House Volunteers, for his community's Stations of the Cross Reflections.
As tradition tells us, Veronica, not being able to offer too much to take away the pain and suffering Jesus is going through, takes a cloth and wipes his face. Imprinted on the cloth was the face of Jesus. Now, the way I view the message in this station is that Veronica will be able to have something tangible, and every time she looks at this stained cloth she can think, “Now that’s the man who saved us all.” In many reflections we’ve participated in, we talk about where we see Jesus in our everyday lives and how we can model our actions after his, but, what about those who surround and support us? What about the Veronicas in our life?
Just like how we can see Jesus in many different areas of our lives, Veronica exists through various people. My parents, who literally gave me life and support me in every facet of my being, my friends who, on more than one occasion have saved my life, and Merrimack College for instilling my passion for service and social justice. A combination of these has led me to Amate House, and my service site at Cabrini Green Legal Aid. My job as Intake Specialist provides me with the opportunity to screen potential clients to see if they meet our guidelines for free legal representation, interview said potential clients, and present cases to our staff of attorneys, social workers, interns, and the like. After listening to the story of Veronica, and how she wanted to help any way she could, I couldn’t help but relate to her situation. My experience in the legal field is next to nothing. I took a Sociology of Law class two years ago, but I got a B in the class so clearly I’m not super knowledgeable on the subject. As clients started asking me questions about their specific cases, I felt myself saying “I don’t know” quite a lot.
What I couldn’t offer in legal knowledge, I make up for in compassion, patience, and attempting to make them smile. One client in particular stands out in my mind. She came to us for a housing case where she was being evicted for circumstances in her life that were out of her control. Upon meeting her, you could see defeat written all over her face. I knew there wasn’t much I was going to be able to do in terms of relieving her of her legal case, but I just wanted to make her smile. So, when we went to meet, I accidentally tripped right in front of her and tried to play it off professionally, but she exploded with laughter. We joked a little bit about my inability to walk that day, and then continued our discussion about her legal case. As she was leaving, she turned to give me a hug and said “Even if you can’t help me, I just want to thank you so much for making me laugh. It’s been a while since that happened. You’re the first person to make me laugh in months.”
Hearing clients’ stories of struggle and injustice made me want to do whatever I had in my power to help. What I can do is present their cases and advocate on their behalf, and I am very proud to say many cases I presented have been accepted. Not saying it was all 100% my doing, but it still makes me happy. Now I have clients calling me to thank me for my help, clients giving me hugs as they cry from happiness, and I was even added to a prayer list. In a way, I hope I can be Veronica to these people. I may not have something tangible like a cloth with all of their faces imprinted on it, but what I did gain from them is something no physical object could ever amount to. Hope. They’ve inspired me that no matter how bad things get, we can’t give up the hope that we can make it better, and that there will be people around to guide us.
The South House community and the amazing staff at CGLA are also there to wipe my face when I am struggling along this journey in Chicago. There’s something special about these people, about my Veronicas. My roommates are on this journey with me, and provide me with a sense of security. I’m not very good with words or at telling people how I genuinely feel about them, but my community has helped me more than they know. CGLA has also taken this kid from a small town in Vermont and helped me to be more confident in my job performance, and show me that I am a truly valued member of the CGLA family.
To conclude, I ask you all to do something very simple. First, please keep all of the clients at Cabrini Green Legal Aid in your prayers. Second, take a moment and reflect on the Veronicas you have in your life. There are moments in everyone’s lives and personal journeys where we struggle, where we think that what we’re doing isn’t helping, but you have abilities that make you special. You have people in your lives that notice them. These people, these Veronicas do exist. All you have to do is look hard enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment