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April 20, 2022My first job after graduating from college was working as a residential counselor in a community-based rehabilitation program run by Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton, PA. The program was designed to provide supportive care for both chronically mentally ill homeless as well as drug and alcohol offenders. They needed a supportive environment to become clean and sober. Their hope was of securing not only their sobriety but also gainful employment and an independent living situation and become productive members of the community upon discharge from the program.
Working for three years with chronically mentally ill persons and those addicted to drugs and alcohol I was able to get to know these individuals personally and intimately. I listened to their stories of pain, suffering, loss, and grief which contributed to their homelessness in addition to their inability to deal with the pressures of life without resorting to substance abuse to cope with the daily struggles of life. Many of these individuals were completely crippled by their circumstances (mental health and addictions) probably much like the paralyzed man at the Beautiful Gate in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles today. The homeless persons of today, like the paralyzed man at the Beautiful Gate, stand in need of something more valuable than a few quarters or dollars from our pockets and or cup holders in our automobiles. They need our attention and ability to see them as valuable members of the body of Christ who are broken and wounded by a lack of love and recognition of their inherent dignity as human persons and as members of the body of Christ.
As we continue to celebrate Easter on this Wednesday in the octave, we have an opportunity to reflect upon the powerful meaning of the Resurrection here and now. We are currently experiencing the largest mass migration of human persons since the end of the Second World War. This unmitigated suffering is due to the fear, paranoia, and the inhumanity of world leaders who are unable to recognize the hidden presence of Christ living among us in the faces and lives of the men, women, children, and the elderly persons of the Ukrainians and citizens of other countries involved in wars. Today’s feast and the readings challenge us to examine our hearts and minds to see if we too are blind to the presence of Christ in our midst both locally and globally. If we find that we too have a spiritual blindness to the presence of Christ in the weak and vulnerable in our midst, we must not fear nor lose hope because we have an advocate in the Holy Spirit who can heal our blindness and selfishness that prevent us from truly recognizing the hidden presence of Christ upon our altars, in our pews and our streets. Come Holy Spirt and dispel our blindness so that we can recognize your presence and actions in the poor and vulnerable. Come Holy Spirit and heal the wounds of sin and division that prevent nations from recognizing the dignity of their neighbors. Come oh Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth by the dawning of your Holy Light and Love. Come Holy Spirit and bring peace to the Ukraine and other war thorn countries. Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth!
