Agape Walk Reflection
EAST HASTINGS, VANCOUVER - March 19, 2013
It's been a while since I last went to an Agape walk... Close to a year. It was really providential that today is also St. Joseph's solemnity, his immediate response to God's call is what really drove me to say yes to walking today, despite my tiredness from a full day of classes.
Moreover, tonight I got the opportunity to volunteer with 2 west cluster brothers and a sister. In addition to the 3 regular walkers, we were quite a large group.
But the quantity of our volunteers thankfully did not deter the people away from us but actually attracted them even more.
Every time I go on an Agape walk around downtown East Hastings, there's always something new that makes me see God's light in a different angle. At first we barely met anyone as we started to walked down the street, probably due to the heavy downpour, but eventually people appeared.
People refer to us, volunteers who wear red jackets, as the "candy people." But quite a handful of women recognized our mission, as representatives of the Catholic Church, that we also pray out of love for them. This time around, I noticed how we now also hand out catholic Q & A sheets, which reflects the new evangelization of the church.
It was a pleasant surprise to meet a woman who was a practicing Catholic and actually asked which parish she could go to. It was also surprising to me, one who doesn't go out into the streets on a daily basis, that there are women who were baptized catholic but just strayed off a bit due to their situation. Some asked for prayers and even rosaries, some sincerely loved our ministry and even expressed how thankful they are for our service, and often think about us. It's an eye-opener to really see God present in each and every single one of these women in innumerable ways.
One peculiar came up when I saw two young people, one young man, a teenaged girl and a woman, who looked like they are just strolling by, stop and asked if they could say a prayer for us. It was so out of the ordinary that I just kind of listened and probably 8 or 9 of us, these people, agape volunteers and two homeless people, gathered in the middle of the sidewalk and just listened to this prayer.
The young man started to pray: "God thank you for the work these people do in breaking class barriers and just doing it for you Jesus..." He breaks off and the woman continues it....
I can't remember all that they said word by word but it struck me because not only where they praying for us, who were praying for these homeless people, but the way this young man prayed was just straight from the heart, and so honest. It really struck me odd that when I offered candies to these women, my way of talking to them seemed almost mechanical, in comparison. It inspired me to be more authentic in the way that I prayed with heartfelt honesty for lifting up other people's concerns.
Furthermore, two women I met also struck me. I talked to this woman who called herself "anonymous" and at first seemed generally accepting of our mission. But she pressed on about Jesus, after one of the volunteers shared with her about how Jesus died for us because that's how much he loves us. She says she reads the Bible and asked deeply theological questions about it. Since this was something I was learning, apologetics, I eagerly struck a conversation and tried my best to answer her. We talked for a while. Eventually we had to break off but we left her with the Catholic Q & A and invited her to the closest church in the neighborhood. This woman really brought hope in me, that despite her dire living circumstances, she was still deeply seeking God not just on the surface but the mystery of the faith-- really goes to show how you cannot judge people by their looks, but by their heart. Then on our way back home, a younger woman, A, who had a very lovely smile ran a block just to "get candy" but was very accepting of God, told us, after we gave her a bag of candy and prayers, "May God be with you on this walk." Her eyes shone with sincerity and joy, and it made me want to share with her more about God but we had to leave so we said farewell. She told her friend, who also came by last minute, that "she would find candy somehow" to which her friend replied "yeah! You brought them to me." But the woman said "No.. They (referring to us) brought them to you, through God's mission." (Or somewhere along those lines).
It amazed me how truly affirmed this woman was of exhorting God's goodness even in that little way of receiving candies. It showed me that although we, the volunteers, intended to give them the love we came there for, they too returned that love in so many more ways.... It is such a humbling thing to really step into their life even for these few hours of interaction. Though most of them call us the "candy people" there are those who truly show their love for God and recognize Him through these small acts of kindness. I can truly attest to Mother Teresa's words when she said , "it is not much we do, but how much love we put into that action."
ad majorem dei gloriam.
Post by Joyce Bermejo