Overcoming Discouragement on the Streets

We often go out and see our friends on the streets in some pretty tough situations: Physical poverty, addiction, mental health struggles, spiritual poverty, physical ailments, etc. And for many of our friends, it’s been years in this struggle. So it is not so surprising that we often see discouragement on their faces.

In many ways, we can relate to them. It is the human condition. Maybe we can relate to them in our own spiritual poverty, in our own struggles of brokenness, or maybe just watching the broken world around us. Whatever the case, at times we too bear the look of discouragement. There are many moments this year when I have worn this look this year during street ministry. To look into the eyes of these people in some of the most difficult times in their lives. To be with them in their suffering. 

This is where the Lord invites us to step out in faith. To step out in faith and to ask him to come meet us here, right where we are. This is where we can ask the Lord, on behalf of our friends, to come to them. We already know he is the only one that can change our lives. When our hearts grow weak and weary, we can ask with faith, knowing he will come, just like he does every day in the Eucharist. We are his beloved children. He wants us to call on him!

This year, I have experienced both moments of deep discouragement and of profound  love on the streets with our friends. In these moments, I have found the Litany of the Held to be a very powerful prayer of faith. It has helped me see how to ask the Lord to be with those we have come to know, and it has shown me to keep asking for his presence in their lives in a deep and powerful way. We are moved by these peoples’ lives because we come to love them, and it is moving to remember that God loves them so much more, and wants the greatest good for them. So we keep praying in faith that he is moving in a grand way in their lives, even when we don’t get to see it. Here I share this prayer with you; my hope is that you find as much comfort in it as I did when asking my Jesus:

Litany of the Held 

In the heaviness of piled burdens, meet me here, my Jesus.

In my fatigue, meet me here, my Jesus.

In my weakness, meet me here, my Jesus.

In my woundedness, meet me here, my Jesus.

In my wrestling with myself, meet me here, my Jesus.

In becoming consumed and overloaded, meet me here, my Jesus.

When my smile grows weary, meet me here, my Jesus.

When I sigh for a trusted friend, meet me here, my Jesus. 

When I crave an image of love, meet me here, my Jesus. 

When I could readily collapse, meet me here, my Jesus.

For resolution to set all at your feet, hold me here, my Jesus.

To come with open hands before you, hold me here, my Jesus. 

To step into your loving gaze, hold me here, my Jesus. 

To lean into your loving embrace, hold me here, my Jesus.

To let you shoulder my pain and exhaustion, hold me here, my Jesus. 

To receive the love you long to lavish, hold me here, my Jesus. 

In my trembling of resurfaced emotion, hold me here, my Jesus. 

In my clinging to self-dependence, hold me here, my Jesus.

In my flinching and recoiling, hold me here, my Jesus.

In my suspicion and slowness to let you in, hold me here, my Jesus. 

For quiet awareness that You are with me, hold me here, my Jesus. 

For deep-seated trust that you will not abandon me, hold me here, my Jesus.

For a heart that recognizes my need, hold me here, my Jesus. 

For an extended heart made tender by receiving, hold me here, my Jesus. 

Amen. 

Anais Urias