In a city like Rome, poor people populate the suburbs, make up the majority of public transport users, ask for help in parishes, take advantage of the many flea market stalls and discount shops, but some, those who have also lost their homes, hang out on street corners in the wealthiest neighbourhoods and in front of churches, as well as on benches in gardens and around railway stations; you would have to be blind not to come across them every day, in one way or another.
Someone decided to settle in a corner near the entrance to our building. This was an opportunity to invite those who wished to come and discuss it at our house, instead of continuing to exchange comments in the WhatsApp chat.
Together, finding a new way of looking the reality
During the meeting, we realised that beyond any particular position or expression of concern, everyone has a reserve of humanity and generosity within them that is just waiting to be recognised through sharing and dialogue, supported by objective data that may come from the commitment of some of us. Together, we understood that:
rumours almost never correspond to reality
the ‘problem’ created by a society of rejection cannot be solved at our level, as seemed desirable at the beginning, due to insufficient possibilities.
However, we can do something useful to make life less miserable by replacing stigma and rejection with kindness and empathy.
The co-owners left ready to ‘evangelise’ (as one of them said) those who had not come!
Recognising the poor in the bread of the Eucharist
We felt a deep continuity between this meeting and the Eucharistic celebrations that take place every month in our community’s oratory, even though it was not exactly the same people, but with some of them present. Yes, we feel that we have experienced a beautiful and important moment in our desire to walk together with those around us!
