As the Bishop Turns

Thanksgiving is upon us again. It is a time to reflect on the past year and to celebrate the things we are thankful for with friends and family.

Many people will sit down today to eat Turkey with all the trimmings. Others will meet with friends and family at local restaurants to toast all the things they are thankful for.

And then there will be those who will have no dinner. They will have no friends or family to celebrate with. Their own thing to be thankful for it that they are alive.

We have grown so accustom in America to living lives of plenty that we tend to forget, or willfully ignore, those who have nothing. We pass them on the streets and we look the other way. We have even grown so callus that we teach our children not to make eye contact with these poor souls.

And yet many of these people yearn to be noticed. They yearn to have someone who is willing to spend a few minutes and few dollars to help them find something to eat. They should be treated like human beings again, instead of burdens and outcasts.

This week Pope Francis released an Apostolic Letter decrying the fact that many ignore the poor and helpless. He said that he wanted to see a church willing to get into the trenches and help the poor rather than remaining the clean, whitewashed churches (tombs) they have become. I say to Pope Francis, “Put your money where your mouth is!”

Pope Francis has the power and authority to order the vast stores of the Vatican opened to help those helpless and poor. That would mean more than all the Apostolic Letters in the world. And it is time for him to act, rather than talk. Give those people who need it most something to be thankful for this season.

To all my brothers and sisters in the ISM, take a few moments to reach out to those who need it most. Help that person on the street to get a hot meal. Take a moment to give them an understanding ear. Be Christ to them.

Together, we can make the world a much better and more joyful place if only we make the effort.

God Bless.