Misericordia et Misera • Mercy and Misery
This weekend, our parish welcomes Fr. Bill O’Donnell, the pastor of St. Augustine Parish, Cleveland—our Church in the City partner. Fr. O’Donnell graciously requested to preside over our liturgies on this Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, “World Day of the Poor,” in thanksgiving for the generosity offered at our annual St. Augustine Benefit Dinner last month. Ultimately, our parish community was able to offer his parish: $18,500! This will help ensure provisions for food, clothing, furniture, appliances, emergency funding for rent and utilities, advocacy for those seeking medical assistance, benefits, and housing continue to be offered to those who find themselves in need.
Eight years ago, Pope Francis, in his apostolic letter, “Mercy and Misery,” designated this Sunday to be “World Day of the Poor.” He wrote: “It will be a day that will help communities and each baptized person to reflect on how poverty is at the heart of the Gospel and on the fact that, as long as Lazarus lies at the door of our homes (cf. Lk 16:19-21) there can be no justice or social peace. This day will represent a genuine form of new evangelization (cf. Mt 11:5) which can renew the face of the Church as she preserves in her perennial activity of pastoral conversion and witness to mercy” (21). While today is not simply a day to pray for the poor, but to evaluate whether we are living out Christ’s preferential option for the poor, still, I offer this prayer for our consideration:
Lord God, you are the source of all good things. You show mercy and bring justice to your afflicted people.
Help us to recognize your Son in the victim of disaster, famine, or conflict struggling to survive, the displaced migrant or persecuted refugee unable to return home, the newcomer to our land seeking legal help and material support, the villager in need of resources to improve living conditions, the citizen seeking a place of peace and reconciliation in a war-torn country, the person suffering from HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases.
May we, to whom much has been given, respond with generosity and compassion to our suffering brothers and sisters worldwide.
Grant us the grace and courage to speak out against
injustice everywhere.
Open our hearts and minds to work for an end to the root causes of global poverty.
Help us to build lasting peace in our relationships with our neighbors, both here and abroad.
We ask all these things through Christ our Lord, who hears the cry of the poor and oppressed. Amen.