Robert Kinghorn

In a heartwarming display of compassion and community, 55 Grade 12 students from Marshall McLuhan High School took part in a transformative "Street Retreat" April 28.

I think that most Christians would say they believe everything Jesus teaches. But when you ask if they have an unwavering faith, often it is met with a great deal more hesitation. Here is what Pope Francis once said, “The great leaders of God’s people always left room for doubt. We must always leave room for the Lord and not for our own certainties. We must be humble.”

I crossed over to a small plaza that is often the arena for dispute resolution among waring parties. It was unusually quiet and as I approached, the man walking towards me shouted out.

The winter snow was still lying fresh on the ground as I made my way once again to the downtown streets. Fortunately, the new fall of snow had taken a bit of the chill out of the air and as I hit the streets there was a noticeable resurgence in the numbers who were out braving the cold.

There are many ways in which we meet Jesus in the Church on the Street, often in the guise of the homeless, the suffering, and the addicted. But we must stop and listen to their stories, listen to their pain, listen to their hopes and dreams, to see hidden behind their appearance the suffering Christ.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in God so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For several years now, faithful as a trusted friend, a large box has arrived at my home when winter has thrust the streets of the city into the dark and uncompromising grip of winter.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus told a parable about a fig tree planted in a vineyard which year after year bore no fruit. Finally, the owner was tired of waiting and called upon the gardener to cut it down because it was a waste of space. But the gardener knew that the tree just needed time, patience, and love to heal.

When we first met in a downtown shelter, she was only sixteen and had been sent to Toronto from northern Canada for treatment at a health clinic. Soon she was on the streets of the city with drug and emotional problems and ended up in the shelter where we met.

I have often wondered as I walk on the streets of downtown Toronto on Thursday evenings what memories the streets would leave with someone who is experiencing this area of the city for the first time as darkness descends.