You see Me! Yes, in the face of the homeless, you find Me. If you go to the streets; if you seek Me out in the poor, I am there. You know I am present in the sick, and so You find Me in the hospitals and in the bedridden. You know how to encounter Me. You go into church, into My house, and you give Me a part of your wealth. Indeed, indeed, I receive your offerings. I receive your gifts of love. In the prisoners, I am present. In the cold and the wanting, you find Me and you clothe Me. You do as I have commanded You. You love Me in the people, in the needy, those you help. When you have fed me in the hungry and clothed Me in the naked; when you've visited Me in the hospital and prisons, you go home to your life, your family, your work. Instead of the homeless, you find the wealthy. You see Me in the rich and the affluent. You see Me in those with more clothes than they can wear. Do you know that in them, I am still there? I am beside You in the people who never worry about starving. I am there in the successful, the thriving, the independent. You see Me in healthy faces, in those who can afford medicine and can pay the hospital bills. You see Me in the parishioners at Your church, My house. You see me in the free and the privileged. You see Me indeed, but do you recognize Me? Where are you when I'm in the emotionally wanting? When they are depressed and lonely and angry and hurting? Where are you when I'm in those addicted to sins that no one knows about? Not big murders and theft, but lies, selfishness, and hidden addictions. Where is your helping hand when I am in those who are so consumed with themselves that they don't realize they are hurting others? You think you only find Me when you travel across the country? When you volunteer, join an organization, and follow a planned activity? In the things that build your resume and give you recognition? But where is your help for Me in your friends, yourself, your family, your enemies? Your peers who annoy you and your boss who you despise. The professors you laugh at in the back of the classroom? Where are you when I am in need of defending? When others gossip about Me, when no one sits at my table. Where are you when I pass by you, clearly distressed, and you don't even give Me the grace of a smile? Where are you? Where is your generous heart when the poorest of the poor are poor spiritually and not materially? I call you for more than the obvious poor. I call you for those you work with, live with, interact with. Whether I'm a waitress clearly having a bad day or an emotionally numb wreck from eating my problems away. I call you to those who are accomplished; who overbook themselves. I call you to those who are lazy; who refuse to try. I call you to love the poor inside of your own self. The qualities you hate about your own person. Where are you now? You know where to find Me in the materially needy. You know how to clothe the naked and feed the hungry. But what of those naked from spiritual graces. Those hungry for true love? You travel the ocean to save the world for Me, but what of the person right beside you? Yes, give to the poor. But remember that poverty comes in many forms.
2 Comments
Chris Beltowski
12/25/2017 03:25:07 am
Wow......powerful, powerful reminder to be aware.
Reply
Chloe
12/29/2017 07:54:28 pm
Love this! <3
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJacqueline St. Clare: I spent six months in a cloistered convent, and now I'm a college student! Archives
April 2021
SpiritualityVocationMental ILlnessSeasonalADVENT LENT
Unexpected Church MembersAll words that are underlined can be found on the "Glossary" page
|