Sheba the Catholic Worker

Recently, Jeff Dietrich from the Catholic Worker in Los Angeles reported on the dog called “Sheba” a German shepherd mix providing love and comfort to those on skid row.

For years Sheba lived on the streets with Georgina. "When it was cold, she kept me warm," Georgina recalled recently, "and if I got attacked, she protected me."

Sheba was a patient, loving German shepherd mix whose excess belly fat and low-hanging nipples gave testimony to her maternal nature. Everyone on skid row — kids, cops, prostitutes, pimps — loved her. But her best friends were the homeless street addicts who live outside our Catholic Worker soup kitchen, particularly Georgina.

Humans are hard-wired to need strong connections with other humans, and that children need "an attachment connection with at least one reliably available, protective, psychologically present, and reasonably non-stressed adult."

A dog is no substitute, certainly, for a loving, stable family or for strong human bonds. But most of the addicts on skid row haven't known nurturing families for years, if they ever did. Sheba stepped into a void in Georgina's life, and she made a difference.

On June 26, Sheba was hit by a car and killed. Her memorial service was held in the dining garden of our soup kitchen, but Georgina was not among the more than 30 mourners who attended. Her therapist, fearful of a possible relapse, advised her not to attend. The gathering was full of fond memories of Sheba, but toward the end there was one awkward moment. Was it theologically orrect, we wondered, to pray for a dog? But then someone in the crowd called out, "Let us pray for the loving gift that Sheba was to our community."

We did. And the people of skid row said, "Amen."

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Hymn: Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy

Come, ye sinners, poor, and needy,
Weak and wounded, sickened souls,
Jesus, ready, stands to save you.
Full of pity, love, and power.

Come, ye thirsty, come and welcome,

God's free bounty glorified,
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.

Come, ye wary and heavy-ladened,

Lost and ruined by the fall,
If you wait until you're better,
You'll never come at all.
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Eternal Exaltation is in Direct Relation to Temporal Poverty and Humiliation

By Paul Claudel

Jesus Christ tells us that the measure of His exaltation

is that of His abasement. There is nothing so low that He has
not chosen to befriend it. Not only does He crawl in the mud
like the serpent or in corruption like the worm; He is under
our feet. It is our very foundations, the basis of our movement
and our equilibrium alike, that He has come to verify, sanc-
tify, and baptize. It is at our feet that the Creator has assumed
the attitude of a suppliant; our feet that He has watered with
His kisses and His tears. (And who knows? He may be there
still. We must take care not to step on Him.)

The God we worship is not simply upright, He is ex-
alted. He is unfurled to the utmost, there is not a fiber of His
body where power is not in action! He is above everything,
He holds onto nothing, but it is He who holds us and we who
hold fast to Him, indissolubly. He is suspended there for all
time as an intermediary between heaven and earth. He is a
God in full operation. Not only is He Himself raised, but with
His eyes fixed on His Father, He is utterly absorbed in the
effort to raise all else, even ourselves, to His own level.

Of this inexhaustible energy of Christ which draws
everything to Him, of this fourfold longing exerted at once
on the left and on the right, on the heights and on the depths,
of this all-embracing Unity, of this cosmic transaction, the
Cross is not merely the abstract symbol but, I venture to
suggest, the concrete mechanism. The crucified Christ never
ceases to function. It is a visible machine in constant use. It
is the unfailing leaven which never ceases to operate on the
three measures of meal.
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First Came Paris Hilton

First came Paris Hilton with her elaborate lifestyle set on display!   However, Robert Frank, a writer for CNBC reports that a new Tumblr blog, "The Rich Kids of Instagram" features photos set in gilded gold frames of rich kids and wanna-bes in various states of excess, undress and indulgence, and ever since its launch last month, "The Rich Kids of Instagram" has touched off a firestorm of debate over rich kids and social media.

One shot shows three teens swimming at a lake - and pouring Dom Perignon into one other's mouths. Another shows a guy sticking a giant foam finger out of his Ferrari, while in another kids slide down a giant inflatable slide attached to the side of their mega-yacht.

The site also marks the debut of a whole new genre: "receipt porn." Some posts consist of a photograph of a 100,000-euro meal receipt from St. Tropez and a $42,000 bar bill.

Welcome to Homeless in America!

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The True Jewels of the Church

After the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus II and his deacon companions by Roman emperor Valerian, the prefect of Rome demanded that Lawrence turn over the riches (relics from the Cross, cup from the Last Supper, etc.) of the Church to the empire. Ambrose is the earliest source for the tale that St. Lawrence, a deacon, asked for three days to gather together the wealth. Lawrence worked swiftly to distribute as much Church property to the poor as possible, so as to prevent its being seized by the prefect. On the third day, at the head of a small delegation, he presented himself to the prefect, and when ordered to give up the treasures of the Church, he presented the poor, the homeless, the crippled, the blind and the suffering, and said that these were the true treasures of the Church. One account records him declaring to the prefect, "The Church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor." This act of defiance led directly to his martyrdom by fire.
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Jesus' First Day at Work: "Make no mistake, I have come for the poor!"

Jesus returned to Galilee [his first day at work after fasting in the desert for forty days] in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.  He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

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His Last Will and Testament

In the summer of 1225 Saint Francis left San Damiano and said farewell for the last time to Saint Clare and the Sisters.  It was probably on this occasion that he left the Sisters his last will and testament in light of his illness and what he surmised would be his imminent death.

“I, Brother Francis wish to follow after the life and poverty of our highest Lord, Jesus Christ, and of His holy Mother, and I will hold out in this until the last.  And I pray you, my ladies, and counsel you, that you always remain in this holiest way and in poverty.  And be very careful that you do not in any way give up this way of life on anyone’s advice or teaching.”

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Salvation Army Offers Homeless Vacation Bible School

The Salvation Army of Chattanooga, Tennessee works primarily with the homeless and deeply impoverished members of the community by offering various forms of assistance and food services.  They provide:  Beverages and Snacks, Seasonal Clothing and Shoes, Personal Care Items, Employment Counseling and Job Referrals, Bible Study and Prayer, Worship and Fellowship, Showers, and Access to Lockers, Mail, and a Telephone.

For the past few years however, they have been offering a little something more:  Each summer is a unique opportunity for adults to experience a Vacation Bible School (photo) designed just for them.  This is the third year for Vacation Bible School and this year’s theme is Musicals.  Each day is a different musical such as The Sound of Music, Lion King, and Mary Poppins.  Along with singing, dancing, games and crafts there is Bible teaching and worship. This is a fun and relaxed way to learn and understand God’s word and His plan for our lives.

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Understanding Human Weaknesses

By Jacques Fesch

Forgive me for not having written you.  I'm afraid you must have been worried.  To tell the truth, and I admit it to my deep shame, for some time things have not been going well, first of all physically, due to weakness and anemia which have made me fairly miserable, particularly in this perpetual isolation.  Then, morally, an upset which is actually over now but which left me disoriented for some time.

Instead of referring everything to God so as to be strengthened by faith, I made the great mistake of examining my situation from a human angle, looking to the future, and wishing vehemently for a kinder fate from a worldly point of view.  Of course easy solutions came to mind, acceptable at first so to speak, and then ones that were more and more evil, drawing me once more into the quagmire of sin.  In the end, little brother, I swept all these villainous thoughts aside and climbed back up the slope with determination.  When my will no longer tended toward God, my imagination was violently assailed, and my fall was imminent.

This morning I received Communion and talked with the chaplain for a long time.  Each time he speaks with me I feel stronger.  He is so patient and gentle, and has such an understanding of human weaknesses!

Jacques Fesch (+ 1957) was a murderer who experienced a profound conversion before his execution in a French prison.

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