Although I have been blessed to participate in mission opportunities throughout the world, the most transforming mission experience has been in my own city, Denver, Colorado. Many times people think that service work only happens in third world countries, like places in Africa or Central America. The result is that people can overlook the physically and emotionally hurting in their own backyards. No matter where we are, Christ asks us to serve one another in love; if we can do that, then God can and will do something beautiful.
Every year since I was in the eighth grade I have spent Holy Week working and sleeping at inner city parishes with my friends as part of Mission Youth Missions. During the three days leading up to Easter, we go door to door inviting people back to the Church, put on kids’ camps at the parishes, assist at liturgies, paint, clean, and do whatever else the parish needs. By participating I was able to both be with my friends and experience Christ in mission.
This was what my experience had been until the year I met Ricky and Alex. I first saw Ricky and Alex while my friend and I dodged their paintball fire during one of the kids’ camps. It wasn’t the fact that they were shooting paintballs at us that surprised me. What shocked me was the steady stream of crude and disrespectful remarks they were hurling. I figured once they realized that we would be doing a lot of activities about our faith they wouldn’t return. But they surprised me even more when they did. In fact, they were the first to arrive and the last to leave.
Ricky and Alex, along with their little gang of friends, were aggressive and mean to the other kids. They would speak out and fight with me and the other teen missionaries, and generally wreak havoc on what we were trying to do. During the first two days my patience was pushed to the very edge. I couldn’t understand why the two of them kept coming back. By the grace of God, my friends and I didn’t give up.
Every time I became frustrated with Ricky and Alex, I remembered that Jesus wanted me to love them. The real test of love comes when we are faced with those who are the most difficult to love. And for me, during that Holy Week, that was Ricky and Alex. So I did my best to love them, to show them acceptance, to model respecting people, and to explain who Christ is and why he died for us.
Whether we were playing football or just walking past one another, I saw Christ opening up moments for me to love them. Soon enough, I really did love those boys, and love helped them change.
Before long they began asking questions about God and their behavior became more respectful. Then, I began to understand why they kept coming back. Ricky and Alex had an unstable home life. I wondered if they had ever experienced love, or if anyone had ever challenged them, or taken interest in them, or just believed in them.
During the Easter Vigil, Ricky and Alex came with us to Mass. They were full of questions and they were soaking in the beauty of the Mass. In particular they were mesmerized by the Eucharist and their newfound knowledge that Jesus is truly present in the consecrated Bread and Wine.
When it came time for Communion, Ricky looked up at me and said, “Can I have him? Can I please eat the bread? I want Jesus in my heart.” Since neither had yet received their first Communion, I told Ricky and Alex how the priest would give them a special blessing if they wanted, and Jesus would still be in their hearts. After Father blessed them, they walked back to their pews with a truly joyful look on their faces.
After Mass that night we took them to meet Father. He told them if they were willing to work hard this year, they could receive their first Communion next Easter. They swore that they would. “Anything, Father!” Ricky said enthusiastically. My friend and I walked home with them late that night. When we reached Ricky’s house I looked at him and, bending down so we were face to face, made him pinky promise he would go to Church every Sunday and that he would never forget how much Jesus loves him. As Ricky promised, I watched his eyes fill with tears. He hugged me tightly as he looked up at me and said, “I love you.”
I don’t know where Ricky and Alex are now. But I hope—I have to believe—that they experienced Christ in a way that changed them. Even if Ricky didn’t keep his pinky promise, even if he never received his first Communion, that love—small as it might be in proportion to his pain—will last forever. Christ led me there, to those boys, for a reason. And they touched my heart more than they will ever know.
—Mary Sarah
Jesus tells us to “love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). But loving other people is not always easy. Think of someone you find difficult to love. What are some things you can do to show love to this person as the son or daughter of God that they are? Pray for them and ask God to bless them and to give you the grace to see something “lovable” in them.
Christ’s love transformed Ricky and Alex. Jesus also wants to transform us. Read the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1–10) and imagine yourself in Zacchaeus’s place. How does Jesus want to transform you with his love?