The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God.
(Isaiah 61:1-2a)
In light of the thematics of the 1st Mass reading from this 3rd Sunday of Advent, I urge you to think on this for a moment…We would not have the problem of the poor if something was consistently done to address their plight. Sure, as Jesus said, “you will always have the poor with you” meaning that in this fallen world of ours and before the consumation of the earth and the heavens in the making of all things new, there will always be something which needs to be resolved, always someone that needs our attention because without it, they would be unjustly lacking. But I also think that if we are sincere in following Jesus, we would be conscientious of the need to directly address with the human & resource power at our disposal those situations in our midst which confront us and call us on to change them for the better.
Without meaning to sound over-critical or ungrateful, this idea of giving a special concert for the homeless and inviting them as “guests of honour”, as well-meaning and honourable for a moment in time that it is, only serves to highlight that something even more urgent and lasting needs to be done alongside this celebratory gesture. One such move of an authentically continuous charity would be for the Vatican to provide the financial means to build apartments in and around Vatican city which are especially consecrated to welcome as permanent residents, all those people off the streets, and especially those who want to live somewhere permenant but do not have the means to do so. At least give them the opportunity of free accomodation that is tailored and catered to their needs and is facilitated by the housekeeping services of various local religious orders and charitable organizations. The buildings need to be consecrated so that they will be able to nurture a spiritual atmosphere of welcome & compassion and so that evil influences are kept away. And these places need to have proper facilities equivalent to any stock-standard serviced apartment but with additional special needs social & spiritual supports that will be readily accessible to all who live there. And this accommodation btw, should not be strictly of the temporary kind where people sign up on a waiting list as with some government housing programs. You could though include an option for temporary accomodation for those who do not want to be pernanently located in one area and who see this as a stepping stone until they get some other place of their own. Such people are more likely to not be as needy for they may have a greater network of supports as well as educational and employment opportunities.
This concert mentioned in the Vatican News article cited above would be an awesome idea if it was a welcome-night performance for those who are going to be transitioning off the streets into a setting like the one described above. But the reality is far from this. Actually, it more likely begs the question how would most of those people feel if they knew that after that event, they were going to be expected to resume ‘life as usual’, out on the streets again, with no hope, no future? With that in view, it would be far better to have something of this kind alongside giving these “guests of honour” a promise of a better daily-life routine to look forward to in the future, long after this musical celebration has faded from experiential view, in regards to say, concretely improving their life-state, their context of daily living for example so that they have some purposeful vocation in life to look forward to, to constructively work towards. As wonderful as this current gesture is of organizing a concert with a meal, there also really needs to be in conjunction with this something constructively ongoing offered by the Vatican to these poor people, something btw that is seriously and permanently forthcoming, and something which will offer each and every one an opportunity unique to their own personhood and life-aspirations. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the idea of Christmas-themed musical celebrations like the one cited in the article above and dinner parties to accompany, and all the more so if those specially invited to heartily enjoy such an elaborate celebration are actually some of the most needy. However, my concern is that caring for the wellbeing of such needy people should not stop there, and that it does not simply end once the party’s over. Providing lasting opportunities for personal growth and seriously improving quality life for these people is a must which ought to be given to each and every guest as a complementary gift or present at the dinner party.
I mean, how much different is it in welcoming someone off the streets to a whole new life in comparison to say, someone seeking assylum or migratory status? In reality, not much. These people may appear on the surface to be from “different camps” but essentially the homeless people around & about the streets of Rome are also assylum-seekers, those who are seeking refuge from being homeless perhaps or from an adverse situation that has made them homeless. So, I think it is important for the Vatican to look concretely at this situation and realize that the homeless and refugees are more similar in their plight than what at first glance may seem apparent. Also, it sometimes is an all too tragic scenario that homeless people get looked down on far more than even migrants or refugees. This is painful to think about as nobody in situations they do not want to be in should be looked down upon and treated as refuse. I know you do get some homeless people who simply do not care about life one way or another and often these kinds are those with very serious & problematic addictions and who are also prone to pathological tendencies of a criminal nature. And yes, we need to have a certain type of ministry which is compatible with the needs and wellbeing of these types of people. Such a ministry would be more along the lines of something similar to alcohol & drug rehabilitation and prison chaplaincy. There was a Fazenda initiative* started in 1983 by a band of Franciscan monks in Brazil that catered for the needs of the patholoically insane and criminally oriented street people, particularly those involved in organized crime of drug pushing, peddling, and prostitution. This endeavour called Fazenda da Esperança** was apparently very successful as many of the street urchins were enabled to live transformed lives and following their own rehabilitation became zealous in ministering similarly to others who were stuck in situations like those they themselves had once been in. I’m surprized that this initiative of Franciscans in Brazil has not already become noticed by their bretheren in Rome so that it could spread all over that region too. And these are very specialized areas of apostolic outreach, which is why the dicastery for charitable initiatives needs to look at synchronizing this kind of endeavour within the various other interrelated outreaches that are catering for the needs of people living on the streets. This way, the problem of the poor can be overcome by a love in action that knows no bounds.
Other References:
* See the following articles:
(1.) https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-09/pope-tells-familia-da-esperanca-not-to-abandon-vocation-to-hope.html
(2.) https://www.byzcath.org/index.php/news-mainmenu-49?task=category§ionid=4&type=atom&start=4572
(3.) https://catholicleader.com.au/news/pope-reaches-out-in-brazil_42922/
**https://portalfazenda.org.br/
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