Feb. 17, 2015 Tuesday: Divine Mercy Novena Wk 2, I was hungry and you gave me food
Feb. 17, 2015 Tuesday: Divine Mercy Novena Wk 2, I was hungry and you gave me food
If you had to put a dollar figure on how much it costs to feed a teenager for a month, what would it be? Some estimates that it costs about $300 per teenager. Of course that’s not including the cost to replenish your refrigerator after many of his or her friends come over to snack.
Feeding the hungry begins at home. Our work as a breadwinner or homemaker feeds others besides ourselves. We may not realize that we are doing a work of mercy when we simply prepare dinner for our family. Perhaps it seems like a mundane task, but we can make a choice: we can do this task begrudgingly or out of love. Do we roll up our sleeves and consciously do such work joyfully as an act of mercy?
Last week, I mentioned to you that mercy is love that feels compassion for those who suffer (heart) and reaches out to help (action). Those who are hungry and thirsty are right around us. Many of you bring cooked meals to your neighbors who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. Here at our own parish, concerned parishioners volunteer their time during the week to serve the poor who come to our parish for emergency grocery and utilities assistance. Many of you participate in this ministry by simply bringing a few grocery items to replenish our emergency food pantry.
This Lent with your acts of mercy, you can satiate the hunger and quench the thirst of Jesus who comes to us in the disguise of our neighbor. You can also help alleviate hunger and poverty in our Diocese and overseas by participating in the Operation Rice Bowl; the bowls can be found in the back of the church. You can also bring food items to help replenish our emergency food pantry. It’s not how much you give, but how much love you put in the giving, as Mother Teresa said. What finally counts is not whether we know about Jesus but loving Jesus through our mercy in action to our neighbors.
Fr. Paul Yi
Feeding the hungry begins at home. Our work as a breadwinner or homemaker feeds others besides ourselves. We may not realize that we are doing a work of mercy when we simply prepare dinner for our family. Perhaps it seems like a mundane task, but we can make a choice: we can do this task begrudgingly or out of love. Do we roll up our sleeves and consciously do such work joyfully as an act of mercy?
Last week, I mentioned to you that mercy is love that feels compassion for those who suffer (heart) and reaches out to help (action). Those who are hungry and thirsty are right around us. Many of you bring cooked meals to your neighbors who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. Here at our own parish, concerned parishioners volunteer their time during the week to serve the poor who come to our parish for emergency grocery and utilities assistance. Many of you participate in this ministry by simply bringing a few grocery items to replenish our emergency food pantry.
This Lent with your acts of mercy, you can satiate the hunger and quench the thirst of Jesus who comes to us in the disguise of our neighbor. You can also help alleviate hunger and poverty in our Diocese and overseas by participating in the Operation Rice Bowl; the bowls can be found in the back of the church. You can also bring food items to help replenish our emergency food pantry. It’s not how much you give, but how much love you put in the giving, as Mother Teresa said. What finally counts is not whether we know about Jesus but loving Jesus through our mercy in action to our neighbors.
Fr. Paul Yi
