Love of the Giver

By St. John of the Cross

Some value themselves in proportion to the number of their good works, forgetting that God cares more for the motive or our actions than for their quantity, and that far fewer works would be better pleasing to Him, were they accompanied by warmer love. With love, a small alms, or a fast from one meal only, will content Him better than much greater austerities and gifts without it. So the widow who gave her two mites pleased Him better than many who gave far more, because of her truer love.  God s greatness appears in this, that no service, however great counts for much before Him, if not rendered with the whole heart. For why should He? He Who has need of nothing, and Who cannot increase in riches or in any other good, care for aught that can be given to Him, except for the love of the giver, which is so precious a present that none can rightly refuse it? This gift God desires so strongly, that He punishes all with eternal death who withhold it from Him. Who can be so little covetous as He Who has no need of anything we can offer Him? Or who is there that longs for our hearts as keenly as God does, seeing that He sends to hell those who refuse them to Him? Even if we love Him, He is not contented unless we prefer Him above all else.  St. Augustine cried: "Lord, Thou commandest me to love Thee, and dost threaten me with misery unless I do so!" Let your chief care be to love our Lord. It is for this purpose He made you (St. John of the Cross, Letter 144).

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Woes of the Wealthy Priests

Today it is reported in the news that during new excavations at Jerusalem's Mount Zion, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a possible mansion that's 2,000 years old. The dig leaders think the building and its contents could shed light on the wealthy class of Jerusalem during Jesus' day.

The building would have been located close to the expansive complex of Herod the Great, and inside, excavators found traces of an exceptional bathroom and the shells of sea snails that were valued for their rich purple dye.

"If this turns out to be the priestly residence of a wealthy first-century Jewish family, it immediately connects not just to the elite of Jerusalem — the aristocrats, the rich and famous of that day — but to Jesus himself," James Tabor, the dig's co-director, said in a statement.

The archaeological finds could add to knowledge about this elite class that researchers have gleaned from the Bible, as well as the writings of Titus Flavius Josephus and later rabbinical texts.

"Jesus, in fact, criticizes the wealth of this class," added Tabor, who is a scholar of early Christian history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. "He talks about their clothing and their long robes and their finery, and, in a sense, pokes fun at it. So for us to get closer to understanding that — to supplement the text — it could be really fascinating."

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Homeless 85 - Religious 15

This past summer, Rev. Willie Lyle (photo), newly-appointed pastor of Sango United Methodist Church, has delivered sermons over the years that challenged congregations to demonstrate the gospel of Christ. However, that is not what he decided to do on Sunday, June 23, his first day as the UMC’s new pastor.

A Message in a Dream

Three days after receiving the news in April of his appointment as the new pastor, he was awakened by a dream at 2 a.m. This dream was different from any in the past. In this dream, God spoke to him and told Willie to do something very specific, and God promised Willie if he would do this, then He would provide for Willie and protect him.

However, there was a problem. What God asked Willie to do was not something Willie wanted to do, and he had no interest in doing it. It was clearly out of his comfort zone.

In that dream, God told Willie that he needed to live on the streets of Clarksville, Tennessee as a homeless and hungry person. He challenged Willie to experience firsthand just what it was like to have nothing – no home, no money, no friends, no food on even a semi-regular basis, no nothing.

 

What God was saying to Willie was, “I hear you preach the word of God and share the message of Christ. Now, I want you to actually live it. And I want to hear how you liked having nothing and being treated with disrespect and disdain by almost everybody. I’m not finished. I want you to tell your new congregation about your experience and challenge them to make a difference in the world, beginning right here in Clarksville, Tennessee.”

 

More on the Internet at http://www.tennessean.com

 

Which brings us to a close of a one-year poll here at Homeless In America.  Bloggers, readers and visitors were asked the following question:

In your opinion, which of the following persons might resemble the lifestyle of Jesus the most?  Here is how the responders voted . . .

• Protestant Pastor, 0%
• Catholic Cleric, 7%
• Sunday Church Goer, 0%
• Daily Church Goer, 7%
• Homeless Man or Woman, 85%
• None of the Above, 0%

Thank you for participating in the poll.  Please scroll down to near the bottom of this main page and participate in all the new surveys.  God bless you!
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Pope Says the Empty Should be Made Full

By Naomi O'Leary

Recently, Reuters reported that unused church buildings should be used to house refugees, who must be embraced rather than feared, Pope Francis told asylum seekers in Rome on Tuesday, underlining his papacy's emphasis on the poor and the plight of immigrants.

Turning convents and monasteries that have emptied due to a drop in vocations into hotels has raised funds for the Church, but also attracted criticism.

"Empty convents and monasteries should not be turned into hotels by the Church to earn money ... (the buildings) are not ours, they are for the flesh of Christ, which is what the refugees are," Francis told a private audience in the Jesuit Astalli Centre for refugees, in a speech released to the press.

He met several asylum seekers, including some from Syria, after making an impassioned appeal for peace in the war-torn country at the weekend.

Francis said looking after the poor should not be the work of only "specialists", but engaged in by all members of the Church. It should also be part of the training of priests.

"The word solidarity frightens people in the developed world," the leader of the Catholic Church said.

Since expressing his wish for a "poor Church, and for the poor" shortly after his election in March, Francis' papacy has been marked by his humble style and the prominence given to the destitute.

In July he visited the Italian island of Lampedusa, where tens of thousands of illegal migrants arrive yearly, and condemned indifference to many who die making the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean seeking a better life.

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Pictures Bring More Than A Thousand Words

Enjoy the pictorial insights into last Saturday’s Servants of the Father of Mercy StreetReach – Serving 250 Homeless Men, Women, Teens and Children; 150 in Los Angeles, 50 in Orange County and 50 in Ventura County with bags filled with food, water bottles, juices, oranges, socks, shoes, hygiene kits, rosaries, prayer cards, t-shirts, jeans, jackets, blankets and more. Please donate homeless “alms of compassion and mercy” online for September’s StreetReach. It’s coming September 27th and you can help at http://servantsofthefather.org/donate_2_homeless.  Also, mail to Servants of the Father of Mercy, P. O. Box 42001, Los Angeles, CA 90042

Spicing Up Fall

The next Servants of the Father of Mercy "Youth & Family Night" is coming Friday, September 27, 2013, 6:00 pm - 9 pm. It's free and is always the last Friday of the month. Come and inspire your family's faith for a lifetime.

Get in the "pumpkin and spice and everything nice spirit!" Join the children along with their parents as we make fall crafts for everyone's holiday tables as well as mom and dad or teacher's work desk. Each piece of art is made with locally fallen jumbo pine cones, glazed with varnish, attached to authentic clay pots and spiced up with mini pumpkins, autumn leaves and earthy colorful ribbons. Email and let us know you will be there at Contact@ServantsoftheFather.org. Extra crafts will be made as a fundraiser for the homeless at our soon coming October Halloween pumpkin sale!

 Servants of the Father of Mercy

“The New American Missionaries Bringing Our Homeless Home”

250 S. Hallock Drive

Santa Paula, CA 93060

 

Servants of the Father of Mercy, Inc. publishes "Homeless In America" since 2007 and is a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt, non-profit California organization and a Private Association of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, listed in the Official Catholic Directory.

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Go to the People and Live Among Them

By John Green

 

"Go to the people, live among them" is a model we see in the Incarnation.  Christ came into our world of chaos and conflict and dealt among us.  Redemption, healing and resurrection all came from his intentional Incarnation.  As a follower of Jesus, I need to exercise the same intentionality in choosing where I will live.  Despite the pressures of the world to make this choice based upon my own ease and convenience, I need to realize it’s a “justice decision” and one I must make after much prayer and discernment.  John Green, author of Street Walking with Jesus – Reaching Out in Mercy.

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