and ended up losing everything. Jesus is not trying to scare us. He is reminding us of our reality. Death is a reality which is inevitable. In order to discern which treasures are worth pursuing in this world, we need to take into account our own mortality.

One day as we were getting ready to leave the streets for home, Raphael asked us if he could do some coloring with us. There were several reasons to say, “No” to him. It was late. He was not one of the youth that we work with even though he interacts quite often with the children and teens. Besides this, we know that he was involved in some criminal activities which does not disqualify him in any way. However, it does influence our attitude in some ways, to be honest. We decided to stay a little longer and color with him. He is actually a good artist. He told us that he loved art and showed us some pictures which he drew. I asked him casually what he did in the streets. I had an inkling but just wanted to hear from his understanding of himself. He looked sad and said, “Unfortunately, I steal. Today, I want to do something good before I do anything bad.” He showed us a side of him that perhaps many will never see or do not care to see. He was a person stuck in a situation which he hates. He wants us to see him as something else other than a mere thief. I am glad that we stayed and colored with him. He wanted to give us something. We received a precious gift from him. It could have been his last day on earth. It could have been our last day here. I am glad that we did not let it pass without receiving a gift which God has set apart for us.

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10

My parents were very private about their spirituality. We were a Roman Catholic household, but unlike most, we were practicing. My father never taught us to say grace before our meals instead he muttered something under his breath followed by a sign of the Cross. My mother did something similar. The rest of us would wait patiently without knowing what to do. We never prayed before we went to bed. My father would wait for us to fall asleep then he would come into our room and say a silent prayer. I used to observe him secretly. My mother prayed three times days using a prayer book. I always assumed it was a Roman Catholic one. I did not know for sure because it was in a language but I could not read. Soon after my mother passed away, I looked at the book and realized that it was actually the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. My mother was a closet Anglican. The most bizarre thing is that the book belonged to my friend’s father who was a priest in the Anglican Church. It is still a mystery how this book ended up in my mother’s hands.

Despite the silence over matters spiritual in my household, there was always an interest in prayer. I imitated my father. I would wait for him to sleep and the mimic his actions. As a result, since young, I was the last one who went to bed, a habit which still persists today. I did not know what I was doing. I just mimicked my father’s actions. Then I discovered that prayers were asking God for things. This changed everything. There were lots of things I wanted. I made a list of things for God but was very quickly disappointed. I remember one of them was randomly finding money in the streets so that I could buy all the sweets and whatever I desired then. The only thing that came of this is that till today I am always looking at the ground when I walk. Eventually I gave up on personal prayers. I recited the liturgy fervently in church every Sunday but I never felt any true connection whenever I prayed.

Later on I had a strong spiritual encounter which some might term as being born again. I do not particularly like the term in its common usage. I believe in being born again as a life long process and not one particular moment in our lives. Unfortunately, I could not say that my understanding of prayer improved and matured after this encounter. I went back to the old way of praying albeit a little less self-centered. Unfortunately, in my renewed enthusiasm of all things spiritual, I had the misfortune to stumble upon pathetic Christian literature which taught prayers as a formula for getting God to give what you desire, may it be a nice car or job etc. The authors were associated with the so-called prosperity theology. Prayer became a means to an end. It went from asking something from God humbly to demanding it as my right. I am grateful that it never really worked for me. Whatever I asked I did not receive, the things I sought were not found, the doors I knocked remained closed. Since I know that the promises of Jesus never fail, I assumed that the problem was my own lack of faith. However, Jesus said that all we need is a faith of a size of a mustard seed.

My mother cooked with mustard seed a lot. I was familiar with it since childhood. It is so small that is almost impossible not to have a faith of that size. It was not that Jesus did not expect much from us. On the contrary, He had high expectations of his disciples but they were not unreasonable ones. He knew that we had it in us to fulfill them if only we would listen to our faith. My prayers went unanswered not because I lacked faith. It is because I was not listening to the voice of my faith instead I allowed myself to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. The disciples listened to their faith and they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. They understood that prayer was the foundation of the things Jesus did in His life. They wanted to be like Jesus and they wanted to know the source.

In other words, the foundation of Christian prayer is desiring to become like Jesus. It is in this context that Jesus promised whatever we ask, it will be given to us, whatever we seek, we shall find and whatever doors on which knock, it will be opened. Whenever we pray for these things in hope that we will become more like Him, they will always be answered.

The verb, ‘pray’, has been thrown about carelessly. Many times there is something concrete to be done but people use prayer as an excuse to avoid the obvious. Many political figures come to mind but the reality is that all of us have done it. So much so that prayer is hardly taken seriously by some committed Christians. Whenever I tell people that our ministry is a ministry of prayer, the follow-up phrase usually is, “Yes, but what do you do concretely?” Well, prayer is a prelude to concrete action according to the gospel. We pray to become like Jesus so that we can become a source of healing and salvation to those around us. There is nothing theoretical about this. Our Lord was always present in a real and concrete manner. Therefore, when we pray for someone, we are committing ourselves to become the person of Jesus to that particular person. In this context, the promises of Jesus in the above verses will always hold true.

To be honest; all this is still ambiguous. It will always be until we pray to become like Jesus. We are not asked to assent to a theory of prayer. We are called to be people of action, to live our lives in the same manner as Jesus.

“Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12

This is hard to imagine because He did do some incredible things. Maybe we will not be changing water into wine but our prayers might bring us to people and places Jesus never encountered. We might be given the power to be “Jesus” to people whom He did not have access to in His life on earth. Maybe it might be just a simple act of feeding an homebound elderly person living next door to you. Something that Jesus never did. Remember the things that our Lord considered to be great may not seem incredible nor impressive to our worldly concepts. Whatever it is, prayer is the door for us to become like Jesus to those around us.

I am grateful that my parents never tried to teach us to be spiritual with words. I have to say that I have inherited this from them. I find it hard to tell our children and teens what to do or how to do certain things. Besides, our youth have a hard time with words. We can say many true and beautiful things and they will forget everything the very next day, maybe even sooner. However, they remember when we act out in love in the same way after almost fifty years, I still remember my parents in their simple spiritual habits. They did not pray to be religious. They prayed to be connected to God. In doing so, they reflected the quiet Spirit of Jesus to all their children.

She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks. Luke 10:39-40

As expected, my final year in seminary was a hectic one. Lots of reading, lots of papers, and they added a weekly 15 hours practicum in a local parish just to make things more interesting. Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had excellent professors and interesting fellow seminarians. All of us were diverse in our theological stands and hardly anyone agreed with each other, the ideal situation for lively discussions. We were wrestling with highly important issues, none of which I can remember. Nothing from the hours of intense studies and frantic writings of essays are retained in my memory. Instead, I remember many things outside the classroom. Particularly a story about fireflies told to me at that time by a mentally unstable homeless young man. I am able recall almost every detail of this man; his voice and mannerisms. I guess my memory decided that this was relevant to keep and not the theological discussions. I would not have met this interesting character if it wasn’t for another fellow seminarian. One faithful day he knocked on our door to ask if we were interested in doing something with the homeless in downtown Montreal. It was my final year and I had many pressing commitments. Time was scarce. Therefore, we decided on a yes. I could not afford to waste away such an opportunity.

We started this during the winter which was a crazy thing in itself. Every Saturday he and his wife would journey from two doors away and make sandwiches in our apartment. Then we would read a passage from the gospel, usually the gospel reading for the following Sunday and say a short prayer. Then off we went to freezing streets of Montreal armed with sandwiches and thermal flask full of fresh hot coffee. We did this every week. Eventually the homeless recognized us and knew us by name. The young man of the fireflies story was one of them. Initially we were unsure of him.
He used to stand by the streets and yell profanities at people who walked by, usually huge muscular guys. He was just a scrawny guy himself. He was like a time bomb. Then when he saw us, he smiled and walked up to us. He was really a gentle soul tormented by serious mental illness. We realized that he was yelling at the voices in his head and not at people. He knew that we were religious and refrained from using foul language around us. He was a kind of a poet. A child of Italian immigrants, he shared with us this favorite childhood memory was he visited Italy. He described his encounter with fireflies in the fields. Maybe it was his first time seeing them. He was so moved and amazed by their presence. He wanted to capture and keep them in a glass jar. He thought it would be a way to secure his happiness forever in a bottle. Unfortunately, he learned life is not as such and he lives in the streets with a debilitating mind but his memory reminds him that there were once fireflies in his life.

This week we were compelled to sit and do absolutely nothing.Unfortunately, our reasons for this were not the same as Mary in the gospel story. We were hampered from doing our important activities because of the dreaded Covid. Yes, once again it struck our household. This time it got both of us. Thankfully, we are vaccinated and the infection was not as serious as it could have been. We felt a little useless not being able to do anything and strangely a little guilty as if we were being lazy. It is amazing that we have become so accustomed to busyness that we have made it an essential part of our personal identity.

The last time we were in the streets Caio asked for our help. He needed to make an appointment to get his identity card. It is a time consuming bureaucratic process not worth getting into details. Caio had lost his card a few months ago. However, when he asked us, it was late in the evening. I could think of better things to do than to waste our time waiting in a depressing government building. Besides, it was going to be an exercise in futility. Caio is not going to keep the appointment. Even if he did, there is a strong chance that he will lose identity card almost immediately. We have been through this several times.

Caio’s situation is very complex. We have seen his mental state deteriorate over the years. Unfortunately, this is a phenomenon not just restricted to him. Most of the older teens and young adults who grew up homeless manifest some signs of mental illness but this is not the time to delve into this subject. Caio is definitely the worst of the lot. He can hardly strong a sentence together coherently. Many times we have seen him talking to himself. Sometimes he thinks that he is a Pentecostal pastor and casts out imaginary demons. It is quite sad and disturbing for those who have known him from a long time ago.

Honestly, I had much more important things to do than make an appointment for him which for sure he wasn’t going to keep. I suggested that we go together on another day and try to get everything done on the day itself. Caio wanted us to go with him right there and then. He never asks much from us and we decided to humor him.

As we walked to the place, Caio said many things that did not make any sense whatsoever. Most of the time, we just nodded in agreement to whatever comments he made. I did not want to exasperate the poor kid with questions. Then unexpectedly he spoke lucidly about the first time we helped him get his documents. It was something we did almost eight years ago. He remembered everything detail about it. He remembered that we sat with him and even helped with providing our phone number as his contact information. Unbeknownst to us, it was a special moment for him even though he never said anything of it before.

We got the appointment marked for him. It was for Wednesday this week. We offered to meet him on the day but he refused. He was certain that he will remember. No doubt he will forget everything. I am sure that we will have to do this several times before he get his documents. However, I realize that it is not really about the documents. Caio has a vivid memory of us helping him. It was an important moment in his life and he wanted reassurances that this memory was based something real and not one of his many delusions. We are his fireflies and he wanted to know if our love is still burning brightly for him. My sense of what is important could have stolen what is essential for our souls. It was a stroke of luck, maybe…that I decided to do what was seemingly a useless activity.

Our week of doing nothing gave us an opportunity to reflect on what is essential in our lives. Well, at least, it made me reflect on our last interaction with Caio. I had many things to do on that day. They were important things. Everything we do seems important to us. In reality they are just things that clamor for our attention. If we are not careful, we can live our lives doing one thing after another without discovering the essential things. Mary was able to discern what was essential. She sat and listened to our Lord. Of course, we can not do this in the literal sense. However, we can discern the voice of the Holy Spirit beckoning us to come and sit in His presence doing what is seemingly unimportant in order to discover what is essential for our lives. Important things come and go and most of the time, leave no impressions in our lives. Essential moments, on the other hand, become part of who we are. Mary will always be remembered for sitting at the feet of our Lord while her sister was too busy doing things which were not even worth mentioning nor remembering.

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Luke 10:25-29

This is the prelude to the parable of the Samaritan, perhaps the most well-known parable. Therefore, it is not necessary to go into details here.

I got a call from Camila, incidentally almost immediately after reading this gospel story. I have mentioned her before. Maybe it is not relevant to go into her background story at this point. Suffice it to say that she is our neighbor. The Samaritan did not know anything about the injured man except that he was in desperate need of help. Camila was in a desperate situation. She called and said everything is on fire where she lived. At first, I thought she was speaking figuratively. Then it became obvious that there was an electrical problem. No one is going to fix it because it is an abandoned building and Camila and the other residents are squatters. There was a fire right at the only exit of the building. Obviously, it shook her up and she decided that this was not a place to raise her three year old. Unfortunately, rent is absurd here. We are facing some challenges with our high rent. Someone like Camila cannot afford to rent a place. The best she could do is find a tiny room to rent which she did. It is going to take up most of her income. She survives by doing odd jobs. Unemployment is at an all time high and most jobs do not pay enough to even rent a small room. Camila needs help. She has no family. Most of her friends are just like her. They were once homeless and now all struggling to make ends meet. No one is any condition to help her except us and she is our neighbor.

We arranged to meet her on our way to the streets. She was late. Usually it is not a problem. Punctuality is just a suggestion here. We have even adapted to it so we are sometimes late too. However, this time we were on time which makes waiting even worse. There is no compensation for being punctual. We had made prior plans with Daniel to do something special for his birthday. He turned twenty last week. It is hard to imagine that this little kid we met at 11 is now at this age. After waiting for a considerable time, we had to leave. We did not want Daniel to think that we had forgotten about him. With Camila, we know that sometimes it takes two tries. She has her hands full. She has to juggle daycare and odd jobs not to mention laundry and meals. It is too much for a 23 year old. She does it well but sometimes she can not keep track of everything. We would see her again later this week, maybe tomorrow. There was still time for her to resolve whatever she needed to do. We went to the streets and Daniel was not there. He was most likely still sleeping. Definitely not the most successful day in terms of keeping our appointments. This is how things are. We just have to go with the flow. After all, our neighbors are homeless. They do not keep a schedule. Timetables and schedules are for those who are in society. Our neighbors are considered outcasts and invisible. They operate on a different time and we need to adhere to their system.

Unfortunately, the streets were buzzing with the latest tragic news. One of the boys was murdered. Maybe two. I only know of the one. His name is Mikael. He was perhaps the most unlikable teen in the streets. This is saying a lot because there are quite a lot of disagreeable characters. Even the person who told us the news referred to him as the worst teen in the streets. Regardless of this, it is still tragic. He was murdered by the gang. This is quite shocking for us. It has been years since someone in the streets was murdered by them. In fact, they put on a moratorium on any physical violence among the homeless. They included prohibition against any physical aggression towards the elderly and children. For a moment, we forgot that they were dangerous. This heinous act marked a sinister transformation in the way they operate. Mikael was accused of something serious but we suspect that it was all just made up. Anyway, we are dealing with a dangerous criminal faction. They do not have a commitment to justice nor the truth. Mikael was one of my least favorite persons in the streets. Nevertheless, he was my neighbor.

Kawanna approached us. They saw a robbery victim enter a police car and they decided to leave the scene. They were not involved but they knew that they would be the first suspects. They sat next to us. They thought that they would be safe from the police with us. I am not sure anymore. No one is safe anymore. Kawanna asked if she could meet with us later in the week. She and a group of older girls are thinking about doing something which sounded like embroidery but I have no clue what it is exactly. Mary has a vague idea. The most important thing is that the girls know what it is and they want to make items to sell. The material is quite expensive and they asked our help to purchase it. Kawanna said that they could odd jobs to buy the basic equipment but they need help with the primary material which a specific cloth, I think. These girls have been trying really hard to do everything possible to earn an honest living. They tried selling bottled mineral water. They tried doing odd jobs cleaning offices. They still struggle to make ends meet but they are determined. Kawanna stated that she wants to do something that will help them leave the streets permanently. For now, they need to be here to get donations and food. She believes that she will make it. She asked us to be part of this process. She recognized us as her neighbors.

On our way home, we had to spilt up. I needed to drop by the grocery store and Mary was picking up some cleaning supplies. On her way, she met this homeless man who lives near the corner of our street. He called out her name. It was amazing that he remembered it. Unfortunately, Mary had spent all her money and had nothing to offer him. She told him that she was out of money. The man smiled and said, “You are my friend. You don’t have to give me money each time we see each other. I just wanted to talk you. You are my friend!” He was happy about this. Perhaps it was something he wanted Mary to know for a while. He is just wanted to be our neighbor.

The words of Jesus have the power to open our eyes to see things that perhaps we just ignored previously. It is easy to lose sight of our neighbors in need when there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. However, these things will always be there. They never go away but our neighbors may not be always with us. Besides, they are very much real and present in our lives, more so than all the things happening in the world. As far as changing the world for the better, we have to just admit that it is beyond our means. Furthermore, Jesus never asked us to do anything of that nature. However, the Samaritan made a great difference in the life of that one man who was a victim of the injustices and sufferings in the world. The good actions of this one man did not make the world a better and safer place. It just showed one person that no matter what happens love is still present and strong in this world. This one thing all of us can do. We may not always have the resources to help everyone financially or solve their crisis. It is always within the means of all of us to show love even in the simplest manner. Nothing done in love is ever forgotten. These are treasures that we can store up for eternity.

Jesus said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’ Luke 10:18-20

I had never seen a scorpion in the wild until one day. Well, it wasn’t in the wild exactly. Mary and I were stuck in a bus stop under heavy rain. It was close to where we meet with the children. While we were anxiously waiting for the rain to lighten up, a scorpion crawled out of the gutters. It slowly climbed up a light post at the side of the stop. Everyone just watched the movement of this menacing critter as if hypnotized by its presence. I’m sure that we shared the same sensation as anyone imagining this scene right now; fear, disgust and repulsion and I have to admit a little fascination on my part. Its sting was moving around as if it was seeking for a victim to strike. Then it just froze and stood there as if to remind us despite our high-rise buildings and concrete fortresses we can never be safe from him. He will find a way to visit us when we least expect. Up till then, I never imagined seeing scorpions in this concrete jungle. Of course, this was just foolish of me. There have always been here crawling all around us. I can see these creatures used as symbols of the grave dangers present in this world.

Jesus made some powerful assertions here. They are very practical even though not necessarily taken in the literal sense. The disciples were preparing to go into the world to become purveyors of the good news. Without a doubt, they would confront Satan and his snares. Regardless of what we think about him, we can agree that this figure is universal symbol of evil. Even though our Lord tells us that it is defeated, sometimes it is hard to believe it. We have ample examples of its presence. It might appear that evil is still doing pretty well especially for something that is already overcome. Not only does evil seem to have an upper hand, even the nature of what the world considers as good tends to be dubious. It is tainted with so much evil and it is hard to distinguish the difference. I defer to Shakespeare to illustrate what I am saying here. In his famous tragedy, Hamlet, the protagonist, supposedly the good person, attempts to exact justice for a single act of treason and fratricide. Unfortunately, he executes this not without causing the death of seven innocent people. No one can seriously say evil was overcome. Our flawed nature only produces flawed goodness. Regardless of all this, Jesus assures us that Satan is defeated.

Movies, most mythologies, and literature often address a battle in this existence between good and evil. We tend to read this scenario into our understanding of the gospel. However, this would be a grave mistake. Jesus is saying that there is no battle anymore. The foe is defeated. It doesn’t mean that he is not around. We should know enough to realize a lot of times defeated foes like to pretend that they are still in power. Jesus admonishes us not to listen to these lies. Instead He invites us to see the world through His perspective where the foe is utterly powerless. This is not to say we look at life through rose-colored glasses. Jesus did not. He warned us about scorpions and snakes lurking around. However, we don’t have to fight them.

I feel like I have to make a pause here to clarify something.

I am not suggesting that we become passive to all the problems of the world. There are many battles which are incumbent on us to engage in such as the fight against racism or any form discrimination. We need to address the inequality and the scarcity of basic human needs in many places in the world. There are many things we need to engage in this world. However, we do not go about this in the same manner as the world. In this existence, battles in this world are fought with the principle, “love your friends but hate your enemies.” We do not confront the world by disseminating hatred towards those who are promoting injustice. Jesus gave us another foundation which is completely contrary to the values of this world.

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Matthew 5:44

I have to admit that it is not easy to follow our Lord on this. We constantly are tempted to follow human nature. Well, if it was easy, Jesus wouldn’t have mentioned it in His teachings. In the world, there are countless snakes and scorpions waiting in hidden corners of our souls for the precise moment to sidle up and sting us with their venom of hatred and bitterness. Once contaminated, our eyes will see the evil present in the world. It will blur our vision to the point where we believe the only way to achieve anything in this world is through the forces of the evil one. Thanks be to God, Jesus is the Light of the world. He sends us out into the world to see the Truth.

“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

In the streets where we minister, there are 1001 reasons to hate. There is never a lack of examples to believe that evil is alive and flourishing. There is enough violence and hatred to convince us that everything is a lost cause. The sheer number of people living in the streets screams at us that this is a hopeless situation. The snakes and scorpions are always present to strike our souls and make us abandon this place. However, the Holy Spirit did not bring us here to be impressed with the so-called victory of Satan. He is a defeated foe so the only thing he can do now is to try to pretend that he is in control. Those whose are blind to the Kingdom of God will succumb to his lies. However, Jesus promised us that the poison of these lies will not affect us. It does not mean that they won’t disturb us. This week alone we witnessed several scenes that would be enough to convert us into convicted misanthropes. I won’t reveal what they were. I am not going to promote the lies of the devil in this space. It is reserved only for the proclamation of the gospel. The good news is that Jesus has come to reveal the true way to live in this existence. He has given us the Light to see through the darkness and discover the true nature of people. This does not mean that they intrinsically good. Our true nature as human beings is that we need healing in our souls. We are like lost sheep wandering around aimlessly being influenced by the chaotic whisperings of Satan.

Sometimes it is difficult to see beyond the evil attitudes and actions. After all, we are humans. There is nothing wrong with this. Even Jesus gave us a way out.

“If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.” Matthew 10:14

I used to read this as an act of disdain. I believe that even in popular language this phrase has sneaked in to refer to total and utter rejection of those who mistreat us. In the Light of the gospel, the opposite is true. It means that we are free from the situation which might be overwhelming for us. We asked to shake the dust off our feet so that we will not carry with us the hatred and rejection we felt in a determined situation. It could be a place, work area or even a relationship. All these are places have their scorpions and snakes. God is able and willing to heal our souls and protect us from the effects of these places.

As for us, we came here because this is the place God has aside for us to heal and discover His goodness. Satan is always present trying to propagate his lies. He sends his legion of scorpions and snakes against us. However, the grace of God will protect and heal us from the venom of hatefulness.

The scorpion looked menacing at the bus stop on that day but he was just a tiny critter. He does not have the power to withstand us. He just looks scary and nothing more.

I do not believe that there is a teenage girl in the streets who hasn’t fallen in love with him before. It is not hard to see why. He is a handsome young man with a wonderful personality. Despite sleeping in the streets since 12 years of age, he has never been involved in crime. He has an older brother in the streets too. Their father was an abusive alcoholic and it was their mother who made their home life tolerable. Unfortunately, she died prematurely which prompted the boys to flee to the streets. His older brother got involved in crime almost immediately and ended up being drawn deep into it. He spent most of his teenage life in juvenile detention center and then eventually in prison. We met Wallace when he was 17 years old. Even though he was considered one of the older and more experienced homeless youth, he never lost his innocence. He kept his childlikeness intact. His brother, on the other hand, bears the scars of a life of crime. People usually feel a little intimidated by him. We were a little unsure about him too. Wallace is always very open and warm towards us but his brother, Wilton, always kept his guard.

Despite being charming and sociable, Wallace never had any ambition for anything. We were not sure if he had what it takes to leave homelessness. There was a time when he was using so much drugs that we could hardly talk to him. He would slur his words. It was heart wrecking to watch his slow degradation. One day I couldn’t handle it anymore and I told him that he needed to stop with the drugs. He just smiled at me blankly. I thought that nothing had registered. Then a week later, we found him sober and waiting for us at the steps of the Cathedral. He wanted to do some activities with us. He said more time with us means less time sniffing paint thinner. Eventually, he stopped using everything. I am surprised that he listened. You just never know.

Wallace yelled out to us before running up to give us a big hug. Wilton followed behind and to our surprise, he hugged us too. We hardly saw the brothers since the Pandemic. They are both doing some odd jobs now. Wilton got out of prison and decided enough was enough. He was determined that both him and his brother were going to get jobs and take care of their once abusive father. He has mellowed down a lot since then and health issues have something to do with it. The brothers decided it was time to forgive him. Wilton was working on getting all his documents so that he can eventually register to go to school. Both brothers are illiterate. Wilton wants to better himself and I am sure Wallace will follow in his footsteps. For now, he was helping his older brother to get his documents together, something we did for him few years ago. It seems like he is doing for his brother what we did for him.

We would have never expected that these two brothers to be doing what they were doing now. We thought Wilton was a

lost cause. Thankfully, he proved us wrong. He still has a tough exterior but there is a change. He looks calmer and more peaceful now. Wallace is just happy that his brother is back with him and now they can move forward as a family.

We said our goodbyes and they replied, “É nois.” This is slang here to say we are together and one. Later that evening, Wilton left a message on my phone. He said that he got all his documents and got home safely. He told us not to worry about them and thanked us for everything. It made us feel like we did something special but we are not exactly sure what. It doesn’t matter. Love triumphs in the end.

And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. Luke 9:52-56

There is always a history behind most things. The Samaritans did not reject Jesus because of His Ministry or His Life. There was something hidden and deep rooted lurking behind their actions. James and John did not want to curse this village because of their zeal for Jesus. Their enthusiasm concealed some hidden prejudice and hatred. Jesus was able to perceive and understand the Truth behind people’s actions. We have seen this several times in the gospels. He was never impressed by the crowds which followed him nor did he allow their enthusiasm to influence his decisions. Jesus never dwells in the outward manifestations of life. Many would not have gone beyond superficial impressions. Perhaps this might be truer in our present times. It is not because we are living in exceptionally superficial times. We seem to occupy our time with things which rob our energy to see beyond what is presented to us. However, following Jesus demands that we walk in the footsteps of our Lord. It is no wonder that immediately after this episode, Jesus talked about the cost of being His disciple. In order for us to be disciples of Jesus, we must be willing to understand the world the way He understood it. We cannot continue to be like those who look, but not perceive, and listen, but do not understand (Mark 4:12).

Maria was very excited to see us. She gave us a hug and immediately sat herself next to me. She claimed that she has been clean for three months now. I do not think that she was lying but her sense of time could be a little off. It does not matter. The point is that she wants to be clean. This is in itself a radical change. She said that her mind is clearer now and she is even trying to go back to school. However, she realizes that she lacks the basic knowledge. She asked if we had text books on Portuguese grammar and mathematics. “They can’t be too hard,” she stressed. “I don’t understand complex stuff yet.” This was quite an interesting thing. Most of our youths are quite proud. They pretend to know more than they do. Their attitude is understandable. It is not something just peculiar to the homeless teens. It is just plain human nature. It pains us to admit that we don’t know as much as we claim to know. Unfortunately, for our children and teens, pride is one of the greatest obstacles for their progress. They cannot admit the fact that they need to be learn from someone else. They consider it too humiliating and in the end they give up.

Maria, fortunately, is different. She does not have these inhibitions. She does not feel the necessity to impress others. She recently got a notebook and now she is recording everything she knows in it. It sounds like it might be her very first notebook. It is quite sad in a way. Maria has been in the streets for a long time. She belonged to the first group we met in the streets. Actually, the very first blog post I wrote after we arrived here in 2013 was about our interaction with her brother, João. Their mother named her two children, João and Maria. Incidentally these names are the Brazilian translation of the Grimm’s fairy tale, “Hansel and Gretchen”. Both children were in the streets but not because their mother deliberately abandoned them in the “woods”. They ran away because they were afraid for their safety. Their mother suffers from mental illness and was unstable. Unfortunately, the children were not spared from it. Both João and Maria suffer from it too. João went deep into the “woods”. He now lives in the dreaded place called “Crackland”. People in this place are in a constant crack induced stupor. Maria managed to stay away from this place even though she always self-medicated with other substances. I have never written about her before because she always ignored us. Sometimes it seemed as if she was deliberately rude to us. Once she yelled at us for not being there for her. In her mind, she thinks that we did not keep our commitment over some things she imagined that we had promised to her. We thought for a long time that Maria was not interested in having any relationship with us. Then, unexpectedly, she sat next to us to tell us about all the wonderful things which are happening to her.

There were other times when she talked to us previously. Most of the time there was an ulterior motive usually involving money. However, this time it was different. It was something genuine. To be fair, this is not the first occasion when she showed her genuine character. There was another brief moment when Renan was murdered. Daniel asked us to pray for him and Maria came up and just sat next to us in silence. She sat with us for a long period without uttering a single word. Renan was her boyfriend. Now she was just talking non-stop but not in a negative way. She had interesting things to say. We listened to her silently. It was amazing to see her in this light. She displayed a sweetness which we had never seen before. She did not expect anything from us except to share all the good things that were unfolding in her life. She knew that we would appreciate them and be happy for her. Then some of her friends came around and she left with them. She almost forgot about us until her present boyfriend reminded her. She turned around and apologized and then said that she wants to show us her notebook the next time.

We just had a glimpse of the real Maria. It took a while to see the real person behind the mental illness and drugs. She is, by no means, healed. Most likely, she will never be completely healed. Nevertheless, we have seen enough to see her in a new light. Although, it is very possible that she might ignore us in the future, it will be different. A lot of things in life require several attempts. To expect Maria to overcome every obstacle in a short period of time is an unreasonable expectation. Healing is a process. The fact that she wanted to share with us her joys means that she considers us part of this healing process. We are eternally grateful for this. Beside, she taught us a valuable lesson; never come to precipitated conclusions about anyone just because they might appear to be indifferent or hostile. There is always a history behind people’s actions.

The Samaritans endured a history of hatred and rejection from the rest of the Jewish people. This history went back a long time and Jerusalem was the symbol of all this hostility. Jesus understood this and He did not take to heart their rejection. John and James were acting on their own prejudice. They were not acting as disciples of Jesus who taught repeatedly to forgive and heal, instead of harboring hatred and violence. There is no room for these things in the hearts of Jesus’ disciples. However, it is easy for us to feel angry when we see people acting in ways that seem contrary to what is right. We can be tempted to label these people with unflattering labels like criminals, lazy or spoiled. All these might describe their behavior but it is not who they are. Jesus saw beyond the behavior of the Samaritans. Therefore, as people desiring to follow our Lord, we need to see beyond behaviors and not let ourselves be fooled by so-called religious or pious actions which conceal something more sinister and detrimental.

In our hearts, we gave up on Maria a long time ago. We never outwardly rejected her but we never imagined that we could have any meaningful relationship with her. It took her a while to come out of all the dirt that has been heaped upon her since the day she was born. Now, she realizes that there are some people waiting for her on the other side. I am glad she considers us to be among those waiting.

There is another youth who is either 18 or close to it and never says a word to us. We don’t even know his name. We have never seen him smile. He always puts on a tough exterior. Unfortunately, he is steeped in criminal activities. Nevertheless, every time he sees us, he will shake our hands first before greeting any of his friends. He always does this. There is something special in this young man. Maybe one day he will be able to show his true nature to us. Till then we are not going to give up on him. Thank you, Maria, for this precious lesson.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:4

I used to like post-apocalyptic movies but recently, they have lost their appeal. Everything changes when our reality reflects what once was a mere fantasy.

Every day we see abandoned buildings, increasing sense of lawlessness, trash scattered everywhere and families living in makeshift tents cooking their dinner on improvised stoves, while the police walk around armed to the teeth as if we are in war. All this we see in our own neighborhood and we live in supposedly the richest city in Latin America. I thought maybe I am just being negative. Recently, we received a visitor in our home. It was a friend who is living in Europe presently. He is back on a short family visit. He decided it would be fun to walk to our place from his temporary lodgings. It’s not anywhere near us, almost two hours walking distance. Perhaps it sounds like a crazy idea for some but our friend is a very unique person. Besides, it is something I would do easily in his place. He wanted to get reacquainted with the city and this seemed like a good way. When he got to our place, he told us that he felt like he walked through the scenery from a post-apocalyptic movie without any of the entertaining element. It is not just my opinion then. We are living in a post apocalyptic state.

The place where we meet the children and teens is considered the old commercial center of this city. Sometimes the word “historic” is added to its description to attract the tourist. However, you have to be a pretty naive tourist to come here. It is quite dangerous and frightening. We are part of the environment now but it does not mean that we are immune to its dangers. We still need to be aware. There is a new group of children and teens who have moved to our area. Most of them do not know us. There are about at least 50 to 60 of them and they are mostly under the age of 12 with some older teenage girls in the mix. All of them are runaways from orphanages. We do not know exactly how they met. The pattern is always the same. The children and teens ran away from their situation and joined up with others like them and eventually they migrate to the historic center. The first thing they do is to prove how tough they are. As a result, any unfortunate soul wearing a gold chain is sure to lose it in this old center. I wish I was exaggerating but this is the sad truth.

A group of European looking tourists came walking towards the church and few seconds later they were running away from a bunch of children trying to rob them. An older teenage girl pounced on one of the tourists to steal her chain. She managed to get away with her things intact but I am not sure about her state of mind. It was quite an unsettling scene. The teenage girl behaved like a dreadful monster. However, it impressed the other children. No doubt this was her intention. She has proven herself to be one of them. Now she has a story to tell. The next day the same girl came up to us and asked if she could color with us.

She colored in silence. There is something about her face which revealed a timid gentle soul hiding behind a tough exterior. She spoke to us in curt sentences. She chose her colors carefully and then when she was finished she showed us her end product. It was truly beautiful. She stood up and walked away with a satisfied smile. The next day, when she saw us, she gestured to us to sit with her. She started coloring again and did not say anything. We did not want to burden her questions. The following day she called our names with a big smile. We do not recall telling her our names. Suddenly the images of the girl attacking an innocent tourist were not compatible with this girl we are beginning to know. She appeared to be a little child now. She asked Mary to teach her a few English words. She wanted to know how to say “sorry” in English. Ever since this day, she always comes up to us and sometimes she just stands next to us without saying anything, never hiding the fact that she is happy to see us. Our relationship is slowly developing through silence. The Holy Spirit gave us the capacity to speak the language this young girl understood without uttering a single word. She just wants to be close to someone who will let her be herself. It is apparent that she feels safe with us and we feel a sense of love creeping into our hearts. Suddenly, the world does not seem so dark and gloomy anymore. The Spirit brought a little girl who wants to be in a place where she can feel safe and loved. We are grateful that Holy Spirit considered us for the role.

Her name is Giovana.

Some Recent Interactions

Perhaps few days after I wrote this, we saw her in the streets playing with another teen. I suppose it is her boyfriend. We know him but we do not have any strong connection with him. She was playing with him like a little child. She ran up to him expecting him to catch her as she jumped into his arms. A game a little child would play with her father. When her boyfriend caught her, she was laughing and completely oblivious to the world. There was something sad about it.

A little later she came up and stood next to us, smiling. She wanted us to know that she had just celebrated her birthday. She added that the doors of the orphanage are permanently closed to her. It means that she is 18 now. We told her that we will do something special together. She smiled and thanked us. The next day, Mary wrote her name in beautiful calligraphy with special birthday wishes. We also included a box of good chocolate and a pair of warm socks. It has been cold recently and anything warm is always welcomed. The next day, she came up and gave us hug. Our relationship has progressed to hugs. This is a pleasant development. She did not know that we had a gift for her. She was taken by surprise. She saw the chocolates and the socks. There was not much of a reaction beside a smile. Then she saw the hand written note. She showed it to the other kids who were more interested in the chocolates. She sat down and shared her chocolates with the others but held the note in her hand. It was something that just belonged to her.

Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. Luke 8:30-33

I heard one of the most disturbing things and at the same time, I was encouraged. It might appear that I have violated some Law of Logic here. I hope Aristotle would give me a moment to explain myself. Before I can do this, I need to introduce Ron. Actually it is somehow pronounced as Hon. In reality, his name is Tiago. I think I am confusing everyone. Sometimes things are little confusing in the streets. To make matters worse, the children and teens refer to him as a “she” even though he has never once dressed as a woman nor behaves like one. They say that he is a trans. We respect people where they are and Ron knows this but has never asked us to address him as such. Therefore, he will be a “he” here.

Ron is not really a teen. He is not even a young adult. He is in his thirties. We know his exact age. However, he made us promise not to reveal it so I am obliged to keep our word. He has been homeless since he was a teenager. This is why he has an affinity with the children and teens. The children adore him even though he finds them to be annoying. He often refers to them as a bunch of lazy criminals. Despite his caustic humor, he has a deep affection for them. When Wesley died a few months ago, I saw Ron hiding in a corner to cry. The former used to annoy Ron a lot when he was alive. The children think Ron is funny and feel safe with him. He is part of the children’s environment just as we are part of it too. Anyone who wants to foster deep relationships with them has to accept those in their environment. I’m sure that they observe how we treat Ron. Fortunately, we enjoy his company. This can not be said of everyone in the children’s environment which includes some dangerous and unsavory characters. We just acknowledge their presence and keep a safe distance.

Ever since the Pandemic started, the local government has set up hygiene stations where the homeless can take a shower and wash their clothes. They also provide clean undergarments. A simple thing as such has improved the quality of their lives radically. The older teens take regular showers now and often look very neat and tidy thanks to this service. Ron also takes full advantage of this. He has a bag full of clothes and washes them once a week. He is quite an organized fellow. This week while he was waiting for his clothes to get done, he came and talked with us. He timed himself so that he knew exactly when his clothes would get done. Unfortunately, he got distracted and was five minutes late. One of the staff chided him saying it was unacceptable and banned him from washing clothes for the rest of the month. It was a little disproportionate. She even refused to let him dry his clothes. He carried all his wet clothes and laid them on the floor so they could dry in the sun. Naturally, I was appalled at this callous attitude of the staff. This is Brazil. People are always late. Whenever I have my friends over to my place, I know that everyone will be at least half hour late on a good day. The norm is one hour. No one is hardly on time for any appointment. It’s just part of life here and usually no one really minds. Moreover, no one ever thinks of apologizing for being late. No judgement here. It is just the way things are and it’s neither bad nor good. However, apparently the staff at this place is either from another country which is most unlikely or mean-spirited. I reiterated that being five minutes late is not that big of a deal especially for the homeless who don’t have watches nor mobile phones. Ron replied by saying this is the norm. It is not about tardiness. Most staff who work in the government social programs hate the homeless. He said that all the children and teens know this. Even when those give out food at night, they can be mean and say degrading things to them.

In a way, this is not news. I have observed the social workers and other governmental agencies in the streets. They do treat the homeless either with indifference in most cases or unprovoked hostility in some situations. Ron said that the homeless are used to this hostility. It is just part of their life. Then he said, “You like us.” I almost did not hear him saying this. I was disturbed by the fact that people who choose to work with the homeless continue to disseminate attitudes of hatred and rejection towards them. To be fair, I have met some social workers who were excellent but they never stay long in the field. They always get frustrated but not with the children and teens. They feel like they are working against an army of demons. Of course, these are not their exact words. I am interpreting what they said.

Unfortunately, the word, demon, tends to conjure up caricature images in our minds, no thanks to cheap and vacuous movies and literature. If we believe that the essence of God is Love and the ministry of Jesus is to reconcile us to this love then demons includes anyone who promotes hatred and alienation of any group of people. In all societies, these demons are present. Sometimes they have a permanent place. Legion is not just peculiar to Gerasene. It has a foothold in this city too. It doesn’t want to leave this place. Unfortunately there are many here who are willing to give Legion a place in their lives whereas the irrational beings like the pigs would rather die than be a host to such destructive forces.

Jesus did not need to go Gerasene. This was explained to me by a scholar who likes to study New Testament geography, something which I lack the inclination to do. It makes complete sense. No devout Jewish person would wonder into a place where swines are livestock. Nevertheless, Jesus made a special trip to this place to do just one thing. He wanted to heal a man who the whole village kept in an alienated state. He served a purpose for them. Maybe he kept strangers away from the place. Perhaps he was the perfect scapegoat for that particular society. They were not interested in his healing. They wanted him to remain in his state. If this wasn’t the case, then they would have been happy when Jesus healed him. Instead they were more concerned for their livestock. The economy was much more important than the healing of a human being. They would rather cohabit with demons than lose some money. They did not want a savior to upset their well-established order. Despite the rejection of the people, Jesus fulfilled his purpose in that place. He came to heal just that one person. Legion still remained in that particular city. It did not matter. Jesus healed this one soul. The kingdom of God was established in that place.

In every society, there are demons who like to keep things the way they are. We need to make sure that we do not become one of their host. Clearly, no one wants this. All of us want to be agents of Love and Reconciliation. Yet, wanting something is not enough. Our Lord would go out of His way to bring healing to people who suffered the most by the oppression of these demonic forces. It is an active vocation which does not happen naturally. We must act to become agents of healing.

Jesus did say that before we take the speck out of the other’s eyes, make sure we don’t walk around a log in our own eyes. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves if we are being agents of love to the homeless. It is not a given just because we are ministering among the children. The staff who was mean to Ron also works among the homeless. Later than evening, I remembered Ron’s words. “You like us.” He is easy to like but there are those who are not that easy. They need God’s healing and reconciliation too.

Jesus came to preach the good news to a specific people but He made His detours as the Spirit led. We have the same Spirit here with us to guide us to become God’s agent of Love and Reconciliation where He has placed us. In this world, we can be either vessels of Legion and disseminate destruction or we can be agents of love and reconciliation.

There is a street cleaner of the area where the children stay. Every day she sweeps around the area at the end of day. She always has a smile for everyone and always speaks lovingly to the all the homeless. Everyone loves her including us. Sometimes she makes little comments which make the children and teens feel loved. She is just a street cleaner to the world but in reality, she is a genuine agent of love and reconciliation. No one will ever hear about anything written about this woman. Yet, her love will always be remembered by the homeless and by us as well.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. John 16:12-13

Some days nothing happens. Sometimes something which seems like nothing turns out to be something important. Today, Kawanna was just thirsty.

She did not ask us to buy her some water. She wanted to know if the other children and teens could spare her some. No one had any. It is strange that no one talks about thirst. Water is such a visible commodity and is hard to imagine its scarcity. It is easier to get food than water. I mean potable water. Quite frequently, the homeless would wander around at night seeking for a place which would give them a cup of water. They would wake up extremely thirsty and unable to sleep until their thirst was quenched. The concierge of our building told me that he is instructed not to give out any water even from the tap. The management is afraid it might be become an habit. I did not realize thirst was a habit. Thankfully, our concierge disobeys this order and secretly has two liter bottles of water ready each time someone comes by asking for it.

We decided to buy Kawanna a big bottle of water. It is such an easy thing for us to do. There is a convenience store right where the children hang out. It is one of those nondescript stores which have cropped up ubiquitously ever since the city has attempted to regain normality. Surprisingly, the children and teens are comfortable entering this establishment. They are prone to avoid stores because they feel like everyone is eyeing them suspiciously. This one is different for them. It’s their store. They mostly buy water or drinks there. Thirst is a truly a problem.

Mary entered the store with Kawanna and I stood outside because I was too lazy to put on a mask. As I waited for them, I saw a young teen coming out of the store. I have known him since he was a very young lad but he hardly does anything with us. He used to be annoying but now he has mellowed a bit. He saw me and gave me hug. Anyone observing us would have thought that I have a strong relationship with this boy. I was quite taken aback myself. Nevertheless, he chatted for a while, just small talk, nothing profound and gave me another hug and left. Then two other older teens came by. They belonged to the group which was involved in crime. These do not usually interact with us so much, albeit they are always respectful. One of the boys hugged me before going into the store. I do not even know this boy’s name and never realized he was even aware of our presence but he knew my name.

Two teens who hardly gave us any attention when we are with the other children suddenly are showing warmth and affection towards me. Maybe I was standing in a neutral area and they felt free to be themselves. All in all it was a pleasant experience. Mary and Kawanna were taking a long time. Then before I knew it, someone hugged me from the side. It was Daniel. This one was expected. He is one of our favorites. I was getting lots of love just waiting in front of this store. Again, a casual observer might think that I am someone really popular with these homeless teens. There were a couple of policemen looking at me. It was not the kind of attention which I wanted. Mary and Kawanna finally came out. There was an issue.

It was really nothing, not worth going into details at least, just a rude older customer trying to provoke them. Thankfully, Kawanna did not take the bait even though she was upset. She confessed that she wanted to react and say something but controlled herself instead. Mary tried to explain to her at times it is best to just ignore these antagonistic people. Kawanna shared a recent incident where a random stranger attacked one of her friends for no apparent reason. She had to defend her friend by punching the guy until he released his choke on her friend. She added that it made her feel awful as she hates violence. This is quite interesting hearing from a girl who spent years in the juvenile detention center for being an accomplice in a violent crime. She was divulging something to us which she may not have the freedom to say with others. It is important to put on a tough exterior in the streets especially for the girls. All of us can imagine why this is necessary. However, they know that with us they can be themselves without any fear.

Perhaps you might be wondering how this is all connected with the Holy Trinity. In a way, it has nothing to do with it if we are talking about the doctrine. The doctrine itself can be a monotonous and tedious concept wrought with technical terms. For most of us it might sound mild fascinating but mostly irrelevant. We just want to discover and understand the Love of God. It is good to remember that the fundamental intention of this doctrine is to discover how God’s love operates in this world. A full knowledge of the complexity of the Holy Trinity is not necessary. The Holy Trinity is about encountering God, not about learning a doctrine.

Our children and teens need to encounter the Trinity in their daily life. Most of them are orphans and it is important for them to know that they are not abandoned, despite the fact that the world rejects them. They often say that their only true parent is God. They are not saying this because they are in a so-called religious culture. It is based on their experience and hope. Furthermore, they need guidance to live their lives in a way of Love. They need to encounter the person of Jesus in the lives of people so they have a means to understand how to imitate Him. Most importantly, they need the strength to face the Truth about themselves. Most of them are afraid to do this. However, one can never understand Love without facing the Truth and one cannot face the Truth without the strength and power of Love. It is an almost impossible task for us to reconcile both of these. Most of the time, we tend to adopt a sentimental expression of Love without the Truth or we speak the Truth in a harsh and loveless manner. Thankfully, what is impossible for humans is possible through the divine act of the Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, Truth and Love cannot be reconciled.

Therefore, every attempt to share God’s Love is essentially living out the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Kawanna was thirsty. We just wanted to buy her a bottle of water but we ended up giving Jesus a glass of water without thinking about it. Where Jesus is present, Truth is seen and heard clearly. These boys who are apparently cold and distant are actually thirsty for Love. They were not hesitant to show it when there was an opportunity. Maybe we need to hang out outside the store more often, maybe not. I think that the Holy Spirit will open doors for us at the right moment. We just have to make ourselves available and not discard an opportunity just because it appears to be insignificant. After all, we serve a Lord who can turn water into wine. I am glad that we did not disregard Kawanna’s thirst because of its simplicity. In reality, the most profound moments of Love are encountered in the simple things and actions.