A might bit chilly this morning, but at least we don’t have the snow that Buffalo has today – at least four feet. That’s a lot of snow! And our weather forecast, although cold for a few days, looks like it will moderate. As much as I love snow, I can’t help thinking about the homeless or their pets. Shelters won’t admit animals.
And as we get into the bustle of the holiday season, we should remember there are many for whom the holidays are one more reminder of isolation and loneliness, not to mention hunger. The soup kitchens will be busy, of course, but they are busy all year round, feeding those who live on the edge.
So many of us are separated from the people we might have become by birth, family, education, and, in many cases, pure luck. I often wonder what occurred in the families of the people we see living on the street that got them to this point. Was it drugs, mental illness, the lack of care by family or society? There, but for the grace of God, go we all.
Prayer for the Day
God of holiness and life, be with us through our days,
Reaching within each of us for our hopes and longings;
Hold us as we wrestle with the dreams and demons of our lives,
Bringing us to a new understanding of your will for the world.
Write within each of our heats your law of love and justice,
As we strive to fulfill your promise of grace to the world.
In the name of the One who came to show us your grace,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
You can spend money on new housing for poor people, or you can spend it on a football stadium or a golf course.
- Jello Biafra, stage name of American musician
These things become the norm: that some homeless persons die of cold on the streets is not news, but a ten-point drop in the stock market is a tragedy.
- Pope Francis
They will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or in prison, and did not help you?” And the Lord will reply, “Inasmuch as you did not do it for the least of these, you did not do it for me.”
Matthew 25: 44-45