Christmas in the City

It has been a tough year in Detroit. Residents in the neighborhoods surrounding the Soup Kitchen have long been living in darkness at night, the streetlights having ceased functioning years ago. They have become accustomed to residing next door to burned out, abandoned houses; decaying, silent factories. They have had to learn survival skills, how to negotiate dangerous, violent streets and drug-infested tenements.

But 2014 has brought even additional challenges. The municipal bankruptcy further reduced city services and cast a long shadow over the future. Water shutoffs on a massive scale heightened misery for thousands of families already living in grinding poverty. And the distressing events in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City struck the frightening note in people’s hearts that Detroit could be next.

It was thus burdened with heaviness that I stepped into a women’s support group meeting at the Conner kitchen last Thursday. It was their last meeting before Christmas, and the ten women present were just forming a circle for the closing prayer. I clasped the hands of the two on either side of me, and joined in the singing of “Silent Night” as the candle light flickered on the faces of those ten women. Women whose lives were scarred by domestic violence. Women who had lost sons to the lure of the streets. Women who struggled daily to put food on the table for their children.

And yet their voices rang out with joy; their faces reflected hope; their demeanor shouted out that they are not alone. More powerfully than any sermon they conveyed the conviction that truly God has come to dwell among the people.

Christmas blessings to you.

Jerry Smith, OFM Cap, Executive Director
Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Detroit