"I would rather be homeless," one street teen said. "It is cold and miserable on the streets, but it is better than being beaten up by parents who don't care."Teens often live in "families" of as many as 20 adolescents, huddling under bridges, in woods, on beaches or in abandoned buildings. Most were forced to support themselves by panhandling, theft, drug sales or prostitution, reports a Stanford University study.
Fully 92 percent of those surveyed came from broken homes. Half reported family alcoholism and 40 percent reported drug abuse. In addition, 56 percent of the teens reported physical abuse and 38 percent reported sexual abuse in their families.
"There are throwaway, as well as runaway, teens among the homeless youths," the researchers said. "The parents of throwaway teens, those who were forced out, felt that the teens caused too many problems. The teens also mentioned frequent conflict with parents, lack of money or room, and teenage pregnancy and homosexuality. Most teenage homeless were not wanted nor well cared for."
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Continued from Wednesday, February 27, 2008, Saint Peter Chrysologus declares that prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. He shows how prayer, mercy and fasting are one, and they give life to each other.
In today’s blog and in a two-part post, one of the greatest preachers of the early church explains the key penitential practices of Lent: prayer, fasting, and mercy. Saint Peter Chrysologus, Early Church Father declares that prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. He shows how prayer, mercy and fasting are one, and they give life to each other.
“Jesus and justice – rarely do we bring them together as the Gospels do. Somehow, we find it hard to bring together the Jesus who is so uncompromising in the area of private prayer and integrity, who says we delude ourselves if we think we are following him but are not praying or keeping the commandments, with the Jesus who tells us unequivocally that at the last judgment there will only be one test as to whether we will go to heaven or not – namely, how we responded to the poor during our lifetime. The Jesus who invites us into a personal piety and church doctrine is the same Jesus who tells us that nobody will get to heaven without a letter of reference from the poor.” by Fr. Ron Rolheiser, O.M.I., excerpt from the Tidings, February 15, 2008
Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards him who is the fount of mercy. It is a pilgrimage in which he himself accompanies us through the desert of our poverty, sustaining us on our way towards the intense joy of Easter.
On Presidents Day, we celebrate a modern-day leader and role-model; Jimmy Carter, who as president of the United States was deeply committed to social justice and basic human rights for the poor and homeless. He and his wife Rosalynn left the White House in search of meaningful ways to contribute in these areas. In addition to promoting peace and human rights through the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta, they also lead the Jimmy Carter Work Project (JCWP) and became actively involved with Habitat for Humanity International. They build homes for the poor.
Yesterday, it was reported that President Bush called the governors of 5 states - Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee assuring them of help after dozens of tornadoes left many residents instantly homeless and 54 dead. Homes were reduced to piles of rubble as the deadliest cluster of tornadoes in nearly a decade tore through the region, snapping trees and crumpling dwellings.
“…Share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, cover him …”
Eight Ways to Truly Help the Homeless, Part I
Many stories and legends have grown up around the memory of Saint Bridget (b. 450 A.D.). She served the poor of Ireland around the same time that Saint Patrick was preaching and whom was a friend of her family. In those days there were many lepers in Ireland, and when there was no one else to help and pity them, the poor outcasts were always sure of a kindly welcome from Saint Bridget.
