Stranger in our midst

Intermountain Catholic

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Last Thursday, I had the privilege of meeting a wandering stranger who made a lasting impression on me. His name is Steve. I met him on his last day in Salt Lake City. A few days before, he had travelled here from St. Paul, Minn.

He arrived in Salt Lake on a one-way bus ticket. He travelled with only $30 in his pocket and one small suitcase. He didn’t know anybody who lived in Utah, so he spent the first night here sleeping against the Cathedral of the Madeline. When he got cold throughout the night, he got up and walked around to warm up. He was truly a stranger in a new land, a man with no bed to sleep in, and no friends or family to turn to. Steve was living like the homeless people we see every day, but he was not homeless. Steve is actually studying to become a Jesuit priest and was on a 30-day pilgrimage around the country.

The first morning he was here he went to an Episcopalian church. The congregation welcomed him and showed him great hospitality. After the prayer service, they offered him coffee and spent over an hour talking with him. Later that day, he attended a Catholic Mass but was not so welcomed. In fact, he said he was not even acknowledged by most of the people he saw. When I asked why he thought he was treated like that, he quickly replied "because they thought I was homeless." He eventually made his way to Saint Catherine of Siena Newman Center, where he was welcomed, sheltered and fed for the duration of his stay.

Why am I sharing this story with you? Well, meeting Steve and hearing his story brought to life the Scripture that says, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it" (Heb 13:2). We often see people who are homeless or appear homeless and make judgments about them. We often assume that they are single people who are to blame for their situation because of drug addiction, alcoholism or laziness. These assumptions allow us to rationalize not offering them help.

However, these assumptions are false. According to the 2012 Utah Comprehensive Report on Homelessness, 45 percent of Utah’s homeless population is people in families, and 9 percent are youth between the ages of 15 and 24.

Chances are some of your classmates are homeless. The same report states that 1 in 150 Utah school children do not have a regular place to sleep, or sleep somewhere that is not meant for human habitation.

These numbers represent the Steves in our everyday life, the strangers in our midst who we often ignore. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. They deserve to be shown hospitality, so next time you are walking down the hall, smile at those you pass by, stand up for that kid who is being made fun, for they may be an angel.