We Need More Courage and Love
Jesus Christ is Risen, Alleluia! He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!
Message from Fr. Andy: Happy Easter! As followers of Christ, our response to and use of “Resurrection Energy” (RE) is necessary to face the challenges of our day. RE is a transforming power. When Jesus rose from the dead, everything in the world changed. Living with courage became possible. A new “way” of confronting religious, political, and economic powers in the name of love and justice becomes possible with RE. What we call “Christian” today was once referred to as “the way.” It was something new and different. Believing and following the teachings of Jesus Christ was new, it was a new “way.”
Today, we must live with RE and with the courage Christ delivers. We believe that we will live forever, eternally. We believe that one day, on the last day of time, we will be reunited with a “glorious body” like the body of the Risen Christ. His risen body was the same, yet different. He was glorified. We hope in that resurrection and pray for it.
With such faith and hope we can look at the challenges of our time with new sight. We can see the poor not as pathetic, but beloved. With that sight we can begin to do courageous, transformative and loving things for those in need.
With such courage and generosity, some of you have made donations to our parish “Fund for the Poor.” We have been able to give people many meals, nights of shelter in hotels, prevented evictions, kept the electricity and water flowing in homes, helped some people travel to safer locations, and assisted some people to get medical care.
Unfortunately, we will need much more courage and love for the sake of the poor. In order to address the root causes of poverty and homelessness, we will need courageous change and compassionate response in our local community. Those who are surviving on the streets or in emergency shelters need more than a bed for a night. Many of the homeless need medical and psychological assessments which can diagnose and lead to treatment for mental illness, e.g. bi-polar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses. The addicted who are seeking recovery need available and affordable therapeutic options.
Some homeless persons are getting between $800-$1800 per month in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). But, finding a suitable place with an owner or property management company that will rent to them is a tremendous challenge. The worst part of a lack of affordable housing in the Brown County area is that the poorest of the poor, the disabled, cannot find places to live. Sadly, we see them here at our parish, trying to survive another day. Let us apply our RE for their sake.
Jesus is Risen, Alleluia!
Peace, Fr. Andy