Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate ConceptionSeptember, 2007
Henri J. M. Nouwen in the book Bread for the Journey offers some assistance.
Going to the Margins of the ChurchThose who are marginal in the world are central in the Church, and that is how it is supposed to be! Thus we are called as members of the church to keep going to the margins of our society. The homeless, the starving, parentless children, people with AIDS, or emotionally disturbed brothers and sisters--they require our first attention.
We can trust that when we reach out with all our energy to the margins of our society we will discover that petty disagreements, fruitless debates, and paralyzing rivalries will recede and gradually vanish. The Church will always be renewed when our attention shifts from ourselves to those who need our care. The blessing of Jesus always comes to us through the poor. The most remarkable experience of those who work with the poor is that, in the end the poor give more than they receive. They give food to us.
In other words I cannot be complacent. I cannot be idle. I have an obligation to care for the poor wherever I find them. Working in conjunction with the Church I should be able to be of some use.
Praying the Holy Spirit will guide me in the direction that I can be of most use. Pray for me!
~~~^j^~~~
Thanks be to God
Thanks be to God
Cathy,
ReplyDeleteYesterday, as we were on our way to see a movie; my girls and I saw an older man with a sign "will work for food, God Bless".
Now, I thought that it would be a good teaching moment on how to help out someone in need. So we gave him some money and a prayer card.
I told the girls that it didn't matter( because there is so much skeptism with people with these signs) what he was going to spend it on. Even if he would blow it all on booze or drugs etc( We really won't know that) Our intention of the heart is one that matters here. That we were helping someone in need in the name of Jesus.
But what I didn't plan on was the sincerity of his thanks. " This will really help me" was what he said in complete humbleness. It brought tears to my eyes. And I think the girls might have learned the real lesson for the day!
Beautiful post!
ReplyDelete~Mrs.Cuddles
That line about the marginalised being central to the Church is a challenging one, I think. So I suppose if we can make the marginalised we come in contact with feel loved, feel accepted, we are helping to build up God's kingdom, brick by brick. Good thought-provoking post, Cathy.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post:)
ReplyDeleteInspiring post..
ReplyDeleteVery inspiring post,the things I see, the people I find, and the strange situations i'm in somtimes working in home-health care you would not believe..
ReplyDeleteBlessings