We Are All Called to Serve the Poor

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I met Melony one day because her cardboard sign had glitter accents that she’d painted on with nail polish and although she was seated in her walker, she had on red high heels. I couldn’t help but smile. After our first meeting, I would keep some sugar-free chocolate with me (her favorite) in case she was out on the corner.

This became the start of a friendship that lasted three years. Melony had been homeless, but got into housing not long after I met her. I was serving as a missionary to the homeless, and several of my fellow missionaries and I would stop by and visit her. Our visits increased as her health declined, with a few of us visiting almost every day. Melony passed away one night, but she didn’t die alone and abandoned. She died having loved and been loved.

All this because of one chance meeting on a street corner. But for every friend I’ve met like this, there have been ten others that I’ve passed by.

We all know that uncomfortable feeling of being unexpectedly confronted by the poor.

We all know the feeling. You pull up to a stoplight and notice someone with a cardboard sign on the corner. You glance down and wonder what to do, hoping the light turns green quickly.

Even after serving the homeless full time for the last two years as a missionary with Christ in the City in Denver, I still have this feeling. And not because my missionary program didn’t prepare me well. I know what to do. I know that I should roll down my window, ask the person’s name, reach out for a handshake, and not feel ashamed at just giving them my time, not necessarily my money.

But I still don’t. I find plenty of excuses to not leave my comfort zone. Maybe some of them are even valid. But Jesus spoke pretty strongly about his presence in the poor. And even though I already gave two years of my life to serve his poor, I don’t think I’m off the hook.

Serving the poor has to be part of every stage of our lives. If you’re single, there might be more time and availability to serve, but there are still obstacles and excuses.

“I don’t have time.”

We’re all busy. Maybe you can’t take a few years off to serve, but you still have the same two minutes at a red light that can make a difference for the person on the corner.

Take advantage of these little moments that are already built into your routine to encounter the poor. Be bold. Giving money is a personal choice that has pros and cons, but if you don’t want to give money, don’t be afraid that the person won’t want your time. What the poor most need is you.

The homeless are so often rejected during the day; take the awkwardness of rejection on yourself this time. Roll down the window and ask how their day is going. They might not have had anyone ask their name or how they’re doing all day or even all week.

And even if they don’t seem to want to talk, consider this rejection as a little piece of how they feel everyday when people avert their eyes.

“I don’t know where to serve.”

Maybe you want to do committed service work, but don’t know where to start. How do I find an organization who’s values match up with mine? How do I know if they really follow Church teaching?

A good place to start might be online. Catholic Volunteer Network or other similar databases allow you to search based on country or state and can be a good place to start your search. From there, contact your diocese to see what recommendations they have. Sometimes a program that looks orthodox might not be that Catholic in practice.

Ask for recommendations from people who have served. If you’re looking for weekly or monthly opportunities, see if your parish has a group that serves the poor. This may take on many forms. Maybe it’s going to visit homebound members of the parish. Maybe it’s making house calls to help with utility assistance with a group like St. Vincent de Paul.

“It’s uncomfortable.”

The Gospel is not meant to be comfortable. It’s meant to be a narrow way. We have to strip down everything in us that doesn’t help us enter the kingdom. Serving the poor helps us realize our own poverty. We realize that the poor have a lot to teach us.

In my time with Christ in the City, I realized that I wasn’t serving the poor because I had a lot to give, but because I was poor too. A certain friend who had recently been homeless needed the missionaries help cleaning his apartment. Several of us visited weekly as part of our ministry.

But instead of us ministering to Joe, he ended up taking care of us. He would give us sweet tea when we walked in the door, he’d have us stop cleaning early to sit down and play cards while we listened to oldies on the radio, and he never missed a moment to tell us how special we were to him. I’m pretty sure Joe served me more than I ever served him.

Another friend of mine who I was supposed to be “ministering” to would listen to me talk about my life and give me sound advice. We still meet regularly now that I’m not a missionary to talk about the Grateful Dead, the book he’s working on, and my latest existential crisis. I’m not promising that your encounters serving the poor will turn out great and you will actually be served by them, but we all have something to learn from the other.

“Does it really matter?”

Sometimes I wonder if me rolling down the window will actually make a difference to the person on the corner. In fact, most times when I don’t roll down the window, it’s usually because I’ve convinced myself that it won’t matter.

We’re insecure in what we have to give. If I feel like I have to solve this person’s problems and change their circumstances, I get overwhelmed and don’t act at all. But a smile always matters. A brief interaction can bring a person joy.

Let’s leave our excuses behind. A simple encounter with the poor could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

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