Drop a Dime
In our life walk we must be prepared for the moment of divine presence where as we involve ourselves it is as if the secular world clock has stopped and God is all here, now.
Mateo made a surprise visit to the “Zone”. I was in putting away the various games and straightening up the room after our Talka-Evangelist youth group meeting.
I like cleaning up after everyone has left. There are so many memories which call out for remembering. Mateo came in and started to help clean up. This was a behavior I had never seen in Mateo. I knew something was on his mind but this dance needed to be played out at its own pace.
Eventually we both reached for the same plastic cup to throw it away. We laughed as we grabbed the cup at the same time.
“Mateo, this is the most work you have every done at the Zone. You were always the first one to leave after we closed the meeting. You are acting like a man possessed. So tell me what is on your mind?”
“Oh Father, you know… just neighborhood stuff.”
I knew the order of control in the neighborhood. From the top down it was Hector, Romeo, and Silva. They ran the neighborhood and were the ones authorized to give life changing commands. Silva was Mateo’s boss and if there was something bothering Mateo it would most likely be because of a command coming from Silva.
“So how is Silva?”
“Boy Father you sure get to the root of the problem. You know this room has a lot of memories for me. This was always a safe port in the storms of life. “
We sat there in peace for several minutes.
“Father, you grew up in the neighborhood. How did you avoid being swept up into the gang life?”
“Well my parents always kept a tight leash on me and were aware of my goings and comings. I also was very active in sports and that has a way of chewing up a lot of free time. And after I blew out my knees playing football and was forced to walk the streets with crutches or canes, the neighborhood just did not seem to have much interest in me anymore. “
“Father, how do you know in life when it is time to move on to something else?”
“Mateo that is a seriously profound question which many of the scholars of the church have wrestled with to come up with a suitable answer. One way to look at things is as our Saint Ignatius Loyola taught us in his famous Spiritual Exercises. We must narrow down the choices in our new direction in life to two. Then we must pray for divine guidance to assist us in determining the right path. Eventually after some time, and definitely not immediately, you will be holding each option in a hand and you will be weighing each for the degree of Godliness. One will feel more on the path towards God and that is the one you will need to choose. “
“Father, you have known for some time that I never received the sacraments of initiation but you still let me into the youth group and always left the door open if I wished to pursue my formal entry into the church.”
“Yes, you have practiced, studied and attended many of the initiation services as part of our Sunday 5:00 pm youth mass. You are indeed prepared to receive the Sacraments. You just need to make the decision, it is time.”
“I suppose my reluctance has been based upon my deep felt feeling that my participation in the neighborhood activities is not consistent with my receiving the Sacraments of Initiation. I knew that if I chose to take this next step into the full membership in Christ’s Church, that I would need to give up this old way of life to start with a clean slate. You have stated that at some point in our lives we will be called to give up the old mantle of our lives and take on a fresh clean mantle in the Lord.”
“A Jesuit Theologian could not have said it any better. So I suppose that this new change in your life will be at some cost?”
“Yes, I will need to be jumped out of the neighborhood and since it has been part of my life for the past six years, the cost will be high.”
“Well there are a few pieces of paperwork and some private conversations that we will need to have over a three night period of time to prepare you formally for your entry into the Church. Are you up for it?”
"Yes Father.”
“OK, then we will start tomorrow evening. Meet me on the front steps of Sacred Heart Church at 4:00 pm and we will make this happen.”
Mateo did meet with me for the next two nights and we made all of the arrangements for his entry into the church. The entire youth group was all excited and looking forward to this great celebration. On the third night as I was coming down the steps and Mateo was coming up, drive by gunfire erupted and Mateo collapsed down onto the steps. I moved as quickly as I could to him and held him in my arms. He had a profound look of peace on his face and I realized that he had just received the first Sacrament, a martyr’s baptism in his own blood. I could see that he was trying to say something. I bent down close to his mouth and he uttered only one word… “Love”.
When I prepared my homily for his funeral mass it was full of sadness and celebration. Sadness at the loss of a friend but celebration at the welcoming of Mateo into the body of Christ.
~
August 2016