compassion

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Herod like Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

John lost his life but Herod lost his soul.

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

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

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

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

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The Mystery of Prayer

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.- John 14:12-14

We walked around the square looking for the children today but no one was around. We know some of the places where they beg for money and went looking for them there instead. We found Breno and Filipe. They were sitting outside a bakery which sells artisanal bread. Breno’s face lit up when he saw us. He jokingly asked me for one dollar. I pretended to give him some change and then he pulled his hand back. He really thought that I was going to give him some money and he did not want any of it. He did not want that kind of relationship with us. He smiled when he realized that I was just joking. Filipe asked us to wait for them at the Cathedral steps. This has been our meeting place for the past month. We have been doing all our activities there.

We sat and waited for them at the steps and it didn’t take long before other children and teens started appearing. They asked to play a game of Uno. This has been our common practice the past few weeks. However, today, we did not bring Uno with us. This was deliberate. It was time for something new. Today, we wanted to just sit and talk with them and maybe do some art. At first, they were disappointed. Nevertheless, they remained at the steps with us. Initially they did not want to anything else. We took out a coloring book and started coloring instead by ourselves. Their curiosity perked and eventually one by one they started asking if they could join us in coloring. However, Dreyson did not want to color but he wanted to talk instead. He started asking questions about Mary’s childhood and Maine where she grew up. We have known Dreyson for almost two years. He ran away to the streets when he was 13. He hardly speaks to us, mainly because he is always high on paint thinner. We were surprised when he started asking things about us. He was also curious about our relationship and how long we have been married. He shared some about his experiences and the places he visited with his father once upon a time. Something happened between his father and him which caused him to run away. We know that his father was a crack addict. We asked him if he was angry with his father and he nodded his head. He did not want to say anything much about it. We did not push him for more information. It is his story and he will tell us at the right time.

Ruan was sitting beside us during this whole time pretending to be coloring but was really eavesdropping . He is used to be terror in the streets. Despite being only 13, he is really big for his age and he used his size to bully others. He stole our deck of Uno cards before and started yelling profanities at us when we asked him to return them. Today, he has changed in the way he interacts with us. He has become more tender with us. He even obeys us whenever we insist that he try not use any profanity in our presence. He apologizes to Mary whenever a swear word slips out. This is a big change for him. He was sitting next to us listening to our conversation with Dreyson and it was obvious that he was beginning to get a little jealous. He wanted some attention from us as well but he was willing to wait for his turn. This is itself is a miracle.

Gabriel appeared out of nowhere and asked for a game of Uno. He has been our constant companion in the streets for the past few weeks. He is about fourteen and we have known him for a little over a year. We told that there was no Uno for today. He did not seem disappointed. He asked what we can do together. We suggested just talking and he smiled. We spoke about a variety of topics. Soon everyone was just talking like a family. The topics ranged from Christmas to things we liked and disliked. They shared about their homes and family members. They shared about some good experiences they had with their families and the homeless shelters where they stayed. They asked about the things we liked and wanted to know how we celebrated Christmas. One of them even asked if we had spent anytime in prison. Everyone they knew has been to prison so for them this wasn’t a strange question. This was the first time in two years where we just talked with children and teens without any activities. We wanted them to know that we just wanted to spend time with them and they blessed us by doing this exactly. When it was time to go, they complained that we were leaving too early. We had been there for almost three hours.

There has been a change in our ministry. Our relationships with the children and teens have grown stronger. They have taken the trouble to learn our first names. They call us, “Uncle Estive” and “Auntie Merie”. Both our names are difficult for Portuguese speakers to pronounce. The children and teens whom we once considered to be tough and closed have changed their demeanor towards us. We set strict limits when they are with us. They cannot use any chemical substances or use profane language when they do anything with us. They struggle with it and yet they don’t mind when we insist that they follow the rules. The positive change is obvious. Perhaps it is just the time we have spent in the streets. One could say that our relationships have evolved through time. In reality, time is neutral. It does not make things better or worse. There are people who have worked in the streets for many years and still do not have good relationships with the children. I think the changes are a result of prayer.

In one of my newsletters to the churches, I suggested that people adopt some of these children and pray for them. The concept of adoption wasn’t so much in the sense of financially sponsoring the children and teens. We did not want any finance involved in this process. We wanted people who felt called to pray and correspond with these children. Some people and churches responded to this challenge. Some wrote to me personally and asked for the names of specific children. I always gave the names of the toughest children and teens. It was interesting to see the effect taking place in some of these children. I am not saying that everything is wonderful and these children are now our best friends. I am saying that there is a change in their hearts. Some might say that it is coincidence. William Temple had the perfect answer for such people; “When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don’t pray, they don’t.”

Jesus said that He will do whatever we ask in His Name. This verse has been abused and distorted ever since it was spoken. This is not a license to get what we want. His words are to meant to comfort our souls. Those who think such way have forgotten the preceding verses. Prayer is a gift to us to do greater things than Jesus did while He walked in this world. It sounds impossible because it is impossible. Only prayer can make this possible. Jesus never was able to touch the hearts of people thousands of miles away from Him when He walked this earth. Today, the church is able to do this through prayer. It is God’s way of helping us participate in something that seems impossible for us to do. It seems impossible to make a difference in the lives of people thousands of miles away. Those who have been praying for these little ones can be comforted to know that their concerns and compassion voiced to our Father are being honored. Anything done in the hopes of spreading the knowledge of God’s love is never in vain.

Ruan used to be a bully and disrespectful, but now he wants to spend time with us and is sometimes even willing to throw his paint thinner away to play games with us. Alan used to ignore us. Now he wants to spend time with us and asks about our lives. I could go on and on about the changes that have occurred. The most logical reason for these is prayer. This has been the major change in our approach since we started this ministry. More Christians are engaged with us in the streets through prayer. It is not magic. It is just the Holy Spirit opening our eyes to see His active presence in action. We are becoming more impressed with what God is doing. Prayer is opening our hearts and minds to God’s actions.

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A Time for Mercy

“Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy.” -Jonah 2:8

Recently, there has been a proposal to amend the constitution to reduce the adult age to sixteen in criminal cases.It has been approved for consideration and debate which is the final step before it becomes official. This means any sixteen year old that commits any crime ranging from petty theft to murder would be confined in the same facility as adult prisoners. The recent poll shows that about 87 percent of the population are in favor of this new proposed amendment. Those who are against it are mainly the House of Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church and people like us who work with the children and teens from impoverished areas. The people argue that they are fed up with the fact that teenagers can commit heinous crimes and are sent to juvenile centers until they are eighteen and then set free. The truth is that the heinous crimes are rarely committed by teenagers but this Law would affect all the teenagers who make unwise choices in their lives. No one disagrees that the incarceration system needs reform but there is hardly any talk about reform in this discussion. This proposed amendment is about punishment; as if the fear of punishment would generate automatic rehabilitation. This simplistic view of the situation is not going to create a safer society but it may facilitate the creation of dangerous criminals.

In my blog posts, I rarely address any political issues. I don’t do this to avoid controversy. I only address them when they are relevant to the children and teens in our ministry. This amendment directly affects our work. Therefore, it is necessary to say something from the perspective of our vocation.

Brazilian prisons are notoriously overcrowded.* I have not visited any adult prisons recently but I have spoken to adults who have been incarcerated. They tell me that an average cell built to hold eight people is overcrowded with at least thirty inmates. Everyone is grouped together. Petty thieves and dangerous murderers sleep in the same cell. Sometimes they have to take turns to sleep because of the lack of space. Within the prison walls, gangs run the show. Those who are affiliated with the gangs are free from violence and rape. Consequently, everyone has to join a gang to survive or even if they don’t, their families have to pay the gangs to protect their loved ones. On the other hand, those who join the gangs are treated with respect and dignity. Their families receive financial help from the gangs on the outside and on visitation days, they are spared some of the humiliating process of being strip searched to visit their sons and daughters. Most men who are imprisoned have affiliated themselves with the gangs because it is the only way to survive. Now, imagine a sixteen year old boy in this situation.

Perhaps, some will argue that they shouldn’t have chosen the life of crime and they deserve what they get. However, the question any good person should ask is why a young man or girl would choose the life of crime?

Most of these young criminals come from impoverished neighborhoods. The schools in these regions are precarious to say the least. A friend of ours taught in these schools. He told us that some of the school buildings are made out of tin literally. During the summer months, the heat is unbearable and the students and teachers have no choice but to endure it. Our friend was an enthusiastic graduate from college who wanted to give his best in a profession whose starting pay is about US$350 per month. Just to give you a point of reference, the rent for a small one bedroom house in the worse neighborhood in the outskirts of the city is more than half of that. You really have to a vocation to do this job. Unfortunately not everyone in this profession has a vocation. Our friend once heard a teacher say in the teacher’s room that her greatest wish was that these children grow up to be utter failures and frustrated in everything they do. This is hardly the kind of role model we would wish upon our worst enemy.

In these neighborhoods, there is rarely a library. There are insufficient social services for the large number of people living here. Both parents often have to work to support the family. The children and teens are in the streets most of the time because their homes are too tiny and hot to remain indoors all day. The streets are filled with unsavory opportunities. Drug dealers roam the streets freely without any problems from the police. They are not afraid of anyone especially the police. The children are exposed to corruption and hypocrisy to the extend that they have lost all respect for the civil authority. The drug dealers are people who have convinced themselves that the only way out of poverty is through crime. They can be the cousins and uncles of these children and teenagers. They might be people who genuinely care for them. Their involvement in crime does not deprive them of their human sensibilities. Unfortunately, these things also make it hard for these children and teens to think negatively of their criminal choices. To make matters worse, the drug dealers are always present and the children have a tendency to admire those who are most present in their lives.

None of these reasons should be confused as excuses for someone to embrace a life of crime. However, this is the hostile environment in which these children and teenagers are constantly exposed. Despite this, many who live in these situations never commit any crime. It does not change the fact that there are many impressionable ones who are seduced by the fleeting perks of criminal life. The real crime is that they live in an environment where crime is a viable option, whereas work and good education are no where to be found.

Many people believe that these young criminals are inherently bad and there is no hope for them. Many of these people go to church on Sundays and read the same Bible as those who oppose this Law. No one is saying that these young offenders are innocent. We believe that they need to be rehabilitated. However, sending a sixteen year old to a cell crowded with hardened criminals is inhumane punishment. I will admit that we are making a choice to look at this from the perspective of the children and teens we know. As I am writing this, I am looking at a picture of Igor and Ana Paula. They both were sent to juvenile detention center at the age of seventeen and Igor only left the detention center when he turned eighteen. He spent a major part of his teenage years incarcerated. Today, he wants something completely different for his life. All his life, people have told him that the life of crime was his destiny. He did not want to believe this, but he was always surrounded by criminals and he did not see any way out. When he was incarcerated, the guards constantly said that he would amount to nothing and he would die a criminal’s death. Today, he said that for the first time he is surrounded by people who hope the best for him. He can imagine a better future for himself. This is not just the case of Igor. All the teens and children that we wrote about in this blog desire someone to believe in them. They don’t want to give up hope but they need people from the outside to help them turn this into a reality. None of them are hardened criminals. None of them want to spend their lives in crime.

The essence of the gospel message is about mercy. One of the most disturbing parables is the one of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:21-35); the servant was forgiven undeservedly of his debt and yet he refused to show mercy to his co-servant. Consequently, he forsook his own mercy. The prophet Jonah tells us that those who worship false gods forsake their own mercy. It makes complete sense. In order to show mercy, we need to believe in a God that is able to do incredible things like transform the life of a person who has given up hope for himself or herself. We cannot believe this unless we have experienced it in our lives. If we take the mercy we received for granted as if it is something we rightly deserved, then we do not understand mercy at all. Consequently we do not know the God who is merciful.

Showing mercy does not mean that we pretend no offense has been committed. It means that we believe that all people are worth redeeming. It means showing in practical ways that we believe everyone has the potential of becoming a person who follows the footstep of the most perfect Human Being expressed in the person of Jesus. Mercy seeks to understand why people do wrong things and tries to correct them. The unmerciful servant was only interested in punishment. He wanted revenge and by doing so, he inadvertently chose his own demise.

87 percent of the population will find this post offensive. I don’t write this to offend anyone. I write this because the way to create a better and safer society is to become a more merciful one. I am not a fool to believe that we will live in a merciful society in this reality. However, we don’t have to be part of creating an unmerciful order. I pray that God’s mercy will prevail and the Law will not be amended. To do so is to sentence these teenagers to a life of crime and certain violent death.

Please pray with us that God’s mercy will prevail.

 

 

* The situation of the Brazilian Penitentiary system can easily be verified through a google search.

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English Lessons with Igor

I must admit that sometimes my posts seem to be a little erratic. I share about our interactions with some particular child or teenager and then the following weeks there is hardly any news about them.

I do not mean to be erratic. However, this is the nature of the work. Some days we have meaningful interactions with a particular child and then he or she just disappears, not literally of course. The center covers a wide geographic area. The children and teens do not usually stay at one place. They do sleep at the same place every night but they like to wander during the day. The young ones think that life is an adventure. They go from place to place seeking food and frequently causing some mischief along the way; nothing really sinister. They just want to see how much they can get away with in the streets. The older teens don’t like to be in open spaces during the day. They are susceptible to police’s scrutiny. They feel safer if they move around to avoid any suspicion. We have to wander around as well in order to find them and when we do, they are usually high from sniffing paint thinner or another form of drugs. We have to wait for the right moment to speak with them. Usually we get this chance perhaps with at least one child or teen almost everyday but not always with the same child or teen. This is why there is not always a follow-up story in my posts. However, this time I am going to do something different. Something new is happening. We are excited but at the same time we are cautious. We don’t want our excitement to rush things or create unrealistic expectations. We are excited about a young man named Igor. I want to share his story but it is impossible to do so in one post. It is a story of a relationship that has been slowly developing over the past year. It is not just Igor’s story but it is also our story.

I mentioned Igor before. Actually I have mentioned several Igors. It was a popular name in São Paulo twenty years ago. Consequently, there are several different Igors about the same age in the streets. This particular one came to the streets when he was 8 years old. It was the tragic death of his mother that drove to the streets. She was killed over a trivial argument and the life of her son was changed forever. Igor’s father had died in prison a few years before and he was all alone in this world. His aunt took him in out of obligation and Igor sensed this strongly. As an eight year old child, he made a decision which no child of this age should ever make in an ideal world. However, he did not live in an ideal world and he ended up in the streets. Crime and drugs are part of the street life so is incarceration and Igor experienced all of these. By the time he was eighteen, he had been incarcerated fifteen times. He told us that he never cared for anything or anybody. He would leave the detention center and go back to the streets to rob. He did not believe that life had anything to offer him. Then he fell in love with another homeless teen, Ana Paula. She is four years older than him with a similar background. The two orphans found solace in each other. It did not take long before Ana Paula was pregnant and Igor was incarcerated for the last time as a minor during her pregnancy. Igor told us that it was the first time he seriously thought about changing his life. This time when he left the detention center, he was determined not to return.

When we first met Igor, we did not know much about him. Only thing we knew was that he was interested in languages. He had memorized some French phrases just from hearing some Africans speaking to each other. He told us that he always wanted to speak in English and French. We asked him if he was interested in learning English. He said that he was willing to learn anything if he was given the chance. This was the beginning of a series of English lessons with Igor.

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Compassion and the Victim Mentality

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. (Luke 19:1-6)

A seemingly peaceful day was disrupted by five or six police with their guns out of their holsters chasing and yelling after a teenager. There was a lone civilian among the police and it was obvious that he was the victim of the crime. For a moment all of us were disoriented with yelling and guns waving around in the air. Mary (my wife) warned the children that were with us to stay down, just in case someone’s gun were to go off by chance. Everyone heard Mary’s voice but no one paid attention to it, including me. We were just stood there paralyzed by adrenaline. The pursued teenager was trying to dodge the police by running between two parked cars. He almost looked like he was playing catch with them. It would have been comical if it wasn’t for the presence of the guns. Finally, the teenager turned into a narrow street which was his doom. He was surrounded. It didn’t take long for the police to subdue him and he did not resist. We were relieved that it was over. The children were strangely calm but our hearts were beating fast. Perhaps they were accustomed to such a scene. We were curious about the teenager. He was homeless like them but no one could recognize him from where we were standing.

The police made the teenager sit on the ground while they waited for the patrol car. Mary and I pretended that we needed to walk pass the scene just to catch a glimpse of the teenager. I admit we are curious creatures. Unfortunately he was someone we knew. His name is Raphael and he had just turned eighteen. He is a loner and doesn’t interact with the other children and teens. We have seen him several times in our neighborhood sitting outside a convenience store begging for money. Sometimes he would smile at us but most of the time he would just ignore us. We never knew him to steal or rob but maybe today he saw an opportunity to do it and took a risk. Anything is possible. There is strong chance that Raphael is going to prison. He most likely will spend a few months in the overcrowded prisons of São Paulo. He was crying as we passed him. I think he saw us as we passed him. There was nothing we could do for him.

I don’t believe that many people felt sorry for him. I am sure that the victim of his crime was feeling vindicated at this moment. Raphael looked defeated and devastated. It is easy to forget that Raphael is not the victim. However, this does not mean he doesn’t deserve our compassion. It also doesn’t mean that we should overlook what he has done. He is a criminal and he deserves our compassion. I think this is the hardest thing for us as human beings to do. This is really the tough part of the gospel. The Pharisees had a hard time with Jesus because He showed compassion to people who really did not deserve it. The Pharisees were not upset when Jesus healed the blind and the lame. They were upset when he ate with sinners. They were upset when he accepted them as his friends. They were upset when He showed compassion to those who did not deserve it.

Many times I have seen pictures of homeless children in brochures that show them in dirty clothes and sometimes they are curled in pain from hunger. The picture conveys the idea that these poor children are victims and because they are victims, they deserve our compassion. When we think of victims, we think of people who are deprived of their basic necessities. However, our homeless children eat leftover food from restaurants and usually these are good restaurants. At night several groups come by with food and hot soup for the homeless. A teenager once told me that they never lack food and clothing, in fact, she was giving away some of her clothes because she had too much. She slept on dirty mattress in the streets but she had a suitcase full of clothes. If I made a brochure of our homeless children eating food from restaurants and having suitcases of clothes, I doubt people will be moved to help. People don’t feel pity for people who are not victims.

Of all the people in Jericho, Jesus chose to dine in Zaccheus’ house. Without a doubt, there were more deserving people than him that would have been honored to have Jesus in their home. Perhaps some of them could have been victims of Zaccheus’ unscrupulous dealings. However, Jesus decided to show compassion to Zaccheus even though among all the people there, he was deserved it the least.

Zaccheus thought he had created his personal heaven until he met Jesus. The compassion of Jesus revealed the true state of his desperate existence. It woke Zaccheus out of his slumber of self-deception. This is what compassion does. It forces people to wake up from their self-deception. There is such thing as false compassion. False compassion makes and maintains people as victims. For me, another name for false compassion is pity. I think many times we confuse “pity” for compassion. Our feeling of pity comes from a sense of guilt but compassion is a decision we make to love those who do not deserve our love.

None of our homeless children and teens would consider themselves as victims. We should not make them victims. They never made excuses for their actions and we should not invent excuses to invoke pity in others. We don’t want anyone to help these children because of pity. Pity gets us nowhere. Compassion liberates lives. Some people believe that these children are victims of society’s ills. I am not sure if we can change society but I believe a genuine experience of God’s compassion can help us to be liberated from self-deception. This is not to say the children are solely responsible for their state of homelessness. However, turning them into victims is not going to change their state. Compassion can, as in the story of Zaccheus. Change for the better is our goal.

Everyone needs to experience the compassion of God to truly see who we are. Zaccheus went up the tree to see Jesus and he discover his true state that day. He realized the wealth and power he had acquired were just deceptions. The compassion he experienced through Jesus gave him the courage the face reality. Zaccheus would have something concrete to say to our children. Only those who allow the compassion of God to transform their lives have anything concrete to say in this world of self-deception. Only those who have experienced the compassion of God can love compassionately those who do not deserve it.

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Who is responsible for all these sufferings?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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