"I Will Come to you"
YOU HAVE MADE US FOR YOURSELF, O GOD, AND OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS
UNTIL THEY REST IN YOU

[St Augustine, THE CONFESSIONS]

May 3, 2026

Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, has asked that during the month of May we focus on the need of people for food. The lack of food is something hard to imagine for many of us in our country because we don’t personally experience it. However, we know that there are many people who lack sufficient food in our country because of their living situations.

The Pope asks to pray that we be committed to avoid wasting food and to ensure that everyone has access to quality food. For their own reasons many places that provide food (restaurants, etc.) give portions too large to consume in meals at their establishments. Fortunately most places now provide what we need to take home food we can’t consume at their locations, and that is one good way we can avoid wasting food. We could take that for granted, but we ought to be grateful to those who help help avoid waste in this way.

Helping out those in need by supporting food pantries is a way that many of us can help feed the hungry. I understand the parish had a St Vincent de Paul ministry which had to be terminated before I came to live in Maple Park. I hope that we can make up for the lack of that ministry by supporting places that help the needy. I know that we have the opportunity to help feed the poor by bringing items to be placed in boxes in the church vestibule, and God will bless those of us who help in this way.

A Gospel story that gives me shivers is the story that Jesus told about the poor beggar and the rich man Lazarus. Lazarus was not condemned for refusing to help the beggar. He was condemned for not even noticing him in his need. 

Another Gospel account that should shake us to attention is the account of the Last Judgment with its statements by Jesus to those who will be condemned: I was hungry and you gave me no food … what you did not do for the least of my brethren, you did not do to Me.

Let’s pray that we will not fall into that spiritual trap of not paying attention to people’s basic needs. None of us can solve the hunger problem by ourselves, but all of us can do something. Even a tiny bit of help for the poor and needy can make up for our venial sins. The face of every person in true need is the face of Jesus. The question for each Christian is “how can I minister to the Lord in His poor ones?”