My friend 'J' introduced me to a young lady this evening who lost her boyfriend who died last week. She had asked 'J' to obtain for her a Rosary because she had seen his Rosary, which he wears around his neck, as I do. 'J' came around the front door this evening and we chatted a while. My neighbour, who lives downstairs complained that 'J' was round the area, mouthing off about how he was an alcoholic etc.
I have to leave my flat for a month or two until the flat I am to move into, thanks to the generosity of my parents, becomes available, mainly because my flatmate finds 'J' intimidating. She sought my reassurance that he would not show his face at the door again. But who am I to restrict his movements and tell him he is not allowed on Rose Hill Terrace? With the very poor, it seems, there is almost a guilt by association even though the poor are very often criminalised unjustly because the rich dare not embrace Christ, instead they mock Him and hound Him and persecute Him.
The young lady, who lost her boyfriend, homeless, last week, came around this evening to the street where I live. Behind my house lies a narrow passage termed locally as 'heroin alley'. Often if you walk past it you will find some old clothes and duvets in the passage where people have slept. Literally, often, Lazarus truly is at my gate.
'J' and I took to her the Rosary she for which she had asked and 'J' gave it to her along with the 3 'o' clock prayer to Our Lord in honour of His Divine Mercy. The poor are thirsty for Christ and Christ is thirsty for them. The World, however, searches for something else, some passing glamour that can never satisfy. As Our Lady said in the Magnificat, 'The hungry are filled with good things and the rich You have sent empty away.'
What strikes me is that the poor are very receptive to Our Lady and Our Blessed Lord in a way in which the rich are not. They understand. The young lady I met tonight but briefly is probably looked down upon by polite society because of whatever addictions she has. But she has been through the mill yet still stands and prays for the dead and the one she loves and has now left this World. May the Angels and Saints come to his aid and like Lazarus, once poor, may he now see the Beatific Vision for which he was created.
I told my neighbour, 'Don't worry, in a couple of weeks I will be gone' and 'J' will no longer be of your concern.' He replied, 'Yes, but where you go he will go and this will only upset people there.'
Amen, then. So be it. I guess for those not willing to receive it, the Gospel is very upsetting, indeed. The poor have been placed before us so that we may learn from them. Woe to us, if Lazarus is at our gate and we refuse him.
I mean, in this instance, just how intimidating is a beggar playing Bob Marley's 'One Love' strumming a ukelele he cannot really play anyway?
2 comments:
I applaud your charity and your desire to bring Christ to the poor. Undoubtedly, if Jesus had chosen now to come to earth he would be mixing with the drunks and drug addicts out on the street, just as you are. You have hit on a real problem for our modern times here though.......
I do have a certain amount of sympathy for your neighbour. Maybe she is getting on in years and unable to fend for herself so well. Even if she is younger, she might well be afraid for her own safety. A young person close to me was very brutally mugged a few years ago in an area which (we later found out) is often frequented by drug addicts. So, fear of being attacked is a real worry. Plus, if your neighbour has children, wanting to protect them from bad influences (difficult though it might be to do so in a place like Brighton) is only natural.
What we need to do is provide much better support for drug addicts and alcoholics so that they have somewhere where they can go. Somewhere that will take them away from the 'heroin allies' such as the one close to your home and make people like your neighbour feel safer in her bed at night. Somewhere where they get real help to deal with their problems and start a new life.
As for your own situation, of course you want to be allowed to have J round your house. On the other hand, you need to understand and respect your neighbour's fears too. Can't you just find a way to gently persuade J to meet you elsewhere?
Hello,
The complainant lives in the flat below. He is a man, about 40 ish, and lives alone. I have more sympathy for my flatmate whose house it is, who doesn't want 'J' around because she wants quite rightly to feel safe in her own home.
I've given him my mobile so from now on he can contact me by phone. I've told him not to call at the door...It is difficult to say that without sounding like he is excluded from another area of town but he understands.
Of course the state support of which you talk SHOULD be available but it is woefully lacking.
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