December 6, 2005
“Let’s get in the vans!” Brother Giuseppe called out to the Steubenville students and vocation visitors. I didn’t need much encouragement on that cold New York night, so I quickly got in and thought briefly about what the midnight-run would have in store for us.
Everyday we serve the homeless through our shelters, but every now and again we go to them where they are, in the streets. A joy-filled group of students from Franciscan University who were helping us out over their break was occasion enough to head down to the canyons of Manhattan. It was a cold night. As we drove, a student sweetly, with childlike devotion, called out, “Let’s pray the Rosary! In the name of the Father...” I smiled at the initiative, but had a hard time concentrating. The list of things I had to do loomed over me—all important things, all good things, all necessary things—but things that distracted me from the task at hand, and, needless to say, didn’t allow me to pray well.
As we approached our first stop (53rd and 5th), I paused the rosary and gave the youth the quick “low down” on what to do. “Just talk to them, don’t minister to them... Well, you are ministering to them, but... (I couldn’t think straight, couldn’t find the right words) Do you know what I am trying to say?” They nodded at me, looking at the homeless who were beginning to gather. We sent them out, and sure enough, they knew exactly what to do. These kids are veterans, I thought to myself as I tried to gather what it was I meant to say. Most of the youth were handing out sandwiches or doling out hot chocolate, but two stayed back in the van giving out clothes and much needed coats. I too went out, going down into the subway with a few young men. We left a sandwich for a sleeping man, and smiled at another who refused to talk to us. We then came upon a woman sitting on the floor. She looked at us with a beautiful smile. I returned it and asked if she would like a sandwich. She gratefully accepted as she said, “I am just waiting for someone, I am not homeless. I ran into some trouble and am just waiting for someone to pick me up.” I nodded, noticing that she was wearing men’s dress shoes without laces. Through the holes I could see her worn, sockless feet. We emerged from the subway and two blocks up there were even more people who really wanted warm clothing. A man kept on asking for sweaters, coats, and pants, and then gave them to the woman next to him. “For my wife,” he told me. I was going to step in after he took more than his share, but I couldn’t. It was just clothing—and he was going to need it tonight. It was there that I was reminded of what I was trying to say earlier. I turned to the two young women in the van and related to them that we could be the first people that treated them like human beings today. We could be the first today to offer them a smile or to listen to what they had to say. Who knows, maybe that is really what they needed at that moment—to be treated with dignity. People usually just walk right by them, busy with “things.”
We continued to talk and one of the young ladies told me she was looking to start a new household at Steubenville, but one founded expressly to work with the poor in their surrounding area. “We want to call it “Arc of the Covenant” because we are the arc when we bring Jesus to others,” she said. I could tell by her voice, though, that this was no whim. I was edified by the zeal and initiative in this young lady and in all the youth who so naturally treated these men and women like friends.
As we returned, we finished praying the rosary and then shared what most impacted us that night. I was astounded to hear the subtle things that stayed in these young hearts. One was overjoyed that a young man was so happy to have someone speak Spanish to him. Another was touched by a man who has AIDS, who sang them a song about how he trusts in Jesus when things get rough. As they spoke, I realized that these youth may never have done this before—maybe they were veterans; yet they were brought to a higher place by what they received from the people they served. That night this “veteran” learned a little from those young faces so full of awe at the exchange of love they were just a part of.
As we continue to prepare our hearts for the Lord’s coming, let us not be deterred by “things,” instead let us endeavor to be a part of this exchange of love. Let us love and serve our neighbor no matter our age, experience, race or busy schedule. At the end of the day it is this that brings warmth to a cold winter’s night, a smile to a worried face and Christ to those who bring and receive Him.
Br. Agostino Miguel Torres, CFR
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