Symbol: place photographs of street people around an image of Jesus.

Let us pray:

Gracious God, in your goodness you have called us to be evangelizers of the poor, thus following in the footsteps of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ and those of Saint Vincent de Paul. Yes, you have called us to be diligent and bold as we go out to provide for the needs of our suffering sisters and brothers. With the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, enable us to proclaim the Good News and to give witness to the Kingdom wherever we may serve. In that way no one living on the peripheries throughout the world will be deprived of the joyful proclamation of the mystery of salvation.

As we contemplate your Son, who lived among us, may we move from the table of the Word and the table of the Eucharist to the table of poor and there, may we share with others the Bread of Life. May we clothe ourselves in such a manner than we are able to respond effectively to the challenges of the present-day world.  We pray in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen

Scripture

A reading from the gospel according to Saint Mark (Mark 1:40-45)

Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere. The word of God.

Let us listen to the words of Vincent de Paul

What do you think you are doing when you carry meals through the streets? You make many persons happy with that pot of soup; you delight good people, who see you on your way to work for God; you delight the poor, who are awaiting their food; and you delight God, who sees you and knows your desire to please him by doing his work. A father who has a handsome, grown-up son is pleased to watch from a window as the boy walks boldly down the street, and this gives him unimaginable joy. In the same way God sees you, not through a window but everywhere, no matter where you may be, and he watches how you go off to render service to his poor members. If he sees you going about it in the right way with the sole desire of rendering him service, it gives him inexpressible joy. It is his great pleasure, his joy, his delight. What a happiness to be able to give joy to our Creator! (CCD:IX:370).

Refection:

The present situation of street people is not so different from the situation at the time that Jesus was alive. At that time people were completely marginalized from their community, forgotten, and living in situations of extreme poverty. The same is true today and so many people are viewed as “useless” members of society, disposable, … no one seems to listen to them.

Jesus revealed that the Father’s love and mercy know no legal or social boundaries and touches those who are “clean” as well as those who are “unclean: … thus Jesus reveals the humanizing dimension of the Kingdom. Therefore, Jesus invites us to transform our reality and to offer those persons who have been excluded from participation in society … to offer those men and women new possibilities, an equality with regard to human rights, an equality with regard to human dignity, an integrity that is longed for on a daily basis. Let us place ourselves in their situation as Jesus and Vincent de Paul did and thus enable people to recognize that even in situations of abandonment, God is present with his love and mercy. As members of the Vincentian Family we are called to be instruments of that love and mercy and thus make the gospel effective.

Questions:

[1] In my interactions with street people and those who are marginalized, do my actions reflect God’s mercy?

[2] What can be done to change and transform the reality of those who are living on the streets and those who are excluded from participation in society?

Closing Prayer and Blessing:

Let us Pray:

Loving God, set our hearts on fire with the desire to serve you! You have called us to evangelize our neighbor and to work on behalf of their salvation in imitation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Teach us by your example and grant us all the virtues proper to true evangelizers. Fill us with zeal so that we might set the world on fire. In your mercy grant us these graces, you who live and reign forever and ever.  Amen.