Love the Poor

"It is only for your love alone that the poor will forgive you the bread you give to them." St Vincent de Paul (1)

St Vincent de Paul has always been one of my favorite saints. His words are clear, direct and uncompromising. Two of his more noteworthy sayings are: “Extend mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God should withdraw His mercy from us?” And, "Make it a practice to judge persons and things in the most favorable light at all times and under all circumstances." These days I often revisit Vincent's wisdom when I need to forgive myself and remember that God always judges us in the most favorable light. The image of the Forgiving Father seeing his prodigal son returning home after years of infidelity never fails to comfort me. It also challenges me to offer the same mercy to others that God has given me so many times.

But no saying of Vincent has impacted me more than his demand that we love the poor, not just feed them. In truth, one can only know the power of this directive by experiencing it. Of all the ministries to which I have been called, it is my encounters with the poor that have been most life changing.

For many years I offered mass on Sunday’s at the Shattuck hospital in Boston. The Shattuck welcomes Boston’s street people, many of whom remain in the hospital for years. One fellow, I’ll call him “Charlie,” had been a police officer for many years. Unfortunately, his own life unraveled with drug and alcohol abuse and he found himself homeless and living on the streets of a small city north of Boston. By the time he arrived at the Shattuck his diabetes had taken away one of his legs, but his spirit had been transformed by a return to his faith, and he became an advocate for many of the patients whose lack of education or social anxiety made it impossible to voice their own concerns and needs.

“Charlie” loved the men and women with whom he spent his final days and his last effort was to agitate the administration of the hospital to put a handicapped ramp to the smoking gazebo outside the hospital, the only place where patients were allowed to smoke. Although not a smoker himself, Charlie realized that most of the disabled at the Shattuck had very few pleasures of any kind, and because he loved them he wanted them to have access to the place where others socialized and enjoyed themselves. Though St Vincent de Paul may have preferred that "Charlie" advocate for something other than smoking privileges, I am sure he would have been proud of him.

Today, ask God for the grace of merciful eyes and a forgiving heart.

Anniversary

August 31, 2011

And she (Peter’s mother in law) got up immediately and began to wait on them. Lk 4:39

Today marks the completion of 50 years of Capuchin life for me.  It hardly seems possible. 50 years ago, after a silent 8 day retreat (no easy task for me), I was clothed in the Capuchin habit with more than two dozen other frightened young men.  It was an amazing day and its memory brings me to a point of deep gratitude. When I entered the Capuchins I could never have imagined the wonderful friars I would meet and live with, the education I would receive, and the opportunity to meet, teach and serve people from so many different cultures and countries. Though not without its struggles, Capuchin life has been a great gift!

It is these rich memories that make me stop and pray in gratitude with Peter’s mother in law whose story is told in today’s gospel.  When Jesus heals Peter’s mother in law she gets up immediately and waits on all those assembled.  The immediacy of her response is what most impresses me. She doesn’t hesitate at all or ask to rest, something that would seem perfectly natural after a severe fever. Anyone who has suffered with a high fever knows how tired one can be when the fever passes. But, then again, perhaps that was part of the miracle. Not only was she freed of fever, she got her strength back.  In the light of God’s goodness to me, and conscious of how often God has forgiven me, I hope that I will always want to serve others immediately like Peter’s mother in law.

Service is a hallmark of the Christian life and completes it. Service of others, especially of those most in need, is a sign to the world that we have heard the good news and want to live it. Service is an act of gratitude.  Aware of how good God is, how God has changed our lives by accompanying us in all things, we acknowledge that words, even the Word of God, without action is empty.  God’s love transforms us and compels us to go out in God’s name as servants.  Jesus was clear about this just before he died. When he commanded his disciples to, “Do this in memory of me,” he was not only referring to the breaking of the Eucharist bread, but the washing of one another's feet. Today I want to offer a prayer for all those who taught me the gospel by washing my feet and all those who have allowed me to wash their feet in memory of Jesus. I invite you to do the same.

Eliakim and Peter

“I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim's shoulder;... I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family.” Is. 22.

Anointing people for service and leadership is an ancient ritual that religious traditions use to designate men and women as spokespersons for the entire community. In ancient Israel, priests, prophets and kings were all anointed, so too were some of the objects used for worship. In the book of Numbers we learn of Moses’ obligation to anoint the altar, the Ark of the Covenant, the lamp stand and all the temple furnishings.  In this way, people and objects, having been dedicated to the Lord in a special way, are initiated into a ministry not for their own good but for the salvation of all, or as Isaiah says of Eliakim, “for his family.

In today’s scriptures both Eliakim and Peter are “anointed” and given keys of power and authority.  Though neither of them is worthy, God chooses them to keep their communities focused on the One God, and to remind them to work for justice in the world.  Both the community of Jews that Eliakim would lead and the new community of Christians Peter leads will be known, not only by their faithfulness to God and God’s law, but by their service of the community. 

Near his death, Jesus challenges his first disciples and all of us to follow him as a servant by washing the feet of others, a task done in the ancient world only by slaves and women.  Jesus does not want his disciples to be known by their power over others, but by their service of those most in need, thus proclaiming a new freedom and hope for all who are held captive by their faults, sins, gender, state in life, class, poverty, ethnicity and culture.  In other words, leading through service breaks down all the barriers that separate us from one another.

Are we prepared to receive the keys of the kingdom today, to be hung with Eliakim “like a peg in a sure spot,” as a sign to all of the enduring power of Jesus’ powerlessness?