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Written by Msgr. David Ratermann
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Wednesday, 14 May 2008 |
Msgr. Ratermann is a Saint Louis priest missionary, serving in Bolivia since 1956, and is a founder of the Latin America Apostolate.
 In most parishes the folks who assist at daily Mass are a pretty steady crowd. They pray for the parish and also for the whole world on a daily basis. An important ministry … only God knows the effects of their fidelity.
Today as I was celebrating the morning Mass, I noticed a new face in the back of church. At the end of Mass I greeted the regulars as they left for their homes and/or other activities. The stranger asked to have a word with me.
He (the stranger) turned out to be a 24-year-old man from Cochabamba and also a drug and alcohol addict. Because of his addiction, his family had rejected him, so he left that nice city and came to La Paz. He was accepted here in a home for the homeless men that Father Dan Stretch had organized many years ago. After some three years there at the St. Vincent Home, he felt ready to go out on his own. That was three months ago. He is living in an unfurnished rented room. The rent is about $20.00 “U.S.” per month. He does occasional jobs to pick up a few bucks. He’s also studying at night school, but is short of cash to pay the monthly rent. He was offered a job at a nightclub where he could earn the U.S. $20.00 in one night. But he is worried that, being around a bunch of people who are drinking more than enough, he’ll be tempted to “do in like manner.”
I gave him the twenty bucks to pay the rent. Was it good to do so, or was he just a good storyteller? I really don’t know.
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