Eye to I: Being Seen by Our Friends of Sant’Egidio

One evening, while visiting my closest friend from undergrad at Fordham University, she answered a phone call from a ‘friend.’ The caller was a homeless man, friend of Sant’Egidio, whom she meets each Tuesday. He calls her often, and she always answers.

Sharing her phone number with him deviated from the protocol, but keeping in touch throughout the week was more important to her. I thought that Pope Francis would have commended her commitment to accompaniment. I certainly was impressed by her solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the streets of New York City.

Shortly thereafter, she connected me to the Sant’Egidio chapter in London.

After joining the Wednesday rounds for a couple of weeks, I had a divine encounter with some of our homeless friends outside Westminster Cathedral. Before this evening, I had served food to the homeless in several ways and places. From each experience, I gained a deeper understanding of the meaning of charity. This evening, however, struck my interior life.

Sant’Egidio’s ethos is grounded in building trust and friendship with our friends. Experiencing the richness of this encounter profoundly affected me. As two homeless friends approached and said, “Hello, Grace,” their eyes, looking into mine, pierced my soul. We were basically strangers, but I felt as though they knew something about me that was greater than anything I could tell them. I stood awe-inspired. Afterward, I discerned that they saw the truth in me, the Being that is God’s. Just by looking into my eyes, they communicated this message.

We were basically strangers, but I felt as though they knew something about me that was greater than anything I could tell them.

Our friends reminded me of Saint Teresa de Avila, who might have said they see the world from behind their eyes. They saw me through their interior self. Doing so, the sandwiches, teas and coffees transformed into Jesus before my eyes.

The meal offered to them suddenly symbolised the Eucharist, and our encounter transcended into a communion with Christ. With them, I felt transported from the cathedral’s piazza to lush pastures where God’s agape love swelled around us. I felt like Mary offering Jesus before the Three Wise Men, as they shared their passions for poetry, painting, and wisdom with me. Blessed was I to honour their labour and the work of God’s hands.

This is the truth behind charity, which we sometimes forget to realise. Christ’s charity penetrates deeper than the earthly act of selfless giving; it is an occasion that can take us into the spiritual realm. This is why we feel good after engaging in acts of charity – not because of anything we did, but where the love within the human connection took us. In charity, we approach Jesus, the gate through which we pass to enter into God’s Heavenly pastures. There, we experience love that changes our understanding of the world and each other because, as the Apostle John teaches, it is through love that we come to know God.

Returning to the U.S. upon the conclusion of my master’s studies at LSE in humanitarian emergencies, our friends of Sant’Egidio remain as the living salt of the earth in my heart. The communion of our communities satiated my soul in ways I never could have imagined. Through knowing me as God does, they brought divine flavour to my life. Therefore, let us pray that we realise the eyes we are afraid to look into, at times, might be those who see us for who we truly are as God’s precious children. Go and experience Jesus’ love with our friends on the street! Taste and see the love of our Father and feel your life continuously transformed as it was for me.

Gracious Lord, grant us the courage to see the souls of all your children.

Fill us with the pursuit of your perfect love, that drives out all fear, so we can live in compassion and humility with our sisters and brothers in all ways through the days of our lives. Amen