Jesus and the Prostitute

An HIA reader by the name of Nathan recently shared a true story about meeting Jesus in the poverty of a prostitute (sound familiar?) from a real-life experience of pastor, Tony Campolo. The “Agnes Story” as Tony calls it goes something like this …

The Agnes Story

It was one of the most extraordinary birthday parties ever held. No it wasn't in a plush ballroom of a grand hotel. No there weren't famous celebrities, nor anyone rich or powerful. Actually, it was held at 3am in a small seedy cafe in Honolulu, and of all people, the guest of honor was a prostitute. The fellow guests were prostitutes, and the man who threw it was a Christian preacher!

The idea came to Christian pastor Tony Campolo very early one morning as he sat in the cafe and overheard a fellow diner lament the fact that not only was it her 39th birthday tomorrow but that she never had a birthday party. She was a prostitute called Agnes and her friends showed her little to no sympathy.

Tony however thought it would be a great idea to surprise Agnes with a birthday party. Learning from the cafe owner that the ladies came in every morning around 3:30am, he agreed with Tony to set the place up for a party. Word somehow got out on the street, so that by 3:15 the next morning the place was packed with prostitutes, the cafe owner and his wife, and Tony.

When Agnes walked in she saw streamers, balloons, the cafe owner holding a birthday cake, and everyone screaming out "Happy Birthday!" Agnes was surprised and overwhelmed. The tears poured down her face as the crowd sang the “Happy Birthday” song.

It was a birthday party rarely seen in Honolulu - thrown by a Christian minister for a 39 year old prostitute who never had anyone go out of their way to do something like this and who expected nothing in return. Indeed, so surprising was this turn of events that the cafe owner found it hard to believe there were Christians out there that would do this sort of thing, but if there were then he wanted to be a real Christian and return to his faith.
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Techno-poverty begins at Home

The "poverty" of  people and families not connecting is a scene that frequently plays out in restaurants and home dining rooms everywhere. The family scenario goes something like this … Sadly, a mom or dad is found staring at the walls - lost in loneliness while a spouse speaks on a cell phone, a daughter may feverishly type sending text messages and a son may fervently play games on his cell phone -  all pretending to be together, but not really.

The noise has become so great in our lives, hasn’t it? We visit but we don’t interact. We talk but we don’t have conversations. We are with each other but we don’t have relationships. Mother Teresa once said in this regard, long before the techno – poverty invasion of our homes and relationships … “Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world.” Blessed Mother Teresa
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The Real Meaning of the Word Compassion!

In regards to A New Poll is Launched, see Monday, September 22, 2008, Anonymous writes ... "A good number of homeless people are people, that are mentally sick. Some of them; are so sick that literally speaking; they dont even know who they are, what their names are, or even realizing that they are living in the streets. Just based in this fact of their situation; it is totally irresponsible on our part to expect from them, that they can go, get a job, straighten up their lives or clean up their act. If we try at least, once in our lifetime, to open our hearts, and to put ourselves in their shoes, trying to think for a moment, what it will be, to be living a life like that, trying to really put ourselves in that people's skin, if only for a minute or a day. THAT is the real meaning of the word Compassion! That is what compassion is all about: To put myself, in the person's situation. To feel in my own skin the cold, the pain, the hunger, the desperation the solitude, the rejection of the others; my very own sisters and brothers, the total emptiness of the human soul. It is Christ again, living the Calvary and the Cross, dying; again and again, time after time, in a never ending Via Crucis [Way of the Cross]. I pray, that God will open our hearts just for a minute and really ask Him to have the opportunity to be the Simon of Cyrene for our brothers and sisters in need."

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Another New Poll is Launched

Today, a new poll about the homeless was launched below, near the bottom of this main page. Here, in today’s blog is the expanded version of the poll’s three questions. After reading them, scroll down and respond to the abbreviated version. Everyone would like to know what you think!

New Poll

When the subject of the homeless is brought up casually among my family or friends, it has been my experience that most people react by saying something like …

*  Why can’t they work like the rest of us; you know, go out and get any job – like dishwasher or busboy in a restaurant?

*  My family immigrated to this country with not even a shirt on their backs and we made it – they can go out and work hard just like we did to solve their problems.

*  It’s a complex problem, homeless people need us to take the time to love and understand them.
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Did Jesus really advocate Homelessness?

by

The Salvation Army

Besides the fact that Jesus was born homeless, at least for that one night; what is perhaps of greater interest is the fact that Jesus chose the way of homelessness during his three years of ministry. In Luke 9 Jesus responds to a man who says he will follow him wherever he goes: 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.'

But did Jesus really advocate homelessness? Did he really tell us to reject our families? That seems very irresponsible of him, does it not? Jesus does urge his followers to take no thought of their life; he tells a wealthy man to sell everything and give it to the poor and he makes some shocking demands of family disloyalty. But Jesus is talking about where people put their trust, where they find their security. Jesus was a man who had conquered fear, and did not need the security of an earthly home, because he knew exactly who he was and where his security lay. His home was the Kingdom of God, and the work of that Kingdom was first in his life.

The question we must ask (and it is not a comfortable one) is this: where is our heart and our home? That is, where have we stored up our treasures? Where does our security lie? Does it rest in our families, our material wealth, our society? It is not enough to simply follow a path that is deemed safe from the perspective of the world. We need to find our home elsewhere, to fix our eyes on things that are eternal, and we need to live that out in our daily walk.

Jesus’ identification with the poor and homeless is therefore a potential source of great strength for the homeless in our world today. But we who are his followers must be prepared to identify in the same way, to see ourselves as brothers and sisters of the destitute, to treat them not as objects of our pity, but as sharers in our love and community.

Jesus was homeless. It is too small a thing to say we follow Jesus but still cling tightly to our earthly security. Are we prepared to give up our 'homes'? Are we prepared to see Jesus in the face of the homeless today?
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More on the Internet
http://www1.salvationarmy.org/
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Down and Not so Out in Beverly Hills

Recently, Associated Press Writer, Christina Hoag reported that being homeless in Beverly Hills, California is not exactly like living on the street in other places. Consider that there are handouts of $2,000 and bottles of Dom Perignon, lucky finds of Gucci shoes and diamond-encrusted bracelets, a chance to rub shoulders with rich and famous locals such as Mark Wahlberg and Master P, even empty houses to live in.

"This is the finest place you can be," said Isaac Young, an affable 59-year-old with a wide grin and a smooth baritone voice who has been homeless in Beverly Hills since 1992.

In this manicured community of 35,000, Rolls Royces and Lamborghinis glide around city streets, movie stars live in gated mansions and Rodeo Drive price tags provoke gasps from tourists.

But the city also features about 30 rather scruffy residents who live in parks, bus shelters and alleyways. However, they are a stark contrast to some 74,000 Los Angeles-based homeless people living on the streets or in shelters, making the county the nation's capital of homelessness.

The homeless in Beverly Hills have direct access to something most street dwellers do not: rich people, who can afford to be pretty generous. They pull up in Porsches and SUVs offering trays of cooked food, designer clothing still in dry-cleaner plastic and odd jobs.

Sometimes life even imitates the 1986 movie "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," in which a homeless man (Nick Nolte) is taken in by a hoity-toity couple (Richard Dreyfuss and Bette Midler).

One homeless man George, he discovered being close to wealth can lead to $100 handouts, or finds such as gold jewelry, video cameras and an Armani suit. He was so thrilled with the suit that he wore it panhandling until he noticed he wasn't doing too well. "You have to have a certain look to get sympathy — dirty, kind of stupid, not aware," he said. Because the homeless understand that the rich will not put up with nonsense in order to get a decent handout, one man quipped, “we have learned to be high class bums.”
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On the Night He was Betrayed ...

A couple of days ago, a new poll was launched below, near the bottom of this main page. Here, in today’s blog is the expanded version of the poll’s three questions. After reading them, scroll down and respond to the abbreviated version. Everyone would like to know what you think!

New Poll

On the night He was betrayed ... when Jesus instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion, one of the reasons he may have chosen the humble elements of bread and wine is because?

1. The wheat and the grapes, are crushed and broken. Just as Jesus was persecuted then; today he appears lost and forgotten, in solidarity with the poor, the abandoned and rejected of the world.

2. He knew one day that churches would use lots of gold and silver vessels on altars – that the basic elements of bread and wine would be upgraded so as to be more attractive and palatable to the rich and the powerful.

3. That’s all they had back then. If it had been today, possibly he would have chosen symbols that could be related to by the vast middle class and yuppies; such as croissants and lattes.
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Let me Dwell in Your Tent Forever

One day soon, they will stand before God’s throne and worship him day and night in his temple - all the abandoned, poor, crushed and homeless.  "The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them." Revelations 7:15-16

Let me dwell in your tent forever and hide in the shelter of your wings. Psalm 61:5

Let Us Pray -
God is our promised shelter, for we are all pilgrims, sojourners and homeless; that is until we find in our home in the Lord. To Him we pray …

R Strengthen us on our journey.
* For the times when we are lost, misguided and misdirected,
- Illuminate our path and comfort our pain. R
* In the midst of worry and distress,
- Be our one clear hope that allows us nights of rest. R
* For all those who live on our streets, in sickbeds and prison cells,
- send them peace of heart and heralds of comfort. R

You are a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in distress; shelter from the rain, shelter from the heat. Isaiah 25:4

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Send Your Prayer Requests to Rome

Today, Peggy, a reader from Fort Lauderdale, Florida emails us and invites you to gather all your special prayer requests and type them in the “COMMENT” section at the end of this article. Wednesday, she is departing on a pilgrimage to Saint Peter’s in Rome. Peggy hopes that you will think of all those you know who are sick, forgotten, abandoned and crushed and allow them to be presented at St. Peter’s at Mass and prayers. She writes, “It is gratifying to me to courier these special intentions.” All prayer requests need to be posted by Tuesday, September 16th, 6pm eastern time, 3pm pacific.

Also, on Tuesday, August 26, 2008, many read the story “A Part of You is Going to France.” A reader in Los Angeles, Liz – offered to bring all of our prayer requests to a special celebration at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. All of the prayer requests were printed out and laid in the grotto where the apparition took place. Liz offered prayers at a special 150 year anniversary Mass. Pope Benedict XVI held the mass today for 260,000 people at the shrine in the city of Lourdes. In it, he recognized the poor, homeless peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirou who received many visions in the year 1858 of the Blessed Mother in a remote area of that city.
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Awaken Christians!

About six months, HIA set out to survey the following question of its readers … “Should Jesus be taken literally or figuratively when he said we will be judged by – ‘For I was hungry, you gave me to eat, I was thirsty, you gave me to drink… I needed clothes, you clothed me… Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me’”? The response choices were: literally, figuratively, both, neither?

The results are in! There were 57 respondents to the survey question.
** 43% felt that Jesus should be taken literally.
** 31% believe that Jesus should be taken both literally and figuratively.
** 1% said that he should not be taken literally or figuratively regarding this statement.
** 0% responded with “figuratively” only.

In light of the votes, it appears as though almost 100% believe on some level that at the last judgment, each of us will be accountable to the Lord for having sufficiently responded in our lifetime to the poor and needy around us, in our neighborhoods and cities. May God awaken and empower Christians everywhere to live up to the responsibility of His command to serve the poor in each corner of our world.
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Homeless Lament

Overheard rants and raves by one-time homeless …

By D. Kennedy
I've been a working homeless vet in the past and it's very difficult to pull yourself out of that situation. There isn't a proper support structure set up and there are too many jobs that just don't pay enough for an independent person to be self sufficient.

By A. Mcliberal
"Homeless" and "vet" should not be in the same paragraph, much less the same sentence. I have been unemployed for two months. New Hampshire employment security (what a joke that moniker is) denied my claim. I have had zero income for two months. I was robbed. I got flooded. I lost power for three days and lost all my food and had to stay in a hotel. I have a bachelor's degree and have been working for over thirty years. THIS is my reward? I am depressed, but I can't see a shrink, because I have no health insurance.

By E. May
I am 52, worked since I was 18, took a new job in 1997, moved with my wife and bought land and a home close to the great new job. Three months before my insurance kicked in, I was permanently injured on the job site… We lost our home, land and any hope of medical recovery from the accident. I am now living beside my 89 year old Dad, in a house vacated because of the death of my oldest brother. As for being homeless I've had my share.
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Am I Crying out in Guilt or am I Genuinely Concerned?

Today, a reader writes in from Oxnard, California, Harriett.  She gives us an insight into praying mercifully; a prayer recently composed by Jim Busby ...

"Dear Awesome God,

Thank You for this soft bed I lay in right now. I know that there are too many people who only dream of such a nice place to sleep.  Father, as I lay my head down, my stomach is not growling, and I am not thinking of food. But I know, by name, some that are wondering if there will be anything to eat when they wake up in the morning.

O my God, I throw away so much. And much that I discard is things that people are praying for you to provide!  HEAL ME, LORD! MAKE ME MORE LIKE YOU!

O my God, am I crying out to you in guilt, or am I genuinely concerned? Am I crying out in guilt, or am I desiring you to multiply the loaves and fishes that I have? You told me the poor would always be with me. Does that excuse me from doing all I can to help them?

Father, forgive me. Please make me more like you.  In JESUS’ name, Amen"
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More Injustice when the Wealthy don’t Know what to do with their Money

Expensive Items for The Rich Part II

Last week, [See Sunday, August 31, 2008] it was the $10,000 box of chocolates that most readers found hard to swalow; this week, a burger that may choke you up a bit!  If McDonald's dollar menu isn't quite your style, consider this: a $5,000 hamburger. And where else would it be sold but Las Vegas, of course. Chef Keller at Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay is offering this new burger for a price that can only be called decadent. The foie gras and black truffle-stuffed Kobe burger is served on a brioche truffle bun and garnished with Chef Keller's special sauce, which also has truffles. Accompanying this burger is a bottle of Chateau Petrus 1995.
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Praying Mercifully with the Divine Mercy

One of the great promises that Jesus made to St. Faustina when he appeared to her is that when the Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed on behalf of the dying, he will intercede and have mercy on the soul at the moment of death. So what are we waiting for? You may not be able to get out of the house to help the homeless or even to do other acts of mercy, but this is something everyone can do to have compassion on dying souls and win them for the Kingdom of Heaven. Saying the Divine Mercy every day for the dying is a great contribution we can make to the salvation of souls, and it’s not difficult, either. Here’s a true story that may inspire you!

“When I first learned the chaplet, a woman at St. Benedict’s after the 5:30pm Mass one day asked me to go pray for her next-door neighbor, who was in a coma, dying in the hospital, and had never even been baptized. She said he was a good man, but didn’t believe in God, and she was worried for his soul. I told her I felt kind of funny going to the hospital room of someone I didn’t know—what if the nurse thought I was doing something weird, or the family was there and didn’t like it? She just said to think about it, and if I wanted to go, it was such and such a hospital and room number.

“Well, I decided to go, for Jesus, and right away, even before dinner, so He would be inside me and could direct my ways more easily. When I got there, the nurses were all at the other end of the hall doing something together, and the room was dark except for the light over his bed, where he was sleeping in a coma. So I didn’t go in, but just knelt down in the doorway and began praying the chaplet. As soon as I did, the tears started flowing down my face in profusion! I wondered, ‘What is going on? Do I perhaps know this guy but not his name?’ So I kept praying the chaplet, but at the end decided to tiptoe in and just have a look at his face. Well, he was a stranger, but the amazing thing is that tears were flowing down his face, too!

“I hadn’t been home 15 minutes before that lady at church called me and said not to bother going because the man had just died! So, I am a true believer in the words Jesus told St. Faustina—she said that the Lord told her if you prayed the chaplet at the bedside of someone who was dying He would no longer be their just judge but only their merciful savior! And when St Faustina prayed it at the bedside of someone who was dying she could see the demons flee screaming, with their hands over their ears, as God’s mercy enveloped the dying person. I love the way Jesus works!”
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As Goes the Nation, so Goes the Leader

by

Rabbi Sim Glaser

The great prophet Amos taught it to us best when he said “I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies... says God… I pay no heed to your gifts. Spare me the sound of your hymns. Let me not hear the music of your lutes, but let justice well up like water, righteousness as a mighty stream.” (Amos 5:22-24)

As long as 2800 years ago Amos recognized that many of us who call ourselves people of faith just don’t get it. We think that constant prayer and offering of ritual will ease the burdens of the most impoverished and oppressed in our midst. Even as we pray to God to right the wrongs of our society, you can bet that God is praying with even greater sincerity for us to get our own act together.

The great prophet Amos knew that God wants us to pray with our feet. And our hands. And our pocketbook. With our righteousness.

The Jewish people have an annual feast called Sukkot. This is the holiday in which we are commanded to construct brittle perishable huts alongside our warm secure homes so as to acknowledge the frailty of human existence that has ever been our lot. And to appreciate the preciousness of affordable dwelling places that has not always been our privilege, and is still denied to so many in the richest most privileged nation in the world.

The ancient rabbis taught that there is nothing in the world more grievous than poverty. That it is the most terrible of sufferings – because not only is it physically intolerable, sadly unjust, but also because it rips at the spirit of men women and children created in the divine image.

One such sage instructed us – take care of your own soul and another person’s body, not of your own body and another person’s soul.

The ancient rabbis argued as to whether the nation follows after the leader or the leader after the nation. And guess what? The prevailing view was: As goes the nation, so goes the leader. We are in the drivers’ seats on this one, friends. It is we who will make the change in the attitude this state and indeed this nation takes towards its most needy citizens.

The prophet Isaiah implored us: “It is you who have ravaged the vineyard. That which has been taken from the poor is in your houses. How dare you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor, says God the Eternal.” (Isaiah 3:14-15)

And yet we know in our hearts, we are not evil people. We are not uncaring. Not one of us really feels comfortable living in security and prosperity when it is at the expense of another. But we need to send the message clearly and strongly that no one of us is free if we live in a society that acknowledges overwhelming poverty and still allows for it. We are culpable. If we have been participants in ravaging the vineyard, now it’s time to plant new seeds of opportunity.

Our common scripture teaches that when it comes time to reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, but leave a portion of it for the poor and the stranger.

Judaism calls upon people to continue to work for a messianic age. Whether you are waiting for the messiah – first or second round… We know that no Messiah is going to be celebrated in a land that does not set an adequate place at the table for all its inhabitants.

Remember, as goes the nation, so goes the leader. Don’t sit and wait for your favorite candidate to do the work for you. Let us ask them to partner with us in making our state the most socially conscious in the nation. And most importantly, let us say to one another: I am ready to do what is necessary – how about you?

Let us go forward, and continue to pray with our feet, and with our hands, and with our hearts. Amen.

Sim Glaser has been guest speaker at community rallies on poverty and is Rabbi at Temple Israel, an urban congregation celebrating Reform Judaism in Minneapolis.

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