Homeless in America: We See You Saturday

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

We See You Saturday

One morning in November, the realization hit that reaching out to the homeless is about seeing the unseen (see "We See You Saturday" Monday, November 12, 2007). This past Saturday, the delivery of supplies to the poor living under bridges and on city streets is about “seeing” people - in much the same way that Jesus takes the time to see the short guy Zacchaeus up in the tree (see Sunday, November 4, 2007) and blesses him. We do the same when we take time to encounter and “see” the normally unseen. On this occasion we had a chance to see an entire organization that is serving the poor, Transition House (photos). The home helps approximately 150 residents at any given time to transition out of a life of poverty and homelessness.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Your ministry is an inspiration to us all. Next month I can finally make it to a Sandwich Builders Friday - hurray!!!" A.N.; January 22, 2008 at 9:03 PM
Anonymous said...: You indeed found the [used clothing] bags. I am so grateful that what was clutter to me and stealing my peace was able to bring a little peace to others. Thanks [HIA] so much for taking care of that for me! Mary; January 24, 2008 at 9:23 AM

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The Wealthy & Middle Class Sin of Self-righteousness may not be easily Seen or Confessed

"One of the temptations of upper-middle class life is to create sharp edges of our moral sensitivities and it allows a comfortable confusion about sin and virtue. The difference between rich and poor is not that the rich sin is more than the poor’s sin, but that the rich find it easier to call sin a virtue. When the poor sin, they [the poor] call it sin; when they see holiness, they identify it as such. The intuitive clarity is often absent from the wealthy, and that absence easily leads to the atrophy of the moral sense." Fr. Henri Nouwen

Mary, A Celestial Apparition or Model of Mercy

From Fatima and Lourdes to Mexico City, millions of pilgrims flock to Mary, our Blessed Mother. What does she require of her spiritual children? Does she need a spectacle of mystical and celestial adoration? Would it be more pleasing to her that we also follow her in lowliness and humbly participate in God’s mercy for the poor? Mary proclaims in Luke chapter one, “For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant… He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty… He has remembered his promise of mercy.”

Discovering God in our own Poverty

When we are not afraid to confess our own poverty, we will be able to be with other people in theirs. The Christ who lives in our own poverty recognizes the Christ who lives in other people’s. Just as we are inclined to ignore our own poverty, we are inclined to ignore other’s. We prefer not to see people who are destitute, we do not like to look at people who are deformed or disabled, we avoid talking about people’s pains and sorrows, we stay away from brokenness, helplessness and neediness. By this avoidance we lose touch with the people through whom God is manifested to us. But when we have discovered God in our own poverty, we will lose our fear of the poor and go to them and meet God.
Henri Nouwen

Grace Flows from Gratitude

Did "God shed His grace on thee?" The homeless in America have many things to teach us who think we are rich. When the last meal was not as good as usual, I am thankful for what I was given - grace flows from gratitude. When the house requires more work than usual, I am thankful for the shelter - grace flows from gratitude. When going to work becomes a complaint, I am thankful for the income - grace flows from graitude. When the mattress becomes less comfortable today than it was the night before, I am thankful for my bed - grace flows from gratitude. When my companions in life seem to bring more work than they bring joy, I am thankful for friends - grace flows from gratiude. The homeless in America have many things to teach us who think we are rich.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

We See You Saturday

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