17As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” 20He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Today's Gospel from Mark is one of my favorites. The young rich man is looking for an easy way to heaven. I don't know if he was looking for a shortcut or the path of least resistance, but the answer Jesus gave was no what was expected. Then again, that seemed to be Jesus' modus operandi..
Imagine what a wonderful world it would be if no one went hungry or homeless?
In the course of my life, I have spent significant time working with the homeless and the hungry. It is in those moments that I encountered Christ. There's something about handing a meal to the hungry and knowing you are doing what is commanded of you that reinforces belief.
I started working at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen in 1997. It's the primary soup kitchen that serves meals daily to the greater Trenton, NJ area. It provides an essential service to many . I served meals, volunteered in the Kids Day Off program and raised money for them for almost a decade.
When I moved to Sioux Falls in 2005, I took some time off for a few years . I started volunteering with the Banquet in 2007. The Banquet is soup kitchen serving the greater Sioux Falls area, and the need is increasing each year. In addition, they collect school supplies and provide them along with a new backpack each summer. The Banquet also provides sweats, hats and gloves to those in need during the long, cold winter on the plains.
In addition to my work with TASK, I was deeply involved with Homefront.. It started by providing meals to homeless families being warehoused in fleabag motels along Route 1 in Lawrenceville. 20 years ago, Homefront began to address the issue. My church prepared and delivered meals to the families living in the motels. As I was embarking on my voyage west, Homefront was on their own voyage to providing sustainable transitional housing to get these families out of the motels and on the road back.
The third organization that I was involved with Crisis Ministry. In addition to working to prevent homelessness and hunger, Crisis Ministry provided a food pantry, assistance with utilities and more. They conduct coat and hygiene supply drives and also provide job training.
Sioux Falls has St Francis house, which provides transitional housing. They have programs for emergency housing to transitional housing for both individuals and families. They also help those being served with counseling, job searches and more.
The Good Shepherd Center in Sioux Falls is a drop in center for homeless individuals and families. They have laundry facilities, showers and areas to conduct job searches and make phone calls. Most importantly, they have space for kids to be kids and play.
There are many ways to start giving it away. Where will you begin?
http://youtu.be/fLc6aDQoo4w
Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. Margaret D. Nadauld
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