‘It is not a duty to help Christ, it is a privilege’
Danny Daly, London, United Kingdom
London Jesuit Volunteers is a recent initiative of the Mount Street Jesuit Centre in London. Members commit to volunteering for 2-8 hours per week, working alongside people in prisons, hospitals, and homeless shelters; also with communities of people with learning disabilities, and with outreach agencies for refugees, asylum seekers and other marginalised people. Members also commit to monthly peer group meetings, reflecting upon and sharing with other volunteers their various experiences. This reflection is very much rooted in the Ignatian value of seeking God in all things.
When I returned to the Catholic Church in late 2006, having been “resting” for a number of years, I was determined to be not only more active in learning about my Faith, but also to follow James’s call that “Faith without good works is dead” (James 2 14-18). I became a Trustee for the homeless charity Emmaus South Lambeth, in order to utilise my financial and management skills, but I was very aware that I wanted to become more involved in a practical hands-on role as well.
During 2008 I had discovered the Mount Street Jesuit Centre, which offered numerous courses and workshops to help me understand and deepen my Faith. It was through the Centre that I became aware, in September 2008, that there was going to be a meeting for those interested in becoming part of the London Jesuit Volunteer (LJV) community. To be able to volunteer and help the marginalised within society, and to have the support of a monthly Ignatian spiritual reflection within a peer group, was just the combination that I was looking for. Before beginning my volunteer placement at Urban Table, I met with Martin at Dorothy Day House in Hackney. Martin and myself are of a similar age, and over a couple of cups of coffee, we had a wide-ranging chat about the Church, politics, and football.
Urban Table is based at the Round Chapel in Hackney. On Sunday afternoons soup and sandwiches are prepared by the volunteers and fruit, cake and hot drinks are also provided to the guests. Many of the guests are from the accession EU countries (e.g. Poland, Lithuania), but there are also a number who are local to Hackney. Some sleep rough, others live in squats. Others still are simply isolated and struggling to cope.
At the end of the afternoon, the volunteers meet up to discuss how the day went, normally followed by a period of readings, reflection and prayer. There is an iconic Catholic Worker image which is set up in front of us, with two small candles, namely “Christ of the Breadlines” by Fritz Eichenberg. It depicts down-and-out men and women in line, huddling in their ill-fitting clothes for warmth. In the centre, in silhouette, stands Christ, radiating light and warmth in the darkness. It is such a stark and powerful image and never fails to resonate with me personally. It expresses visually Christ’s words “I was hungry…I was thirsty….I was homeless….I was naked…..I was a stranger….I was a prisoner”.
Occasionally, at the end of the check-in, a volunteer will apologise for spending too much time at the tables with the guests, and not helping out so much in the kitchen. This is a needless apology, as sharing a meal, sitting and chatting with the guests is at the heart of what the Catholic Worker offers.
LJV and Urban Table have enriched my life so much, and I see my involvement to date as just the setting out stage. I am looking forward to continuing the journey over the years ahead.
This is an edited version of an article published in January 2010 in Thinking Faith, the online journal of the British Jesuits: http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100129_1.htm
