Students Share Insights from Street Retreat (By Laura Litschi, Theology Department Chair)

After experiencing the Street Retreat, Juniors wrote articles, some of which may be considered for submission to the website “Austin Street Humans,” for which senior Sidney Kaliher is a contributing author. What follows is a sampling of several student reflections:
 
"I will carry with me the lessons that I have learned from participating in this enriching experience for the rest of my life and will spread the word to the rest of my community that it’s all right to feel a little bit uncomfortable and to not know what to do with yourself when encountering the homeless, but it isn’t all right to view yourself as superior to them and that therefore they don’t deserve your time." (Jessica Mikell)
 
"Since the Street Retreat, I attempt to mimic the attitude John shows every day, waking up with a new appreciation of the life I am living. My alarm is now set to “Goodnight” by Kanye West, the song from which John pulled out his life motto. From this day on, John will always live in my soul, in the sense of waking up with appreciation of the world and the value of each human life." (Matthew Melvin)

"Through my experiences talking to people on the streets, I have come to learn a very important thing. I have been told this forever, but I am finally beginning to actually understand it. We are all one in Christ, and we are all his children, which makes us part of his one body. Christ dwells within each and every one of us because we are inherently part of his family and congregation.

If this is true, we should treat others as if we are interacting with Christ himself. In the Bible, it says, “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me” (Matthew 25: 42-43). When Jesus says this to his congregation, they are confused because none ever saw Christ needing help. In reply to this, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25: 40).

In this quote, Jesus basically tells us that he lives within each and every one of us. So, when you don’t acknowledge or you treat someone bad on the street, you are doing that to Christ. I think this is the greatest lesson I could have learned from the retreat because now, I am going to treat everyone with the dignity and respect that they deserve." (Thomas McCarthy) 
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