This Gospel tells the powerful story of the leper who approaches Jesus asking to be cured of his leprosy. The setting for this encounter is one in which those individuals with the disease were required to announce themselves to any passersby by proclaiming “Unclean, Unclean!” thereby protecting others from potentially contracting the disease.
I am struck today by how this scene resonates with the homeless we see on our streets every day. They may be panhandlers or simply living in their own world of mental illness, but their look and their clothes announce them to passersby in a way that I suspect has much the same effect today as it did 2000 years ago. The wonderful contrast to this scene of today is the presence of welcome and hospitality that the homeless of Baltimore experience every day at Our Daily Bread, Catholic Charities’ food program. While the homeless may be shunned or ignored on the street, they are welcomed with warmth and affection at Our Daily Bread. Every day it takes 36 volunteers to serve this meal to the 700 people who show up–and these volunteers do a lot more than serve the meal.
Sr. Gwynette Proctor, a former director of Our Daily Bread, used to say “we’re primarily in the hospitality business, not the food business.” The food is a means to the end of affirming the worth and dignity of each person who comes through those Catholic Charities doors. The volunteers and the staff are the people who extend that warmth and affirmation to make it all possible. I am so proud to have the opportunity to work alongside these wonderful people – it is truly a blessing.
If you have had the humbling experience at Our Daily Bread of serving these folks who are mired in poverty, please share.
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