For the past 20 years, David’s Place, a ministry of St Canice’s Jesuit Parish at Kings Cross in Sydney, has provided a place of prayer, reflection and community for the homeless of inner Sydney.
A sanctuary within the constant activity of ‘the Cross’, David’s Place is an inner city space where the homeless and marginalised can come to find friendship, peace and spiritual nourishment, and to connect with the wider community.
During recent anniversary celebrations, Fr Frank Brennan SJ reflected in a homily on the special place that David’s Place holds in the lives of those who meet there, and also on it’s influence on the character of the city it serves.
He quoted one of David’s Place’s founders, Paul Taylor, who said: ‘David’s Place is an inner-city community which brings together the two ends of town, the comfortable and the not so comfortable.
‘It is a community which is based on sharing the stuff of our lives and being honest with each other. We think one of its side benefits is that it makes the city of Sydney a better place to live in.’
‘Let’s pray that in the next 20 years’, said Fr Brennan, ‘small oases like David’s Place might flourish in the desert.’