I Can’t Be Superman

Today we went to Catholic Worker and shared a meal with the community of Skid Row. It was an interesting experience to hear the stories of the homeless. Teresa’s experience was very heart warming. Hopefully you will be able to read about that when she blogs! Tonight each university made a dish from our respective regions. It was an excellent interaction that took place in the kitchen. Everyone was laughing and working together to prepare the meal. I felt this powerful sense of belonging being in this community.

Bless every person I have met (Proyecto Pastoral) 

Tonight’s night prayer group asked us what have we learned that we will never forget. Dave, a Jesuit Volunteer, told us that it is not about saving or fixing people. It’s about walking with them. That applies so much to my life. I want to fix the problem and get solutions so people can be happy, but that’s not always the way to go. I must learn to just walk with them. That is something that I know I’m going to start applying to my life. Another concept that I am going to apply is to give all that I can to people. At Dolores Mission, we came across a homeless man selling lollipops. Instead of giving him money, Makena and Marrah made him sandwiches and chips. He was so grateful that he gave a lollipop to everyone at the table. Martin mentioned tonight that the “Lollipop Man” moved him because the Lollipop Man had so little, but still gave what he had to offer. That made us realize that we must give what we have. I will now end this blog post with a quote that Mo gave us.

Mighty God, Father of all
Compassionate God, Mother of All
Bless every person I have met
Every face I have seen
Every voice I have heard
Especially those most dear
Bless every city, town and street that I have known
Every sight I have seen
Every sound I have heard
Every object I have touched
In some mysterious way these have all fashioned my life
All that I am I have received
Great God, Bless the World!
 -Fr. Jack Morris, SJ

Ryan Munoz
St. Mary's University