Students from Marshall McLuhan High school, led by their chaplain Linda Izzo and accompanied by several teachers and helpers, joined Prakash Lohale OP and me for a street retreat in downtown Toronto. They brought food to distribute to the homeless on the streets. These are the reflections of the students interwoven with quotes from Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel”.

A student: “A former nurse asked for food and said that a car accident made her homeless. In her gentle worn face, I saw my grandmother, and I had to bite my quivering lip to keep from crying. This nameless lady's story pierced my heart. She could be my grandmother."

Francis: “The Gospel constantly challenges us to run the risk of face-to-face encounters. Their physical presence challenges us, and their pain and pleas infect us in our interaction.”

Advertisement

A student: "I was affected by hearing about Chilli. We stood at the place where she died of a drug overdose and where her dead body was robbed. We heard how kind she was despite her struggles on the street. She also painted stars on the sidewalk with the names of those who had died before her. Deacon Robert said he used to pray for Chilli, now he prays to her to lead him to those he can help. I will never forget Chilli’s story which is imprinted on my heart."

Francis: “The Church must ini­tiate everyone into the art of accompaniment which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other.”

A student: "My eyes were opened. I realized how blessed I am to have food on the table and to live in a house with a family. I sensed God when I saw smiles on people’s faces as we gave care bags to them. Their thanks touched my heart and I felt a sense of hope in them that came upon me too."

Francis: “Let us offer everyone the life of Jesus Christ. I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, to a Church which is clinging to its own security.”

A student: "I spoke with a woman who just found out her son died. I didn't know what to say and I just listened because she needed somebody to talk to."

Advertisement

Francis: “The ministers of the Gospel must be people who can warm the hearts of people as they walk through the dark night with them.”

A student: "I saw God in others patrolling the streets and checking to see that the unhoused were okay. I realized that the unhoused had a community when they shared their care bags with one another.”

Francis: “To whom should she go first? Above all to the poor and the sick, those who are usually despised and overlooked, those who cannot repay you.”

A student: "In every person I thought to myself, ‘This is someone's son or daughter.’  They may have fallen on hard times or made bad choices, but hard times have not made their hearts hard, and bad choices have not made them bad people."

Francis: “A small step in the midst of great human limitations can be more pleasing to God than a life that moves through the day without confronting difficulties.”

A student: “A man told us he was struggling with drug addiction. He may have been in pain, but he has a heart, and that heart wanted to give us advice. He wished us the best before he left, and he had a great impact on me. I was there to help him, but he helped me."

Francis: “There can be no room for doubt that there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor. May we never abandon them.”

Advertisement

A student: "There is something powerful in hearing people’s stories up close and personal. When I heard them sharing how they ended up on the streets I realized we aren't that different. We have dreams for a better future. I learned that God lives in the most unexpected places, and that if the God I love also loves the beggar and the king, and so should I."

Francis: “Everyone needs to be touched by the comfort and attrac­tion of God’s saving love, which is mysteriously at work in each person, above and beyond their faults and failings.