September 7, 2006
Three Dollars and a Dream
The other week I visited a homeless shelter and AIDS home with Father Richard. The professed brothers at our friary in Newark visit there at least two nights per month.
After my usual warm greeting to the Latina cook (who rules kitchen and dining area with bright eyes, a sweet smile and an “iron gait”) and the familiar mirthful folks at the front desk, I proceeded to chit-chat with the people hanging out on the back steps of the shelter.
To my delight I encountered a Peruvian couple, Pedro and Maria, who had just arrived in the United States a week ago. One of the things that is unique about this shelter is that they house both men and women in the same building.
Pedro proceeded to tell me how he had come to the United States once before and worked for a year, sending money home to his wife and children in Peru. This time he came with his wife, and they planned to work together for five years at the same company cleaning people’s homes (“limpieza”). He described the situation of poverty and the economy in Lima as “beyond your imagination,” with lots of kids running around the streets naked and starving. How awful!
I recognized immediately, and became more and more confirmed as we chatted, that Pedro was different from many men at the shelter; he didn’t have addictions to drugs or alcohol or buy into the seductive street culture; he was an honest, simple man who just came to earn a living.
The amazing thing was that he and his wife came all the way from Peru, and after all their travel expenses (train, bus, etc.) he was left with just three dollars in his pocket! He had only enough money for a ride to a job starting next week that he hoped would provide for him and his wife.
Then he told me, with the most humble expression of childlike gratitude on his face: “During all my life in the dire poverty of the inner city of Lima, I have never been without a meal to eat; even though food was often scarce, God has always taken care of me and my family.” What faith!
As I expected, Pedro did not ask me for money. I gave him and his wife each a new rosary which Father Richard blessed, and after instructing them how to “pray with the beads” (more or less), we said a moving prayer together.
May God bless all those who struggle to earn their daily bread, and in His Infinite Mercy relieve the suffering of the poor; and may He teach us to recognize and love Christ in every person.
Br. Philip Maria Allen, CFR
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