Today youth from Honduras arrived in the parish I will volunteer for in the periphery of Sao Paulo. The scripture that keeps repeating in my head is "I was a stranger and you welcomed me, hungry and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me drink." (Matt 25)
You see in the eyes of the world the people who I will work alongside this week to host the pilgrims are poor, they have little in materials means. Some of them did reforms on their house to host these youth. They have so little and yet they wanted to make their simple housing the most comfortable for the visitors. All week the woman of the parish will prepare meals to feed the pilgrims.
These folks that the world would consider poor this week are the ones that are opening their homes, their lives, and their hearts to the young people of the world. They are giving everything they have to welcome the stranger and to feed and care for the young church.
What a beautiful thing to witnessed. So often when we hear that we should serve the least of these, we think of the folks who do not have money. And yet, this week those folks are the ones who are serving.
Many of these folks do not have the funds to go to Rio to see the Pope. So this week they will have the only experience of World Youth Day that they will ever have. They feel so blessed to have the people from around the world here in their homes.
I have been to two World Youth Days were I saw Pope John II. They were great, but this may turn out to be my favorite. I will not see the Pope in Rio but what a blessing to witness the true spirit of the event. Today the poor welcomed the world to Brazil. What a privilege for me to accompany them in hospitality.
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| Some of the homes the pilgrims will stay in. |
