Sheltering the homeless is one of the corporal works of mercy. For those of us who read the book Beautiful Mercy and followed along with the homilies this past spring, we were given practical ways to incorporate the corporal and spiritual works of mercy into our everyday life.
During these hot summer days, the well-being of the homeless in our community comes to my mind more often due to the lack of their ability to cool off. While we are in our homes sitting with our air conditioning and fans, our homeless are searching for a place which will allow them respite from the weather. I quite often stop at a gas station to pick up food and water to give to a homeless person I have just driven by and hope in some small way I am helping. I can only imagine what it must be like to be homeless during these hot summer months, or the cold winter nights, but Canadian Bishop Donald Bolen went further than imagining and decided to spend a couple of days living as the homeless do. He experienced first-hand how invisible homeless problems and people can be. Take a look at this article from Vatican Radio regarding the days Bishop Donald Bolen spent with his homeless community. May all of us keep those in need of the basic living essentials in our prayers and hearts.
Bishop Donald Bolen’s Homelessness Experience
