Thou Shall Not Invite The Homeless, Guilty?

It was a January morning in the winter of 2001. On the 6 o’ clock news, over one of the local channels, the weather person announced the wind chill was in the negative twenties, then warned and advised to “stay indoors, or bundle up if you have to go out”.  I had to. So I bundled up. In doing so, it quickly came to my mind: I just got out of a warm bed in a warm house, and now pilling up these layers to stay warm, how about the homeless who have been out there all night with not as much clothing on? My reflection on the question did not last long. I rushed out. In a few minutes I stepped into the train and headed downtown Chicago to work.

As I emerged out of the subway to cross into the office, there was a man, probably in his fifties, with uncombed hair and valleys of dried or frozen tears down his chicks from the biting wind. He had a pair of jeans, an open neck sweeter over a shirt. His jacket was nothing better than a spring wind breaker. He approached me and requested if I could offer him “a quarter to get a cup of coffee”.  I asked if he would rather come in and share a cup of coffee with me in place of the quarter. He accepted and followed. We entered the building through the lobby and approached the elevator. As soon as I pressed the elevator button, he said: “If I have to get into an elevator in order to get the coffee, forget it.” After much persuasion, he entered the elevator. To my surprise, very few of the many people waiting to enter the elevator, joined us.

Off the elevator I swiped through the security pad, opened the door and asked him to get in. He quickly turned around and asked. “What did I do wrong?” I told him.  “Nothing.” Without hesitation he added, “I just asked you for coffee, so what is the big deal?”
“No big deal. We are going to get the coffee.”
“They’n sell no coffee in there.”

“True, but I have coffee in my office. I want you to be warm while you drink the cup of coffee. I told you we could share a cup of coffee.”  He walked through the doors. I followed then took the lead as the door slammed behind us and walked him into our staff lounge.

Someone had brewed coffee. I brought two mucks from my office and offered him one. “Wow, you really want me to drink from this cup?” I poured the coffee into the two cups. We sat down and conversed. Meanwhile, staff members from our floor kept on coming in and out. Like wild fire on a dry savanna, news went round that there was a stranger in the staff lounge and people in a polite way came in see who this stranger was under various facades: wash their hands, take coffee (even those I have never seen drink coffee). My friend got a second cup of coffee. I got to know him better and how he became homeless. “Thank you for the coffee, I better let you go back to work.” I escorted him out. We promised to pray for each other and parted.

Shortly after his departure some colleagues came in, and were very bitter. A senior manager sternly, furiously and angrily demanded to know, why I had brought in a homeless person to have coffee. It was unacceptable. The other staff members were in total disbelief of what I had done.

“Show me the office where people apply to become homeless. Now I understand”, I told them, “when you walk by tomorrow and see me standing in the same position where that man was in the cold, begging for coffee, you will refuse to let me in for a cup of coffee in this warm room because I am homeless.” Speechless, like the crowd that could not cast the first stone on the woman caught in adultery, they walked out of the office and left me alone.

Who is on the list of those you will invite in your upcoming party?

Building Castles in the Air

What does it mean to be made in God’s image? It means we have a common DNA – we share in God’s creativity. He thought and it came to be. What came to be, served his creatures. But his creatures were also charged to creatively continue with creation. We, the human creatures are stewards of the bounty and recipients of the good works of our hands.

How do we do that? Some people are initiators. That is, they are good at generating ideas, building castles in the air, you may say. It is not a bad concept, after all President John Kennedy’s challenge to landing man to the moon and bringing him back safely might have been perceived a castle in the air. It became a reality. So, use your ability as a thinker and put your ideas on paper or discuss with those around you. Plan and build as many castles in the air as you can.

Imagine this: a manager sits in a staff meeting and a team member proposes what seems the impossible. For months they discuss. The idea some becomes an implemented reality. Hundreds and even thousands are being served with the end product, perhaps for generations to come.

In the human family, some are doers, some are transformers and others are just narrators. Collectively, we all form a creative team. All we need is room for creativity, listen and understand each other, free flow of ideas and much can be accomplished. We need above all, room for new ideas. In some work circles, people have been penalized for new ideas. One who penalizes for new ideas rather rewards, is an either an obstacle to creation or is putting an end to creation.

The work we do is God’s work. It is not our work. God’s work is for the common and general good of all. What we do as such, is a communal service. We work for God. We do not work for the city, IBM, Kroger Park, etc.

The work place is where most of our hours and days are spent. It is a place where the values of God’s kingdom are realized. It is a sanctuary where we encounter the invisible who watches over our doings. Our work desks are nothing but an altar of sacrifice where our daily work is offered to our God. It follows that one must make a serious effort to redeem and “sanctify” what is done and where it is done. But this cannot be done in isolation. Be creative and share with others the castles you are building in the air. They will soon become a reality in someone’s work desk or workplace. The end product will serve the common good.

Pope Francis: Inaugural Homily of his Petrine Ministry

19 March 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

I thank the Lord that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the universal Church. It is a significant coincidence, and it is also the name-day of my venerable predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of affection and gratitude. 

I offer a warm greeting to my brother cardinals and bishops, the priests, deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful. I thank the representatives of the other Churches and ecclesial Communities, as well as the representatives of the Jewish community and the other religious communities, for their presence. My cordial greetings go to the Heads of State and Government, the members of the official Delegations from many countries throughout the world, and the Diplomatic Corps. 

In the Gospel we heard that "Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife" (Mt 1:24). These words already point to the mission which God entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the custos, the protector. The protector of whom? Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is then extended to the Church, as Blessed John Paul II pointed out: "Just as Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ's upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ's Mystical Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model" (Redemptoris Custos, 1). 

How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand. From the time of his betrothal to Mary until the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, he is there at every moment with loving care. As the spouse of Mary, he is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for the census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the drama of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in the Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus. 

How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God's presence and receptive to God's plans, and not simply to his own. This is what God asked of David, as we heard in the first reading. God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a "protector" because he is able to hear God's voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God's call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation! 

The vocation of being a "protector", however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God's creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about. It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents. It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness. In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God's gifts! 

Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened. Tragically, in every period of history there are "Herods" who plot death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women. 

Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be "protectors" of creation, protectors of God's plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this

world! But to be "protectors", we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness! 

Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness! 

Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power. Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it? Jesus' three questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God's people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect! 

In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of Abraham, who, "hoping against hope, believed" (Rom 4:18). Hoping against hope! Today too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! For believers, for us Christians, like Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set against the horizon of God, which has opened up before us in Christ. It is a hope built on the rock which is God. 

To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us! 

I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me! Amen.