A Priest Doing the Lords Work

I haven't read your post yet but will read and respond this weekend.


I'm starting a new book today - Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion.  The author is a Jesuit priest who has committed his life to help gang members in the LA barrios leave gangs and train them to become productive members of society.  (I just finished this book in case you are curious.)  I am very impressed by people like this who dedicate their lives to work with the poor and less fortunate.  If you cut from the New Testament all the words Jesus said about helping the poor there wouldn't be much left.  Working with criminals to turn them to productive members of society is the highest form of this work.  It seems to me that 99% of this priests work involves saving people from poverty and crime rather than hell.  Perhaps this is because they are living in hell so preaching to them to accept Jesus to avoid hell would be silly and naive.  His acts speak much loader than any words could.  This man should be sainted by his church long before John Paul II.


I've read in the Gresham Outlook about a local minister who works to feed the poor.  He also greatly impresses me.  His church was not a beautiful building but instead wherever the poor could be found.  He said (paraphrasing here) that feeding and helping the poor was his primary concern and converting them secondary (I assume a close 2nd).  This differs I think from Jesus' approach - he talked endlessly about helping the poor but saving them from going to hell seemed to be his primary concern - as it does for most Christians.  I don't remember this ministers name but perhaps you do.  There are many many examples of all religions (even Islam) motivating people to commit themselves to selfless acts of courage and generosity.  Faith is a great benefit to mankind in these cases.  (And this is where I disagree with the more strident atheists that religion is always bad.)  If only this were the case more often - I would even take 50% of the time.  Sadly, it seems to be pretty rare.  If is wasn't, food pantrys and soup kitchens would never be short of food.  So often those that preach the loudest and judge most harshly are often the biggest hypocrites.


This was going to be a short post to announce my new book but you know me.....