Never Underestimate the Power of a Small, But Mighty Team!

1. A small but mighty team works hard.

2. They work from the heart.

3. They are passionate about serving the poor homeless.

4. They care about happy homeless and satisfied customers.

5. They take personal pride in the success of the team.

6. They have a personal and emotional connection with the poor.

7. A small but mighty team has many family, friends and other supporters while finding power in prayer and the Holy Spirit.

 The Servants of the Father of Mercy, Delivering 10s of 1,000s of Miles of Homeless Smiles for Twenty Years, 2001 - 2021!

 Photo, Today's Homeless Delivery Team, Front to Back - Danny, Yenifer, Veronica, Eddie, Samantha, Angela and Henry.

"THE PRISON ANGEL"

November 1st and 2nd, we remember All Saints and All Souls - especially, our dear saint, Mother Antonia Brenner who died of heart failure at the age of 86. Known as The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey was from a "Paris Hilton" Beverly Hills socialite to a Life of Service in La Mesa, a rough, hardcore Mexican Jail. Mother Antonia was loved and visited by Mother Theresa of Calcutta, India. In turn, Mother Antonia loved and visited the Servants of the Father of Mercy, just days before her passing. Like Mother Theresa, she always lived and taught the "Message of Mercy." A year after her death, La Mesa prisoners attended a spontaneous 10pm spiritual session with a visiting nun. The only thing is, there was no visiting nun on record. All the other sisters were at their convent for evening prayer and bedtime.

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Cody just called from county jail for a brief moment to let us all know that he read in today's Ventura Star that our dear brother Vernon Seto has passed on to his heavenly home, forever to be with the Lord. He was 83 years-old.

For nearly fifteen years, Vern faithfully gave his life as Servants of the Father of Mercy servant to the poorest-of-the-poor homeless living remotely under bridges in Los Angeles and in the mountains and dessert around Palm Springs, CA. Vern was also the chief cook for the weekly homeless outreach "Many Meals" in Ventura, CA. He was also the chief cook for the weekly, First Presbyterian Church Men's Prayer Breakfast.

"If you want to get something big done for the homeless. Ask someone  busy like Vern Seto. He'll get it done."

The Lord has now welcomed Vern and has said, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

C. S. Lewis: "I came to the conclusion that Christianity must be the truth because it has a queerness about it that no human could have written."

Henri Nouwen in his bestselling book, "Return of the Prodigal Son" (cover photo) makes the point that it is normal for us to feel uncomfortable when we are around others who are broken. For instance, one may feel awkward talking with a wheelchair-bound person, a disenfranchised homeless person, an A.I.D.S. hospital patient, the very poor, a prisoner or elderly with dementia in a nursing home. Yet, that is exactly who Jesus is - all the above. He is prisoner, homeless, sick and he bore all our diseases. Nouwen seems to say that Christ is encountered not in what we perceive to be the winners of traditional religion, but in the troubling and disturbing disguise of broken, miserable losers. The ones often hidden from sight in alleyways, under bridges, in our prisons and hospitals. Nouwen concludes this is most clearly evident when he identifies the older dutiful son in the parable of the prodigal son as the one who really didn't get it. However, conversely, the broken, humble and poor little loser brother did. It takes humility to appreciate the fact that the kingdom of God is upside down. What's down is up. Up is down. The last is first. The first is last. C. S. Lewis quipped in his book "Mere Christianity" that as an atheist before his conversion, "I came to the conclusion that Christianity must be the truth because it has a queerness about it that no human could have written."

PRAYERS FOR OUR HOMELESS FAMILY IN LA PALMA, SPAIN

 

The volcano's lava has so far covered around 2,500 acres and has destroyed more than 1,000 homes, various buildings and farming facilities.

 

REMEMBERING ALL SAINTS - ALL SOULS!

Twenty Years on, Servants of the Father of Mercy remembers and honors the many members of our homeless family and the Servants who have died over the years. In the photo below is our dear homeless brother Gregory. He had been a lawyer in New York City at one time. In his last 15 years, he lived on this one small patch of pavement behind a Valero Gas Station in Los Angeles. A gentle soul, Gregory never asked for anything. He never had a need. Living with nothing made him very happy. The owner of a Chinese Restaurant in Little Tokyo adopted Gregory, looked in on him and delivered a hot meal most days of the week.

God Gave to Us All the Way Down to the very Last Drop!