Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 15:10New Living Translation (NLT)
10 Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for
the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Psalm 41
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor!
    The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble.

Proverbs 14:21New Living Translation (NLT)
21 It is a sin to belittle one’s neighbor;
    blessed are those who help the poor.

Luke 6:20 New Living Translation (NLT)
20 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,
“God blesses you who are poor,
    for the Kingdom of God is yours.

2 Corinthians 9:9New Living Translation (NLT)
9 As the Scriptures say,
“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
    Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”

Reflection:

In an experiment, people volunteered to dress up as
homeless individuals. Then, they were placed where
an unknowing family member typically passed by.
Cameras were set up to capture what would happen
when family members walked past their closest
relatives dressed in a pauper’s clothing.

In all cases, the unsuspecting relatives walked right
by. Later, experimenters showed these relatives what
the cameras had captured, only this time the faces
of the homeless were shown. The relatives were
stunned when they realized who exactly it was that
they had passed.

While we are naturally drawn to those who are
outwardly similar to us, we have to learn to bond with
the similarities that reside within. Every one of us was
created in the image of God. We are all brothers and
sisters at our core. Don’t be fooled by the outer shell.
Love every person for who they are within. Don’t walk
by the homeless or the nameless. Each one is our
brother, our sister, our friend. We dare not pass them
by!

DON'T WALK BY!

May god bless all of us and open our minds and hearts
so that we can help each other; regardless of who they
are; remember blessing has no color; god bless us all.
when some one cries for help dont look the other way;
we are all god;s people; you may be in a good position
today but you never know what tomorrow brings; always
remember that god is our keeper.

Prayer For The Poor By Mother Theresa

Make us worthy, Lord, to serve those people throughout
the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give
them through our hands, this day, their daily bread, and
by our understanding love, give them peace and Joy. Amen