Into the Light .. a story from America

After whistling to get the attention of the city's homeless, who stood in line to get chili and bread, Kellie Ross, clad in a simple white dress and fleece, yelled, If you want to get your feet washed come see me.

In an almost surreal sight, 50 volunteers joined Ross, the co-founder of the Missionaries of Our Lady of Divine Mercy, a prayer group from Bristow, to enter the park in the heart of the nations capital where many homeless dwell, and see Christ in them and be Christ to them. The outreach to the homeless is not the typical sandwich distribution of big cities. These volunteers not only set up a large buffet style table with hot food, but they come bearing foot washing kits. They sit on little stools and humbly wash the feet of the homeless and then clothe them with brand new socks. The air is filled with a sense of reverence as two guitarists lead praise and worship songs. The music was just the starting point for the prayerful tone of Sundays picnic, where nearly 150 men and some women were fed. After having their fill, and while some still waited to get their feet washed, several of the park residents joined the volunteers for a rosary procession around the park. Touting pictures of Divine Mercy and Our Lady of Guadalupe, the volunteers attracted more people for the procession as they wound their way through the park. I'm just a fool for Jesus, said Ross, noting that she strives to make the poor and homeless comfortable. I do whatever it takes to bring a soul to Christ. Regarding their mission, Ross said, We are a little grain of sand. Were feeding them with mercy and we try to develop a relationship with them. Were allowing God to use us. She explained, We're called to be servants to others. Everything is a prayer. She emphasized the importance of just being with the poor and listening to them. Ross, who is a nurse by profession, noted that many of them have not taken off their shoes in months, and encourages them to have their feet washed and disinfected.

The ministry is a profound integration of deep prayer and radical action and Ross makes it clear that her passion for social justice does not supersede her fervent love and longing for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, two people who pray 24 hours a day for the intentions of the ministry. Work without prayers is dead. Ross spends time in adoration each day for strength and sustenance in her ministry and encourages other members of the group to do the same. We want to change the world through prayer, said Ross. The image of Divine Mercy is the impetus behind the ministry, which stemmed from a Divine Mercy Prayer Group. After reading the Diary of St. Faustina, to whom Jesus appeared in the 1930s in Poland, Ross felt compelled to spread the devotion of Gods fathomless mercy. The prayer group started with the help of Father Jack Fullen, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Its all a miracle of God. God is glorifying Himself through this ministry, said Ross, who takes no credit for the work. She spoke about receiving Gods mercy in the sacraments, and she added, Mercy is a verb. We pray, we listen and we act with faith and trust. The message of mercy transfigured into action has drawn many to the ministry of the missionaries. Theresa Fortman, 19, conceded that she initially thought it might be weird to wash the feet of the homeless. However, she has found that washing their feet is absolutely beautiful. Fortman, who has worked with the ministry for a year said, This is an amazing way to serve Jesus. I can see how beautiful the homeless are and this just means the world to me. As she cheerfully scrubbed the foot of a resident in the park, Emi Curi said with a smile, This is what I'm called to do. Curi, a parishioner of Holy Trinity Church, came Sunday with her two teenage sons. I love the poor and the homeless. They preach to me, she said. I go to daily Mass, but I get my greatest homilies here. They teach me about humility, abandonment, surrender and trust. The most significant aspect of the groups charism is that all their work is done with great love.I feel in my heart that love transcends every affliction in this world, 

Aside from their work in the park, the missionaries have a free clothing store called the House of Mercy. Run entirely by volunteers, the overtly Catholic store provides free clothing to the poor and homeless. Images of the Blessed Mother and Divine Mercy are plastered on the walls and the Eternal World Television Network plays in the background. Instead of price tags, all items have prayer cards attached to them. Although the clothing is used, only the best is distributed,. The shoes and socks, however, are brand new. There is a sense of dignity in giving out new shoes. All who come to volunteer at the House of Mercy are required to spend at least 15 minutes of prayer during their shift. If you cant get into the right frame of mind you cant serve the poor, The main goal is to project Christ. Its not about the food and the clothes. Its about giving them hope and providing human contact. The ministry transcends the temporal needs of the poor and homeless.There's a huge hunger for God, said Ross. The goal is to Bring people hope. We're trying to do corporeal works of mercy. 

After a conversion back to the faith she was baptized in, Ross found herself yearning to continue to learn more about the Church. If you give your heart to Jesus your heart will never be the same, she said. Over a year ago, Ross made a radical decision to give away all her fashionable clothing and jewellry and now dresses simply. God was calling me out of darkness and into the light.

From St Faustina's diary v 742 :..You are to show mercy to your neighbours always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.

St. Joseph in Sicily ... Providence in action

On March 19th, we celebrated the Solemnity of the great St Joseph. Many offered him a Novena or even a Thirty Day Prayer, entrusting him with their most urgent intentions. One of my dear sisters tells this story that illustrates the kindness of this saint, his humor and his effectiveness.

"I was in a house belonging to the community of the Beatitudes, in Pettineo, Sicily. This house was an old Franciscan convent, very cold and very humid. At that time, there were about 30 of us in the House and we lived in great and very severe poverty. There were neither small nor larger sources of income. We often had many guests who came to pray with us and who stayed for a meal.

I remember that one day, we had nothing to eat. Many of us were young and it was not easy for everyone to eat their fill. Our superiors always told us that Saint Joseph is the father of Providence, and they would tell us a lot of stories about people who had received his help. So we, the younger crowd, still full of zeal, said, "Let's make a shopping list with everything we need, and also add some things we'd like to have", and that's what we did. So in that list, there are all sorts of things and there was something for everyone... even Nutella and so many other things that were not really useful. Trusting St Joseph blindly, we put that list behind his image, in the prayer corner in the kitchen. 

Every day, we prayed to St. Joseph. We were completely taken by surprise when someone suddenly knocked at the door and left lots of bags! We couldn't believe our eyes! We put all the bags on the big kitchen table. We dared not open them... and then someone exclaimed: "Take the shopping list!" It felt like a treasure hunt: one sister read the products on the list and the others looked inside the bags to see if they were in there. We were amazed, it was like a game of tombola! Nothing was missing! Well ... almost nothing!

I remember Piero's face, he just fell silent in sadness when the sister finished reading the list. Only one thing was missing, peppers! "No, that's not possible! Saint Joseph, should have remembered my peppers! No, that isn't fair!" While he expressed his criticism because there were no peppers, suddenly a familiar voice was heard on the stairs: it was Madame Inès, God rest her soul...

Ines was an elderly lady, a widow who lived alone in Pettineo and who often came to see us. Inés raised her voice on the staircase, she was annoyed by something. In the meantime, Piero was grumbling against St. Joseph in the kitchen, while Ines was expressing her irritation.

- 'What's wrong, Ines? Why are you angry?'

- 'Well nothing! I brought you some peppers in oil, and the jar opened in my bag!'

Poor thing! She did not immediately understand why her purse stained with oil turned our home into a party!

No, St. Joseph had forgotten absolutely nothing! He just had his own plan: he wanted someone else to become an instrument of God's Providence, and that was Ines. He wanted us to no longer be doubters, he wanted us to be believers!"

St. Joseph did not have an easy time in his life! The torment of seeing Mary with child, the rejection of the people of Bethlehem, the extreme poverty of the stable where Jesus was born, the flight to Egypt by night and the long stay as a political refugee there, without any regular work nor any income, losing Jesus at the age of 12 with those three days of terrible anguish... In short, this man was weathered by ordeals and humiliations, how could he not understand our troubles of today? As Mary said on March 2nd, "Near Him (Jesus), everything is easier. Suffering next to Him is easier because there is faith. Faith helps when you are in pain, and suffering without faith leads to despair. Suffering that is experienced and offered to God raises us up."

(from Children of Medjugorje Newsletter)

‘Daily bread’

I heard a story recently that sparked an inspiration. It was about a man who was on his way home from shopping and he passed a young woman, a street dweller from her attire, who seemed in great distress. There’s a look in someone’s eyes that tells you that they are about to cave-in or give up hope. She had that look. All he had handy was a bunch of bananas and giving that seemed an inadequate response.

The rest of the short distance home he prayed for the woman, with more than a dash of self-pity for himself too. He would like to have been able to help but was unemployed and the roof over his own head was thanks to the good graces of another. If only God had given him a job and an income he could do a lot for others in need. His conscience seemed to answer him as he thought that the best thing would be to do what he could in the moment.

On arriving home he resolved to do just that; flung open the cupboards and set about preparing a few items. A tin of sardines, a sandwich box with a few slices of bread, a sachet of ketchup from a fast food outlet, a bottle of water, a clean t-shirt and a couple of the aforementioned bananas and then hurried back to the place he had seen the woman. She was still sat on the pavement, leaning against the wall of a building, a tormented and now slightly embarrassed look on her face as he dropped off the package with a few words. As he walked away her face brightened a little as she investigated the contents of the bag. A little light shone in the darkness of her situation; an immediate need met.

The story put me in mind of the part of the Our Father where we ask for our daily bread. For many it’s a matter of routine having already secured rather more than the daily bread, the weekly wage, the monthly salary, the annual pension or even state benefit ticks that box. For others it is a real plea from the heart, one which Our Father does answer, but he does need the cooperation of those he has already blessed in abundance.

Often people think they can do nothing to change the world, but the truth is that however short we may be or perceive ourselves to be, there is no one who can do nothing, we can all help our neighbor just by doing what we can in the moment as it’s presented to us. If the roles were reversed, what would we hope for or expect?

Freelance Writer