DENNIS WASHINGTON
2012-2015
Volunteer at Catholic Worker House
Some people search for nearly a lifetime before they find their true calling in the world. Part of the reason for this is that they just do not want to accept the world the way it is. They struggle against convention and traditional ways. Coping with the struggle inevitably leads to bad choices being made and the consequences of the choices begin to shape their lives. This, in turn, takes them further away from what they are called to do until a person is beaten down to a point of helplessness and shapelessness.
Separation from family and association with wrong friends results in a nomadic life. Movement is how you exist.
No rest. No home. No roots.
No one wants you around so memories of rest, home, and roots are all you have now:
My mama- I’m so proud of her- She taught me how to be a diligent worker; Watching my Spurs and my Cowboys games- I love those games;Listening to jazz in peace and security takes me away from all the troubles I have.
The longing for rest, home, and roots are what I keep searching for.
Until one day, I begin to shed my selfishness.
I begin to see things a bit differently.
I want to help the people who are sharing their food with me and who share their space to be in during the day.
Slowly, the people helping me are changing me into someone else.
They offer me trust to do the right thing. They want me around to help them.
I begin to change even more.
I am offered a room to rest in through the night. As time goes on, my room and the place where I help becomes my home.
I am growing:
I am the Laundry Supervisor, the Clothing Closet Manager, the Rotating Chef, the Office Manager, and the Chief Purchaser.
Before I know it, I have roots. I am becoming the someone I was meant to be.
There is nothing I wouldn’t help with or change inside or outside of me to be here…at my home.
One day, I looked at those who I worked with and who I served and I noticed that there was something very different about them.
I saw them differently in a way I had never seen anyone before. I knew, now, that I was walking with the Lord.
As I lay down on my bed in my room in my home, this brought me great comfort.
I could finally rest in my true home where my roots are.
Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'
GOSPEL MIRRORING
MATTHEW 25:31-46
The Judgment of the Nations
31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
37 Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?
38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?
39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?”
40 And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;
42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”
44 Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?”
45 Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”
46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’