Don Moen, the famous gospel singer and evangelist once told the crowd when he held his concert at ULTRA ten years ago (now PSC-PINAS) a story about his encounter with a mysterious stranger. When he was in Rome during the ecumenical council as a born again Christian, he and his companions lost their way in the seemingly endless corridors of the Vatican. They searched for the exit for hours until a cardinal, who accidentally passed by, noticed that they were lost. The Cardinal smiled at them and told them the direction of the exit. Don Moen, thanking the Cardinal asked the name of their mysterious stranger. “Karol Wojtyla” said the Cardinal who is now known as our Pope John Paul the Great.

In this week’s Sunday Gospel, in Celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King, Jesus tells us about strangers. Yes, the same strangers that we tell our children to avoid lest they be kidnapped. The same strangers that we often demean ignore and doubt whenever we are on public places.

I remember one time when I rode on a cab in manila coming from Shaw Boulevard going to Greenhills in San Juan. The driver of the cab told me that I was from Quezon province and not from Manila. I denied his assumption and told him that I was from Quezon City. But he insisted that I was from Quezon Province because he can tell from my accent that I was one, and God knows that we from Quezon province has the most neutral accent among the Tagalogs. After that, I began to tremble in fear, and weird imaginations started consuming my sanity. I was afraid that this driver might rob me and ditch me somewhere dark and remote in manila, knowing that I was from the province.

You see, I always pretend that I am from Manila whenever I go to the city in order to avoid abuse from strangers who could take advantage of my unfamiliarity of the area. But to the dismay of my weird imagination, I arrived at my destination safe and sound. As I paid the Cab driver my due fare, he turned his head around me before I even got out of the cab and said, “Take care sir, there are many robbers and pick-pocketers roaming around at this time of year“.

When I got out of the cab and walked straight to the mall, I was a bit stupefied. I realized that everything about strangers is all caused by fear. We are so afraid by what our society is dictating to us that we now forget that these strangers are the same people in which through whom we meet Christ. The society is telling us that we should not trust beggars, ex-convicts, and people who we meet on the streets just because society is telling us that they are dangerous and cannot be trusted.

But what about if the strangers are really hungry, are really in need of clothes, are really in need of your help? What now?

Of course there are strangers who are deviant and can rob your pockets until it bleeds, but not all of them are criminals. Not all apples are oranges, right?

Ten years ago when I came out of the seminary, I always attend the daily mass in my Parish. I noticed that there was this old lady who was so restless and annoyingly loud that people who pass by her avoided her so much as if she has this terrible disease. One time when I came out late from the Adoration Chapel, I saw the shadow of this woman at the corner of the pew. She approached me and clung to my arms very tightly. As I smiled at her, my eyes can?t help but look unto her hands touching my arms as I felt at that time the rough texture of his skin. The woman’s fingers were consumed as if they were candles melting. The old woman asked me to take her home. I took her by the arms going to the street until I noticed that everyone was looking at us as if we scandalized them. Then I called a cab, told the driver to take the woman to the place where she would direct him, paid the fare and told the woman, “Lola uwi na po kayo ha gabi na” (Madame, go home, it?s already late).

When I came back to the route where we passed by, the bystander in front of the Cathedral told me “Boy, that was brave of you” “Why po?” I asked. “The woman who just touched you and asked you to call a cab for her is suffering from leprosy”.

When I heard those words, cold sweat poured from my forehead down to my body. I was trembling in fear. I was walking home and had this urgent thought of going immediately to the bathroom to wash my hands and arms or going to the hospital to ask if there were any prophylactic drug available for leprosy for fear of acquiring the disease, knowing that I have a very sensitive and week skin. But as I gradually approached our house from a distance, the story of St. Francis of Assisi kissing the leper’s hand entered my mind and realized that it was a grace from God to actually experience what our founder (at that time) experienced. So I fought my human instincts and told myself that it is just an irrational fear because for all we know, it will take years of consistent contact with leprosy patients before you can acquire the disease. I slept without washing my hands and since then, I never acquired the disease.

If I were the people around the old woman who knew her condition at that time, would I be able to have the same courage and compassion to take her hand and call a cab for her? Exactly!

Our fear among strangers leads us to prejudice and these prejudices hinder us from helping people, meeting Christ, feeding, clothing and visiting them when they are naked, hungry and sick.

As the chorus of my favorite song in HS goes…

God is in the weak, God is in the sick
God in the crippled and lame, God the one and the same
Longing for your love, longing for your smile
in every people you meet, God is in US!

Sure that Christ can be met in the adoration chapel, in the mass and in the sacred things and realizations we encounter everyday. That is because these are the channels which he expresses his love for us. But meeting Christ among the strangers is the manner in which we can express OUR LOVE for him.

True that we are only human who fear for our safety.

True that we are only human to anticipate things that we don?t want to happen.

But it is also true that the people you live with everyday, and the people you meet on the streets are also humans who sometimes need help, love and care especially when no one dares to give them.

There once was a famine that struck Russia. A beggar on a street corner reached out to the great Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, who was passing by. Tolstoy stopped and searched his pockets for a coin but found none. With real sorrow he said, “Don’t be angry with me, my brother, I have nothing with me.” The beggar ’s face lit up as he replied: “But you called me brother, – that is a great gift…”

My mentor in the seminary used to tell me that the Gospel is always in the paradox of social standards.

Society tells us not to trust strangers.

While the Gospel teaches us to Love our neighbors including strangers, feed them when they are hungry, clothe them when they are naked, give them drink when they are thirsty, visit them when they are imprisoned and care for them when they are sick.

Now, if you will comply, which is which?

If at this point you still don’t know the answer, then probably you are living the life which to you, is stranger than fiction, because in real life, none of us live by his own and none of us die as his own.

Pax et Bonum

***To read this week Sunday’s Gospel, you can go to www.dailygospel.org where you can subscribe via email daily readings and gospel according to the Catholic Church’s liturgical Calendar. The site is non profit and purely for apostolate purposes.

***PS. This debut post is fraternally dedicated to my anonymous reader “Jun” who asked if I can do a reflection of the sunday Gospels which he requested in my Guestbook. I hope I can continue this post every week. Mahirap itong pinagagawa mo sa akin pare. Pax et Bonum