FRIDAY, September 11

Camel hair clothing, locusts, wild honey...what a strange character we meet today. And yet the people came to him to be baptized. Sometimes God uses very unlikely people as messengers.

I once was part of a church that had a food pantry, served hot meals, and outfitted kids for school. One year, there was a rash of church break-ins in town, but our church never had an incident. We felt very blessed, but also a bit curious. Then I found out why. A homeless man with scruffy clothing and a very strange diet had taken it upon himself to let everyone know that our church was off limits to mischief. He told his friends on the street that we were a place that not only helped people, but accepted them. Each week, new people came to us for help and reported that "John" had sent them.

John was poor and, some might say, outcast. He had very little himself, but he knew how to point the way. As we look for ways to be messengers for Jesus, let us remember that sometimes the greatest help we can give is to simply point the way.

PRAY for the Diocese of Southeastern Mexico (Mexico)

Ps 40, 54 * 51; 1 Kings 18:20-40; Philippians 3:1-16

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