Hello again! I'm wayyy behind in my updates (maybe like 2 months), so here's a little attempt at a catch up. Again, just pulling out random events and ideas.
A few weeks ago during compassion service, we had a few amazing encounters. First, we met an old woman named Maria who was begging for money outside of one of the main basilicas. She told us that she had a lot of pain in her shoulder, and the next instant my service partner Adela was down on the ground massaging her shoulder. Without knowing her, without hesitating at all. This really struck me.
We next met a woman named Maria Ana. She had come from Spain and had only been in Rome for a few weeks. After speaking with her for a few minutes, she confided to us that her husband had beat her for 30 years, and that it had been getting worse and worse. Her children, who are all grown up, told her that she needed to leave and flee for her own safety. So she came to Rome, hoping to find work, but as of yet had found nothing, and had to resort to begging for money. She was so touched that we had stopped to talk with her, and she was eager to pray with us.
Another encounter was with a man from England named Chrissy. I had met him maybe 2 or 3 times before throughout the year, but the last time I had seen him was in January. Since our last meeting, all of his belongings had been stolen. This is really common among the homeless. Almost every person we've met has had their possessions and money stolen at least once. He was planning on heading back to England, but now he had no money. Even his Bible, which someone had given him, was stolen. I had remembered him as being a really joyful person, but now he was completely despairing. He felt as if he could trust no one, and that there was no point to even try to own anything, for it would only be stolen. He told us that, several times, people had offered him a drink, whether they be "friends" or strangers looking to do a good deed, but that the drink had be drugged so that he passed out and woke up with his things stolen. We talked with him for a long time, and offered him some food and coffee. I didn't realize it until later, but he actually accepted the coffee we gave him. After the stories he had told us of drugged drinks, and the countless times he expressed that he could no longer trust anyone, he trusted us. Again, complete strangers, who a few times had showed him love and kindness. I think in that moment we might have been the only people in the world he felt he could trust. He trusted an almost complete stranger, just because he had been shown a drop of love. Blessed Mother Teresa can put it better than I can: "Let us not forget, that sick person, that alcoholic, that thief, are my brothers and sisters. It is possible that they find themselves abandoned in the street because no one gave them love and understanding. You and I could be in their place if we had not received love and understanding from other human beings."
Also a few weeks ago during street evangelization in St. Peter's Square, I met a girl from Taiwan. She was visiting Rome on vacation with her friends. I got talking with her, and in the end asked if she had any special intentions that I could pray for, for herself or anyone she knew. She said she didn't, but she just stood there looking confused and almost flaberghasted. I said goodbye and began to walk away, and she just kind of stood there watching me, with a huge smile on her face. I'll never forget that look. Something so simple, and she was so shocked and happy!
In this theme, we were walking in the train station one day and an Asian lady was having a really hard time lugging her big suitcase up the many flights of stairs. So I simply grabbed it and carried it up the stairs for her. I swear her jaw almost hit the floor. Afterward, she kept looking back and thanking me, over and over. I don't tell any of these stories to try to boast of my great accomplishments, for they're definitely not great in any way - in fact they're pretty much the smallest, easiest things I could do, often times almost seemingly insignificant. Many people do things that are 100 times bigger and greater. But I just share them to show that God can really work through the smallest things if they're done in love.
Last month we got to travel to Napoli (Naples) to help lead a parish mission for a weekend. We left early on Saturday morning and made the two hour drive past some beautiful snowcapped mountains, arriving in Napoli for breakfast. Immediately when we arrived at the church, we went to a nearby school (in a lot of place in Italy they go to school on Saturday mornings...awful) and got to put on a little event for 200 kids for an hour or so. It was so much fun. We sang and danced, gave a few talks, had the kids put on a skit, and then had a time of prayer. After this, we went back to the church to meet our host families. I was staying with a couple and their 25 year old son. We went back to their house and had one of the biggest, most amazing meals I've ever had in my life. Seven courses, with appetizers, pasta, meat, vegetables, desert, alcohol, and then coffee. Whoa. I dragged myself out of their house and we all met up in the main square. About 200 people from the town came out to join us, we there was more music and a few talks. After this, we brought the World Youth Day cross out and began a procession of the Way of the Cross through the city. By now, there were probably at least 400 people in the procession, and as we went, people came out from their homes and their cars to join us. We traveled through the city and back to the church as the sun set.
When we arrived back at the church, they had a huge dinner ready for us. A bunch of people from the parish had cooked traditional Napolitan food, and they basically forced us to try each plate. After that lunch, I didn't even want to look at food. I think it was only by the grace of God that I didn't explode after dinner.
In the evening, we had what's called a "mercy night," which includes song, prayer, testimonies, videos, skits, etc. I played the piano, and, as it often turns out, I made many gruesome mistakes. At one point, the lady leading the music cut all the singing and other instruments, so I was stuck doing a solo. I got nervous and just failed miserably. So embarrassing. I was thinking, ok this lady now knows I'm awful and will never ask me to do a solo again. Thank God. But a few minutes later, she did the same thing, cutting the other instruments. This time a did better, with only minor mistakes. But it didn't even matter how well I did, I was just in shock that she trusted me and was willing to give me a second chance. If I were her, I would have made all the instruments play louder to drown out the awful piano player. After that, I started doing better and better.
The next morning, we had an hour with young kids. We played games and taught them songs and dances. We did a skit of the Good Shepherd, modern style. I was the lost sheep, and I got to run away from the flock and go clubbing. Dancing around as a rebel sheep to party music was definitely a highlight of the weekend. Later, we met with the teens of the parish. They were super cool, and we talked to them about what we do in Rome. Next was mass with the Bishop. His homily was soooo long. Like 45 minutes. It was interesting, don't get me wrong, but realllly long. There were so many people there that I was forced to stand along the side of the church near the front, and as I scanned the congregation, I was amazed to see that every face was rapt with attention. It was like the people were thirsty for these words, soaking up everything their bishop had to say to them.
Following this, our work at the parish was finished, and they organized a lunch to thank us. If I had thought lunch the day before was big.....step aside. After the first few courses, I was sure the food was done, and I was quite happy about that, for I felt semi-close to death. When they brought out more heaping plates of food, we all just broke out into laughter. It was truly absurd. I'm really not sure how Italians are not all 700 pounds. More and more eating. Three deserts. We tried to leave, but they freaked out because we hadn't had coffee yet. God forbid. Throughout this whole 3 hour affair, all the Italian families were singing at the top of their lungs, yelling, doing the wave - it was like the most stereotypical Italian family in any movie you've seen. Times 50. When we eventually tried to leave, they actually set up a barrier in the road and started doing strike chants.
It was a really amazing weekend. At our mission in London, we planned for weeks and weeks, and I think our biggest event had about 80 people come. In Naples, we threw everything together last minute, and had hundreds and hundreds of people come! The people at this parish church were some of the friendliest, most loving (albeit a bit crazy) people I've ever met. They welcomed us in as if we were their own children, and I felt like I was with family the whole weekend. Afterward, we heard many stories of people who came back to the Church because of the mission there, and already several other parishes in the area are trying to get us to come do missions at their churches. Praise the Lord!
One weekend is fondly remembered by us students as "party weekend." Literally, all we did was have parties. Friday was the 28th anniversary of John Paul II establishing the Centro San Lorenzo for the youth of the world, so we had a big party there. Saturday was the feast of St. Joseph, so we had a huge lunch, and in the evening we had a murder mystery, where everyone dressed up in costumes and had to take on a certain character. People were "murdered" throughout the night, and in the end we had to guess who the murderers were. It was hilarious to see everyone in ridiculous clothing, speaking in crazy accents, and randomly getting killed. We concluded the night with a dance party outside on the balcony. Sunday we celebrated Lucy's birthday with an English tea party, and then in the evening we had Egyptian night, where everyone got dressed up like Egyptians, and Shaheer cooked us food and told us about his country. Let me tell you, it can be exhausting to party that much! I promise, partying is not all we do. We actually do a ton of work, regardless of how it may sound ;)
I've never lived in a city before, I live in a decently rural area back home, so sometimes it's hard being in the city all the time. One day in particular, I was feeling really trapped, so I just set out to walk around. I ended up somewhere I've never been before, and I saw a little park, so I went in. A path was leading in to some trees, and I took it. It went down a huge hill, and before I knew it, I was in the middle of some random forest with a little stream running through it. I couldn't see a single building, or hear a single car. I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere! The path broke off in to a multitude of directions and formed a little labyrinth through the woods. I got so excited, and just ran through the trees, trying as hard as I could to get lost for as long as possible. I came out in to a massive field and just walked around for hours. It was so strange; I have no idea how I found the place, and it was just perfect. I could have been in the heart of America for all I knew. God is good.
One last quick reflection. I was reading the book "Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a' Kepmis, and one line really struck me: "If we were to perfect one fault each year, we would soon be perfect." It really got me thinking about it, and I think it's true. If we really try to focus on our little faults, whether it be impatience, or judging others, etc, and work hard to rid ourselves of it, we could soon be pretty sweet people. God, help us!
K, that's about it, til next time. God bless! Please pray for me.
Eric
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