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

Scripture:

16 But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”
17 “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they
answered.18 “Bring them here,” he said.
 Matthew 14 New Living Translation (NLT)

Reflection:

The kicking out of suffering immigrant families and
unaccompanied children is not the answer,” Bishop
Minerva Carcaño, the United Methodist Bishop in Los
Angeles, said in a news release. “Immediately stopping
the deportations and extending due process to children
escaping the violence of drug cartels, gangs, and poverty
is the just way to respond."

Could Loaves and Fishes Change The Immigration
Dilemma? What might happen if we were to look at the
two goods of protection and hospitality not as competing
goods in a world of scarcity, but as complimentary goods
in a world of abundance? I think we might come up with
new solutions that no one has yet imagined.

Central American Refugee Crisis at the Border—How You
Can Help  The need is urgent, overwhelming, and large in
scope but ultimately requires that these vulnerable children
be treated with love and compassion. It’s crucial that each
child be offered adequate resources by trained professionals
that will help preserve their dignity and protect them from
further harm.

Deported: A View From the 'Other' Side
With each story, the layers of isolation, dehumanization,
and misunderstanding began to be peeled back. We had all
heard the stories of deportation in the headlines, but none of
us had come face to face with the humans behind the story.

Jesus Is at the Border
The good news is that it’s not too late to change. We can
repent. We can change our hearts and minds so that we can
follow Jesus in breaking down the barriers between “us” and
“them.” We can embrace our differences and become one with
God and our fellow human beings. We can join in God’s
economy of abundant love and set things right by healing the
world and trusting that there is enough room, enough wealth,
enough food, and enough housing for “us” and for “them.”

JESUS IS AT THE BORDER!!!!!!!

Scripture:

 Romans 13:9-10 (NLT)

9 For the commandments say, “You must not commit
adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal.
You must not covet.”These—and other such
commandments—are summed up in this one
commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the
requirements of God’s law.

Reflection:

Like every other high school senior, Courtney Barich
dreamt of her prom night. She would wear a magnificent
dress and dance the night away like Cinderella. However,
as Courtney searched for a gown, something in her changed.

Courtney had found the perfect dress with a $700 price tag
that was within her budget. The store asked Courtney to
return the next day for alterations. On the way home,
Courtney couldn’t help but feel wrong about spending so
much money on a dress that she would wear for one evening.
As she second-guessed her choice to her mom, Courtney’s
mom replied, “You’d look good in anything, even a potato sack.”

That off-the-cuff remark set off a light bulb in Courtney’s head.
In a few months, Courtney was headed to the Philippines on a
school mission to help out a poor orphanage in need. Courtney
pledged to wear a burlap potato sack to prom if she could raise
$10,000 for the orphanage. On prom night, she made good on
her promise and wore a burlap dress fashioned by a designer
who donated her time to help Courtney out. As her other friends
displayed glitzy and glamorous gowns, Courtney glowed with
the joy of knowing that she had made a positive difference in the
lives of those in need.

It’s true — none of us can fix everything, but all of us can do
something. Just as Courtney did, with a little creativity and
determination, we, too, can make a significant impact on the
lives of our brothers and sisters in need. Remember, if God shows
us a problem, we must ask how we can help. How might you
contribute to God’s purposes today?

(Reflection section by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein)