VANCOUVER—The Archbishop of Vancouver and a group of St. Mary's parishioners braved a night outdoors to show solidarity with the homeless.
"I've got to admit that I've never slept outside before, except maybe in a hammock or on a beach," said Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, before settling in to a cardboard box in the church parking lot March 6.
"I've never slept on cardboard or on pavement. For me, it's a first. It is at least a small way, a very small way, of showing some solidarity with the homeless."
After Mass, night prayer, and a blessing, 35 people wrapped themselves in several layers before tucking in to sleeping bags outside the church.
"I want to experience what the homeless people live," said Erlene Montano, a member of the Legion of Mary.
Montano said friends and family members had told her she was "crazy" to spend a night on the pavement. "I said, 'No, it's the Lenten season and we need to sacrifice. It's only one night."
Rocelyn Catris, a youth and young adult ministry coordinator, was motivated to participate after a speaker at a conference challenged her idea of compassion.
"To have compassion is to really put yourself in that person's shoes. That hit me," she said. "Maybe I think I'm compassionate to homeless people, but I really don't know their suffering."
It was the first time St. Mary's Street Ministry had held the Sleep Out event. Coordinator Mildred Moy thought it would benefit its members and raise money for outreach programs.
"I'd like to have more people experience what it is like to be sleeping outside so that there can be a change of heart. Sometimes we could be judgmental to the homeless because we think: 'How come they use drugs, or how come they don't work?'"
Moy, who has been reaching out to homeless people and prostitutes for 10 years, said the St. Mary's Street Ministry work fills a gap. While many programs exist to provide food or clothing, this ministry's aim is to address spiritual and emotional needs.
"We talk with them, we listen to them, and ask if they want prayers," she said. "We fast and pray every week for them and also for the end of sex trafficking."
Moy didn't manage to fall asleep during the Sleep Out. She reflected that the safe parking lot, secured by volunteers from the Knights of Columbus, differed from the real world of poverty.
"The real homeless are much less fortunate. Every night they have to worry that their belongings may get stolen and they may get attacked in the middle of the night. Sometimes rats run across them while they are sleeping."
Parishioner Miriam Tamingo also had a hard time falling asleep, being constantly disturbed by outdoor noise, yet she considered it a "privilege."
"I said: 'Thank You, Lord that we can, just like Jesus in His humanity. He had to feel our pain as a human, feel how it feels,'" she said. "For us to feel our brothers and sisters, we have to do it too."
Moy said the Sleep Out raised $2,600, not including online donations. The funds will go toward purchasing "comfort coats": sleeping bags made by members of Star of the Sea Parish, and other outreach programs.