True prayer always includes becoming
poor. When we pray, we stand naked and
vulnerable in front of Our Lord and show him our true condition. If one were to do this not just for oneself,
but in the name of the thousands of surrounding poor people, wouldn’t that be mission
in the true sense of being sent into the world as Jesus himself was sent into
the world? To lift up your hands to the
Lord and show him the hungry children who play on the dusty streets, the tired
women who carry their babies on their backs to the marketplace, the men who try
to forget their misery by drinking too much beer on the weekends, the jobless
teenagers and the homeless squatters, together with their laughter, friendly
gestures and gentle words, wouldn’t that be true service? If God really exists, if he truly cares, if
he never leaves his people alone, who is there to remind him of his
promises? Who is there to cry out: How long will you frown on your people’s
plea? … Turn again, we implore, look down from heaven and see. Visit this vine and protect it, the vine your
right hand has planted. Let your face shine on us, and we shall be saved”
(Psalm 80)? I feel that in a world rushing to the abyss, the need for calling God
to the task, for challenging him to make his love felt among the poor, is more
urgent than ever.
--Henri Nouwen, ¡Gracias!
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