Urban Missionaries

With the season of Pentecost in full swing, the missionaries gathered at All Saints Parish on Sunday to pray at the prominent golden statue of St Joan of Arc at a busy roundabout in NE Portland. St Joan's feast day was May 30th, so we asked for her intercession for everyone who is struggling in this city. We also prayed for the Archbishop's intentions for spiritual renewal in the Portland diocese, uniting our efforts with his. It was a warm day so many of the homeless we met were grateful to receive a few cold drinks, along with homemade pulled pork sandwiches, and Rosaries and prayers. We've found that when we have a dedicated group praying all 15-20 Mysteries of the Rosary, many graces avail themselves to us and those we encounter with the love of Jesus.

The Mysteries of the Rosary are seen even in our own lives, as St Luke recounts a situation he witnessed decades after Pentecost:

"On Saturday evening we gathered together for the fellowship meal. Paul spoke to the people until midnight, since he was going to leave the next day. A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window, and got sleepier until he finally went sound asleep and fell from the third story to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead. But Paul went down and threw himself on him and hugged him. “Don't worry,” he said, “he is still alive!” Then he went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. After talking with them for a long time, even until sunrise, Paul left. They took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted." (Acts 20:7-12)

Catholic mystics note that in this story St Paul gathered for a Saturday Vigil Mass to preach the Gospel, then it says a young disciple "fell asleep" and descended for "three" levels and pronounced dead, but miraculously was resurrected, and this was commemorated on Sunday morning with the Sacrifice of the Mass in the breaking of bread. They say this mirrors the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, especially as revealed in the Sacred Liturgy.

We always make sure to bring flowers on our Mother's Day walk each year. Many of the women on the streets are mothers but have lost custody or contact with their children, and we know the thought of seeing their kids again is such a motivation for these moms to keep praying and hopefully get off drugs and off the streets. So it's good to remind them and encourage them. One of the moms we met was Katie, who had her sketch book out and was drawing some nice pictures. We gave her a Rosary and a flower, and Vitoria put a Miraculous Medal on her. It really brightened her day and we're hoping she will start to pray more. In this area of NE Portland we met at least 30 moms, who each took a rose.

In modern times motherhood is looked down upon, but shouldn't be especially when contemplating the famous scene at the Final Judgement, when Jesus said "I was hungry and you fed me; thirsty and you gave me a drink; naked and you clothed me." We often think this just applies to helping out the poor on the streets. But the faithful disciples asked Jesus: "Lord, when did we do these things?" And Jesus responds, "Whenever you did these things to the least of these, you did it to me." It is thus fitting to say the "least" of Jesus's people include children, particularly of Christian parents, and so being a devoted mom (and dad) involves lots of feeding and clothing and quality time with them. So in taking care of her children, a mom truly is doing these things to Jesus, Who is hiding in them.

We walked from St Peter's on Foster Road this past Sunday and were joined by the parish priest, Fr Stephen. It's always a treat when we are joined by priests, brothers, and sisters. There was a lot of people in need within just a few blocks, and we saw many familiar faces that we hadn't seen for a while. Most of the homeless we saw were very eager to have Fr Stephen pray over them and bless them. It was the highlight of the walk having such spiritual care, tailored to each person's spiritual needs, going beyond just their material needs. One woman gave us a hug after she got a blessing and prayer.

Fr Stephen's calm presence and pastoral care for each individual reminds us of the story of when Jesus comforted Mary & Martha when their brother Lazarus died. In John's Gospel it says Jesus came to visit the sisters when their brother Lazarus died. When Jesus arrives He first meets Martha out front, where she says, "Lord, if you would have been here sooner my brother would not have died!" Jesus responds by giving her an insightful theology talk on what the Resurrection means for believers and this inspires hope and consolation within her. But her sister Mary was inside the house grieving and didn't come out. So Jesus walked inside and Mary sees him and says, "Lord, if you would have been here sooner my brother would not have died!" This was the same comment her sister Martha said just moments earlier. But this time Jesus did not respond with a heady theological answer. Instead Jesus saw the tears in Mary's eyes, He felt the sorrow in the room amongst all those grieving, and Jesus said nothing. Jesus just wept alongside Mary. It was the consolation Mary needed in that moment, and it was different from what Martha needed. Jesus is the ultimate master in spiritual care. He knows what form of consolation we need in each situation, not a "one size fits all" response.

About 5 months ago in SE Portland we first met Deedee (and her husband Dave) on the streets. What was so shocking about this situation is that this homeless couple was taking care of their little grandkids, Addison and Aiden. The children's mom and dad were addicted to drugs and so the grandparents had to have custody. It's a rough thing to see, especially when such young children see this as "normal" life. Though we had lost contact with Deedee and Dave, as we were walking on the other side of town this past Sunday, we were surprised to see Deedee and the young kids run up to us, and now joinined by their older brother, Austin. Grandma Deedee was so happy to report to us that they finally got permanent housing this past week, so no more drifting between shelters. The children were delighted to receive snack bags and hot dogs, and some Rosaries. We will keep praying for them all, since there is a lot of healing needing to be done for mom and dad, to hopefully one day have their family back together. For now, it's good to see such loving grandparents taking care of such vulnerable children. When we got back to the church parking lot, the clock struck 6pm, the exact time when we've been praying the evening Angelus. The missionaries offered up this and other prayers for all we met that day, but especially for this family.

A special thanks to Holy Family Academy in Brooks, OR for putting together these "blessing bags" for those living on the streets. The children and staff at the school included everything: personalized notes, rosaries, booklets on how to pray the rosary, socks, hand warmers, Kleenex, Capri Suns, meat sticks, cookies, crackers and more. May God bless them for their kindness.

Over the years, many Catholic schools have had this idea, even as far away as Olympia, WA. Donations are always welcome! We will even travel to pick up!

Blessed Easter! Christ is risen! His grace is everywhere! Sometimes we can wear down and wonder where God is in our broken world. But if we step out our front door to cheerfully serve him (or lovingly serve him in the home!), we see His grace in so many little moments. On our recent walk from the Cathedral, we came across two (literal) signs while walking random streets. The first is in the background of the photo, a billboard of the Divine Mercy image which reads, "Jesus, I trust in You." In the second photo is an advertisement on a telephone pole for a sacred music concert by "Cantores in Ecclesia." It was set for Holy Monday, and featured a meditation on "Membra Jesu Nostri", or "The Limbs of Jesus". It always does our hearts good to see these little signs of the Church on our walks. A special thank you to Cantores in Ecclesia for keeping the fires of sacred music burning for so many decades! Glory be to God!

One of the themes of Holy Week is how perfectly Jesus Christ became one of us, brought us into Himself in the Body Christ. He identifies with us so closely, that He both encourages and warns with the saying, "Whatever you did to the least of these, you did to me." When we feed, clothe and dote on the most vulnerable or wounded, we do it to Him. Or when a child is abused, a pr******te paid for, a street addict despised, we did it to Him.

St. Melito, a 2nd century bishop of Sardis, emphasizes this closeness in a sermon which the Church features every Holy Week in the Liturgy of the Hours. He writes,

"In Abel He was slain, in Isaac bound, in Jacob exiled, in Joseph sold, in Moses exposed to die. He was sacrificed in the Passover lamb, persecuted in David, dishonored in the prophets."

It is such a heady realization, but that is why sin is so terrible and why virtue and good will are so beautiful. May we never tire of going down into the depths, like Jesus's Harrowing of Hell on Holy Saturday, to offer the Good News of salvation.