God is Always Near

"The poor are not alone in their distress; God is here to help them." Office of Readgings

A couple of years ago, there was a painful and troubling piece on 60 minutes. Called, Hard Times Generation: Families in Cars , it chronicled the lives of homeless children and families in Florida where one third of the 16 million homeless children live. Listening to children talking about the fear they have at night living in cars and trucks, often in poor neighborhoods, is sobering. Graphic and clear, their testimony got me to thinking about the millions of other children who do not have the parental help, education or social skills to express their feelings in what the program called, the "hidden America."

Listening to these homeless children, I was reminded of an antiphon from the Office of Readings for today, "The poor are not alone in their distress; God is here to help them." When we "listen to the cries of the poor," (Prov 21:13) and accept our own poverty of spirit, when we acknowledge how often we fail to live the gospel, and identify with those who are physically poor and homeless, we find God waiting and anxious to be with us in our aloneness.

Today, stand in solidarity with people everywhere who are hungry, homeless and lost.

Who has stood near you in your need?