“Do not turn your face away from any poor man, and the face of God will not be turned away from you.” – St. Vincent de Paul.
In the gospel, we hear the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Lying at the door of the rich man was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, “who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.” Just think about how many times the rich man walked past Lazarus. This turning away ultimately led to the rich man’s destruction. In this story, Jesus is intimately connecting life in the here-and-now to eternal life. We are alive today. It’s not too late to respond to Jesus and with His help, change the way we live.
Like St. Vincent de Paul says, don’t turn your face away from the poor. When we encounter the face of the poor, we encounter the face of Jesus. For most of us, we are busy and on the go. Perhaps we have stopped and helped the poor, or perhaps we have turned away. This weekend is an opportunity to not turn away but to give so that we may help those in need. At the Masses this weekend, we will hold a second collection for the St. Vincent de Paul Society as well celebrate his feast day which falls on September 27. My apologies for a second collection so close to the emergency second collection for our brothers and sisters in Gaza a couple weeks ago. Whatever God inspires you to do, we greatly appreciate it! St. Vincent de Paul taught that our lives must be deeply rooted in prayer. From that place, we can give and live well and help one another. Prayer and discernment will take us far in life. Thank you to our own St. Vincent de Paul Society here—made up of our very own members—who give so much of their time and energy to help others. If you feel the Lord nudging you to do something new in life, this may be the best way to help. Thanks so much for considering.
God bless your generosity,
Fr. Jeremy
PS October 4 at 6:00p.m., on the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, we will bless your pets! Come to the pavilion after the 5:00 p.m. Mass. Peace!
