33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A - 19th November, 2017
Pope Francis has asked us to pray for and reflect about our poor brothers and sisters in the world, in our neighbourhood and in our families.
At Mass we share in the Body and Blood of Christ. At the end of Mass the priest asks us to “go and glorify the Lord by our lives.”
That is we have the mission which Jesus has—to preach about the love of His Father by the way we serve and relate to people—especially people who are poor.
Psalm 145 has the words:
“The Lord who gives sight to the blind, who raises up those who are bowed down, the Lord who protects the stronger and uphold the widow and orphan”
It is good to keep an eye on anyone that I know might be in need. At least I can say to an elderly person- “can I help you in any way?”
This respects the person– we all like to preserve our independence. Thanks to television I can learn and observe the way poor people live and cope with natural disasters—the Grenfell Tower fire—the earthquake in Iran. It reminds me that I have been spared such terrible suffering.
It challenges me to change my life style—i.e. to try and live like the way Jesus lived- ‘who had nowhere to lay his head’ (Matthew 8:20).
Meeting poor people keeps me balanced. This is one of the blessings that I experience at the Passage—a day centre for homeless people near Westminster Cathedral.
If I try to get involve with poor people they can teach me about Jesus—by their example. Other wise I might become hardened by the over whelming suffering I witness on the news channels.
I might begin to think— ‘what can I do about all that suffering?’
I might try to share my time, with any poor person that comes my way.
I can only do this with help of God. I need the Holy Spirit to help me to grasp the opportunities of being present to people.
I need the humility to accept that I too am poor in all sorts of ways, maybe not economically but spiritually, e.g. I believe that God gives each of us the grace to cope with our own problems.
Fr Noel Travers C.M.
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