TUESDAY, May 25 (The Venerable Bede)

Matthew 12:33-42. The tree is known by its fruit.

We live in the world's richest country. So what is the United States doing about the worst homeless problem in its history? Shelters are so crammed they turn away record numbers of people--many of them children. Food pantries and soup kitchens are also overextended.

Twenty years ago, about a third of the homeless had mental problems, another third were addicted to alcohol or drugs, and only a third were thought to have the ability to develop skills for independent living.

Now it seems that more than half the folks seeking shelter are not only employable but employed, and still they have no place to live. In her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Barbara Ehrenreich tells of lower-rung wage earners having to live ten to a room to get by on their income.

For almost a generation, we have chosen largely to ignore the need for affordable housing and other programs for the needy. Political leaders are occupied with other matters. The crisis facing America's poor needs attention, and for now that attention is not likely to come from the government.

That leaves only us. Through prayer, each of us can discern a way to make someone else's life a little more sheltered. Shall we start today? (2005)

PRAY for the Diocese of Cuernavaca (Mexico)

Ps 26, 28 * 36, 39; Proverbs 15:16-33; 1 Timothy 1:18-2:8

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Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.

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May 25, 2010 at 1:19 am

Written by Steve Doutt,

This passage is calling me to share more and more each day, until I only have what I need. Thank you God for giving me this day my daily bread.

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May 25, 2010 at 7:35 am

Written by Philly Hoffman,

Yep, I give willingly to the truly helpless and the abused but many with their hands out have cell phones, smoke cigarettes, cable TV with HBO and Stars and a car newer than mine( I drive a fifteen year old vehicle with 170,000 miles on it). I have an obligation to God to help the helpless but I don't think he intends for me to help the clueless.

The Church and the People

May 25, 2010 at 8:10 am

Written by Stephen Miller,

The Church has a mission to help others with the needs this world fails to provide. We, I believe need to fill in those gaps wherever we can with compassion and discernment. There is much the church cannot do, so I believe we must also choose leaders that will use the resourses of our land to help provide those things that no other institution even the church can provide. We need leaders who spend more time legislating the
moral call of our nation and less time legislating individual morality and raising up boogymen. I pray every day for our leaders to answer this call as best as our feeble government can.

Jesus always addressed the individual heart

May 25, 2010 at 8:21 am

Written by Lorrie Robinson,

There is a problem in assuming that it is the government's responsibility to take care of all problems...it seems to free the individual from the responsibility that Jesus always directed to the individual heart(which is the real point of our living). The problems of poverty and housing are multifaceted and call out to all of us as Christian for assistance. The danger of elevating our own view of the best solutions to these problems is to politicize and dilute the Gospel in service of our well intentioned manmade solutions. We end by directing ourselves along a manmade path paved with good intentions that financially bankrupts a society and leaves us with the cheritable generosity of increasingly secular Europe...which does not compare favorably to the generosity of America founded on its stronger remaining connection to Christian values.

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May 25, 2010 at 10:18 am

Written by Andrea,

I agree with Philly and Lorrie. Let's just all concentrate on individual action and individual charity to those individuals we personally deem worthy of our individual support. Let's ignore larger structural issues that can only be solved by collective action, because we might somehow dilute the Gospel if we try to work for a more equitable society. So what if we could end up with fewer people earning over a billion dollars and more above the poverty line... but hey, at least we won't be like secular Europe. Folks, Jesus called us to live the kingdom today, and that means putting aside fear and jingoism and prejudice and the sense of "I've got mine, if you don't, it must be your own fault." This meditation vividly illustrates the pain of homelessness in America and the systemic failure that has led to it. Change starts with me, an individual. But I pray that it doesn't end there.

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May 25, 2010 at 9:30 pm

Written by Sheri Christi,

Inspired me to get out my checkbook (yes, I still have one.) Still somehow we have to trust in God and believe, that with our efforts to live love more fully, we can make a difference - large or small - and He will do the rest. So long as cause and effect is taught in school but Creator, meaning and value is forbidden, then it is little wonder that society prefers space exploration and oil induced war to affordable housing, education and social reform.

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