Reflect
In our opulent era, many of us have become accustomed to acquiring more money, more prestige, more power, more material comforts. Poverty, in its figurative and literal sense, is societally scorned. But as it states in Matthew 20:16: “the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Where are you in line? Where should you be?
Pray
Dear God,
Forgive my need to amass.
Excuse my desire to
have more
make more,
spend more,
and be more.
When I look at
the unhoused, the migrant, the sick,
no more will I see them as “the other.”
But I will look at them for who they truly are: your beloved.
Give me eyes to see them as rightful heirs to the kingdom.
Amen.
Act
When St. Francis embraced the leper, it changed his life. Spend time thinking about how you treat those who have less than you and never forget: They are ahead of you in line.
