The Unprofitable Servant: All God's Children

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

All God's Children

At a nearby Adoration chapel, there are signs everywhere pleading with folks not to give money to people who solicit. The faithful are implored to direct those asking for money to the friary. There is one recalcitrant individual who is undaunted and preys on the unsuspecting. She once tried to assault an elderly priest as he was sitting in Adoration, and I'm not sure her problems can all be blamed on the ravages of a life of addiction. I can pray for her to be released from that which binds her, but I'm all too aware of her cunning and violent nature to ever be moved into giving her anything.

Then there is this fellow I know from the days of handing out care packages to homeless men and women. In winter, the packages had the additional items of gloves and hats. As I handed this man his gift bag one day, he tore the hat and gloves out of the bag and put them on immediately. Then he gave me a big hug, saying "Miss, do you think you could tell some of these women out here I'm not as bad as they think?" I still laugh when I think about it and particularly every time I see him.

Anyway, this fellow never bothers anyone in the chapel, nor does he ever ask for anything. He sits a few doors away from the church, greetings passersby. He is the one homeless person that I trust will buy himself food if I give him money. Yesterday, when I came out of the church, he was overjoyed to see me, or at least he did a convincing job of making me think so. "Miss!", he yelled, "don't worry about me being crazy. We is all crazy and God still loves us. You crazy too." I couldn't really argue with him about that!

Any time I see him, he reminds me of the hat and gloves and shows me that he still has them. Then I am treated to a profuse stream of "God Bless you".

Today, he appeared to have finally found a woman who he convinced to believe he wasn't "that bad", and he had her do his bidding for him. You could tell she wasn't quite accustomed to asking for money, and she could barely get a word out of her mouth before he'd correct her. Since I had never heard him beg before, I was a bit surprised. Maybe he's too proud to beg, but not too proud to have it someone do it for him?

"Don't ask for tokens - we ain't taking no bus anywhere."

"Don't ask nobody for nothin without sayin' please. And don't forget to say God bless you!"

"When somebody gives you somethin, you say thank you, you hear?"

His companion appeared to be clean and adequately dressed and her presentation was one of a new employee who is being oriented to their first day on the job. She didn't look homeless but perhaps she was new to the streets. Everybody has to start someplace, including the indigent.

I was thinking about how I have been seeing this character around for the past few years and how some others have not been so lucky. Some have perished due to illness, others met a violent end. There is one man that we believe is probably autistic who sits in Adoration at another nearby chapel all day. We think he's autistic because he doesn't speak to anyone and eye contact is difficult for him, yet he seems to understand. At one of the soup kitchens where I volunteered on Saturday mornings, he would be the first to grab a mop to clean up afterward. I've always wondered if the reason he sits in church is simply because it's the one warm place he can go without being asked to leave, or if something else draws him. I'll never know. I can only pray to God to continue to watch over him and those who live on the streets in a world of their own, never harming a soul.

4 comments:

KellyJanuary 11, 2011 at 3:35 PM
After working with some of our local homeless, I am wondering if I know the first woman you mentioned. If you wouldn't mind, shoot me an email and describe her?
Also- I found that most of them were really delightful people, struck with mental illnesses of varying degrees. Of course, some were so entrenched in their illness, and tortured otherwise, as you also mentioned-(of that I am convinced)-that it was difficult to interact with them at all.
You last post really resonated with me--people who are mentally ill have a particular suffering, just like you said, it is a crown of thorns (ever since I read that in Fr.G's book I ALWAYS think of it at that decade). I think it is a particularly heavy cross, one that can include humiliation. I have a special spot in my heart for all who suffer with it, and their families.
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TLWJanuary 11, 2011 at 4:00 PM
I will email you her first name. At least that's what she says her name is. You may know her and have some insights that I don't.

Yesterday at Mass, at least two people asked the congregation to pray for those who suffer from mental illness and they mentioned family members that they were praying for. I don't like when we're asked to mention intentions out loud, but it wast the priest's call and it was sobering to see and hear the struggles. The mentally ill are easy to forget, until something like Arizona happens. Sad.
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MannyJanuary 11, 2011 at 9:45 PM
You do God's work. As I read this, I was reminded of the prayer of St. Theresa of Avila.

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Bless you for your work.
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TLWJanuary 11, 2011 at 10:35 PM
Thanks Manny, but I don't do nearly as much as I used to or should. However, I think it's true for all of us that when we perform an act of mercy, we almost feel as though it's not our actions but Christ acting through us. And thanks for reminding me of the beautiful prayer.
Peace
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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God Bless You!

The Unprofitable Servant

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

All God's Children

4 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross