The Injustice when the Wealthy don’t Know what to do with their Money

Expensive Items for The Rich

Even the most devoted of chocaholics might have trouble swallowing this purchase: nearly $10,000 for a box of chocolates. On sale at England's famed Harrods department store, the pricey package -- which costs 5,000 British pounds -- includes 49 hand-wrapped chocolates made by Lebanese chocolatier Patchi, The Telegraph in London reports. Made of organically-grown cocoa, each chocolate is decorated with gold and a Swarovski crystal flower or a handmade silk rose. The box itself is wrapped in leather and handmade silk from China and India.

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To Most People, It’s Just Trash

Recently, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, Jessica Garrison reported about thousands of homeless living in trees, under freeways, in caves and on the fringes of wilderness in Southern California. To most people, it's just trash: A scrap of dirty blanket visible under some stairs; a glimpse of blue tarp peeking out of a bush; a bag of recyclables parked discreetly behind a concrete column.

But Courtney Kanagi, an outreach worker, has learned how to decode bits of urban debris that most people ignore. She knows what these signs mean: the crawl space beneath the stairs could be someone's home.

For those without houses, SoCal landscape offers many opportunities for ingenious solutions -- aeries beneath bridges, riverbed encampments, ad hoc tree houses with million-dollar views -- to the problem of where to sleep.

Spend some time with Kanagi or Homeless In America’s, Servants of the Father of Mercy, and you'll never look at the city's hidden corners the same way again.

Keep in mind that fewer than 20% of the region's homeless can be accommodated in shelter beds on any given night. That leaves 10s of thousands sleeping outdoors. That in itself helps to explain why so many have to get so creative in establishing shelter.

Many …
* Hunch in groups on the sidewalk or in alleys behind dumpsters.
* Others find a hidden stairwell or doorway, abandoned building or freeway underpass.
* Venture into the brush and make their own living spaces, or encampments.

One woman was found living with her husband and dog beneath a bridge in the San Gabriel River watershed. But don’t romanticize her situation. Her little abode next to the riverbed might seem out of the way and even peaceful, especially when morning sun etches the landscape with gold. But the woman, who is 34 but is missing teeth and looks much older, said she lives with pressing fear that police will force her to move or that gang members will menace her. And it's frequently cold at night.
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A Part of You is Going to France!

Yesterday, Liz, a long-time HIA subscriber and now a founding member of Servants of the Father of Mercy community, sent an email with a powerful plan to help the poor, homeless, crushed and broken people in each of our lives. Liz has for many years been making an end-of-summer pilgrimage to Lourdes, France and now she would like to include all of us! Unfortunately, we will not all be on the plane with her, but she will be taking a part of us when she departs from LAX.

Liz has given all of the HIA readers a generous gift when in her email she said … “I thought I'd offer to take everyone’s prayer petitions with me to Lourdes. Let them know that the petitions will be placed in the Grotto, and that this September is a very special celebration - the 150th year of Our Lady coming to St. Bernadette at Lourdes! The pope is coming when I will be there to celebrate a special anniversary Mass. I will be happy to take the prayers to the Grotto - and also will lift them up at the Adoration tent and healing service. I need all of the prayers by Tuesday, September 2nd.”

So who do you know that needs a miracle? Who is crushed, broken, suffering illness and all types of poverty - is it yourself, a friend, a family member, a co-worker? Please post your prayer request now to this blog by clicking on COMMENTS just below this article. You will be taken to a new page. Type your request in the white box, and then click on anonymous, fill in the wavy letters and click publish. You are done! Remember, when praying for others, first names only, please. Send out an email to your family and friends and invite them to participate.
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Crawling Under Bridges in Chattanooga

Recently, on our one-year anniversary of almost daily publishing triumphal insights into everyone’s poverty and “homelessness,” we gratefully received a wonderfully encouraging review that hopefully will inspire you to subscribe and to invite your family and friends to subscribe to Homeless in America. Brother Ron writes… “Words, for all of their power, cannot express the depth of gratitude I feel for your website and the work you do. I am a Gregorian monk living and working among the homeless in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I live and work at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen where I serve as the Outreach Case Manager. So, I crawl under bridges and go into abandoned buildings, crack houses, in to the woods, wherever the broken need help. I also wash feet. Our foot ministry has very practical benefits for the homeless, but is truly a direct conduit to the Living Christ for me. Your website has become a very vital part of my morning prayers and I feel so connected to you in my heart, in my spirit and that vast landscape of the solar plexus. I thank God for your voice.” Br. Ron
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Dirty Little Secret

Speaking of mercy for the poor, here is an outreach of compassion to the “spiritually bankrupt poor” whose time has come! You might have heard of XXXChurch.com, an outreach to those in the porn industry. Craig Gross founded XXXChurch.com and now has written a new book published by Zondervan, The Dirty Little Secret - Uncovering The Truth About Porn.

Among other activities, Craig's work takes him and his team to the annual porn conventions in Las Vegas and Los Angeles where they set up a booth and attempt to engage producers, vendors, actors and porn buyers in a dialogue that will lead them to freedom in Christ. This summer, they handed out 4,000 - yes, 4,000 - "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" bibles in Los Angeles at the Convention Center.

Porn is no doubt flourishing in our churches. Guaranteed! There's no way of knowing how many lives, and how many families, have been wounded by it. Yet we never talk about it. The Dirty Little Secret might provide a way to begin a conversation about mercy and compassion for those men, women and youth who are being stalked by its lure.
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Faith, Works, Justification & Sanctification

We are not are saved by works, but by faith. However, works play a significant role in each person’s path to holiness, regeneration and sanctification. But first, in regard’s to justification by faith … Paul writes in Roman’s 3:20, “For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Paul must be speaking here about the works of the law often connected with religious practices and observances. Although we may not be saved by works, however works of mercy and compassion toward the poor, the prisoner and the abandoned play a significant role in making us available to the grace of regeneration and personal sanctification. Personal suffering also contributes toward sanctification and holiness. Paul writes … “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.” (Romans 5:3) Paul also states, “Just as you once yielded your members to impurity and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness (right living) for sanctification.” (Romans 6:19) He also writes, “But by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you shall live.” (Romans 8:14) Life in Christ calls us to suffering, works of mercy, compassion and service to others that yield our members to holiness, sanctification and regeneration. The law certainly can make us aware of sin; however it can never sanctify us. Yielding our members to compassion and mercy will facilitate the Spirit’s sanctification process in our lives.
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Jesus Manifesto

from 

Today at the Mission

1. Stop talking about Jesus. Just stop. If we loved the people around us half as much as we say we love Jesus, the rest of this manifesto would be entirely redundant.

2. Live a secret life. Invest the time, effort and vulnerability necessary to delve deeply into the scripture and prayer. Spend long periods of time in stillness. There is no shortcut to this, there is no other way. Without a deep and secret life we soon find ourselves talking about Jesus instead of being like Jesus.

3. Stop pretending! I'm a Christian, and I suck. So do you. Let's get that out of the way, shall we?

4. Give more than you get. There will always be more than enough.

5. Be present for those around you. Following Jesus has nothing to do with your work, your resume or your income. In fact, nothing that matters does.

6. Treasure brokenness. Our broken places are sacred spaces in our heart. Honor them. Value them. In doing so you love the unlovely, publicly declaring the beauty of God's image in everyone. Greet the broken with comfort and cool water.

7. Throw a party! [You know the one where the invited posh don’t show and you go on the streets and invite the poor.]

8. Know Jesus well enough to recognize him on the street. This is rather important, because he can always be found on the street - and he usually looks more like a pan-handler than a preacher.

9. Accept ingratitude and abuse as a fixed cost. Embrace them, and then go the extra mile.

10. If you follow Jesus [serving the poor], you will anger religious people. This is how you will know.
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More on the Internet
http://mission.squarespace.com/-journal/2007/1/7/the-following-jesus-manifesto.html
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Sick Leave

We're on sick leave recovering from a few broken bones.  In the mean time, take time to explore the hundreds of blogs, stories and articles with triumphal insights into everyone's poverty and brokenness. Thank you for all of your prayers!
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Marguerite - Pure Charity!

Patricia writes in from Cleveland about one of her favorite role models for inspiration to serve the poor, St. Marguerite d’Youville of Montreal, Canada. She reminds us that Marguerite also founded the order of the “Grey Nuns,” and that she had been married before founding the order. Unfortunately, in her childhood years she had been orphaned and in her adult years, her husband had a bad reputation as she suffered much by his frequent absences and illegal liquor trading with the Indians. He was a wild and crazy man, but she cared for him with sacrificial love and the purest of charity until his death.

So, you are about to be inspired by a wonderful love story… that of Mother d’Youville (1701 -1771), known as the Mother of Universal Charity. Indeed, her charity knew no bounds and her love for the poor was immense. She made great sacrifices to help and comfort the poor and during her life, her physical help or her prayers consoled hundreds and hundreds of people. She sought God in the simplicity of her heart and found Jesus in the poor, and she lived the words of the Gospel to the fullest, Matthew 25:40: “As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.” But the words that were most engraved in her heart, were those of St. Paul, “Charity is patient, is kind; charity envies not, deals not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeks not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinks no evil; rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) Throughout her life, Marguerite put these words of St. Paul into practice to the fullest. By doing this she gained the honor of being called the, “Mother of Universal Charity”.
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More on the Internet:
http://www.sspx.ca/Communicantes/Sep2005/St_Marguerite_d
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The Real Sin of Sodom and Gomorrah Revealed

Why is it in Matthew 25:31-46 (“Whatever you did not do for the least of these you did not do for me …”), Christ's criterion for entry into the Kingdom of Heaven seems to be compassion rather than faith - mercy rather than self-righteousness? Judgment Day looks to be based on how we treat him in the least rather than a simple belief in him - - (John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world …”).

Similarly, many are used to being taught that the sin of Sodom was homosexuality and other sexually indulgent lifestyles. While excess in those things are included as wickedness, the following passage indicates that the major sin that caused God to burn Sodom up was focused on something entirely different!

Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous…" Genesis 18:20 "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” Ezekiel 16:49-50 According to Ezekiel, it appears as though should God stay true to his patterns of justice, wealthy America and other places like Western Europe will have a lot to answer for in this regard.

Welcome to the Kingdom of God! It is where up is down, down is up, the last is first and the very least are rewarded. In fact, get to know your poor, prostitute, needy, orphan, gay, widow, fatherless, addicted, homeless, helpless, hungry, naked, demonized, sick, disabled, downtrodden, neighbor – he or she could quite easily become your next boss in the Heavenly Kingdom of God.
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