Encounter with a Priest

Thy Kingdom Come…on Earth as it is in Heaven Part 2

Encounter with Priest

On the way to his friend James’s house he passed the local Catholic Church where his mom had just gone for food and where the St. Vincent people come from. There was a house next to the Church where he thought the minister must live. On a whim he decided to knock on the door to see if he could discover more about his family’s good fortune. An old man answered and smiled. Devon said, “My name is Devon, can I speak to the minister of the Church please”. The old man said, “I am the minister of the Church and my name is Father Peter. Please come in.” As he walked in his mind was running fast and he was lost for words. After they sat down in a room near the entrance he started asking question after question. “Who is St. Vincent and how come they gave my family beds, stove and a refrigerator? Where did the money come from? Why are they doing this? Are we expected to give back? Are we the only ones who got all this stuff we need to survive?” After awhile the minister gently stopped him and said, “Young man, I will try to answer all your questions with a story, a true story.” The boy sat in silence, wide eyed as the old man told this story.

“St. Vincent De Paul was a holy man who lived a long time ago in Paris, France. He and his followers, men and women, believed in Jesus’ words about treating the poor, the hungry and those who were outcast of the society, as they would treat Jesus. After he died his followers kept doing this work, as priest and sisters, just as we would call them in the Catholic Church. Later on, some Catholic students in the University of Paris were challenged by fellow students that they preached all these nice things but did nothing to implement them. One of the students, named Frederic, gathered his friends around him and decided to do something about it. They got one of the ‘sisters’ of St. Vincent De Paul religious order to take them across town to the poorest section of the city. What they saw and heard, amidst the poorest of the poor, made them come back over and over again, bringing food, blankets or whatever they could bring. After awhile these person to person home visits spread like wildfire amidst Catholics all over Paris, France, Europe and all over the world, like right here in the USA. The movement of personal home visits came to be called the St. Vincent De Paul society, after St. Vincent De Paul.

“In our city of Milwaukee, the St. Vincent De Paul Society has come across hard times in our neighborhoods of North Central Milwaukee. We live in the poorest area of the city, one of the poorest in the USA and we live in the most segregated neighborhood in the most segregated city in the USA. Do you know what segregated means?” “Yes, Father Peter, I think I do. It means when all of us blacks live in a particular area. I just met a new neighbor, a mother of a friend of mine who had just moved in our area who said, she has never seen such a city where blacks and whites were so separated.”

“Yes, my son, you do know,” Father Peter said. “Well in this poor, segregated area there used to be lots of Catholic Churches back a few years. Now there are only a few. When the leaders of our church recently closed down another Catholic Church in this area, our church got over 1 million dollars from its sale and two others that had been closed. The money was deposited in this church. Well, there was a lot of debate of what to do with this money in our church, but our local church leader, called an Archbishop, had the final say. Some wanted to use the money to help out our Catholic school. Some wanted to use the money to fix up our church, some wanted to use the money to establish another outreach agency in the area. One group who did not have much power or say wanted to use the money the way Jesus tells us to act in the story of the Judgment of Kingdom of Nations in Matthew 25. Do you know that story?” Devon said, “I am not sure but isn’t it something to do with Judgment Day?” “Yes, Devon,” said Father Peter, “On judgment day God, the King is sorting out the good nations or groups of people from the bad nations or groups of people. To the good group of people, He will say, ‘God has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created. When I was hungry, you gave Me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed Me, and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of Me, and when I was in jail, you visited me.’ The good group of people will say, ‘When did we give You something to eat or drink? When did we welcome You as a stranger or give You clothes to wear 39 or visit you while you were sick or in jail?” The king will say ‘Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.’” Then the King will say to the bad group of people: ‘“Get away from Me! You are under God’s curse…. I was hungry, but you did not give Me anything to eat, and I was thirsty, but you did not give Me anything to drink. I was a stranger, but you did not welcome Me, and I was naked, but you did not give Me any clothes to wear. I was sick and in jail, but you did not take care of Me.’ The bad group of people will say, ‘Lord, when did we fail to help You when you were hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in jail?’ The King will say to them, ‘Whenever you failed to help any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you failed to do it for Me’.

“Devon, do you know the Our Father?” “Yes, I do Father Peter. We say it every Sunday in Church and I learned the prayer in Sunday school.” “Good,” said Father Peter, “what do you think the line ‘Thy Kingdom come …on earth as it is in heaven’ means?” Devon said: “I am not so sure.” Father Peter said, “I will let you think about this while I tell you the rest of the story how your mom got those beds, stove and refrigerator.

“The battle raged on about how to use the 1.1 million dollars from the sale of the three Catholic Churches in the area. The group that wanted to use the money for corporal and spiritual works of mercy, like feeding the poor, providing clothes, visiting the prisoners and doing stuff like the St. Vincent De Paul Society, was very persistent. They begged continually for the use of the money for those in need and segregated, like your family, till one day our church and our Catholic leaders heard them through the Cry of the Poor and suggested the money be used this way in the neighborhoods it came from. So this is how our St. Vincent De Paul Society got the money for beds, used refrigerators and stoves for your family and many, many other families in the area.”

This sounded wonderful to Devon who told Fr Peter, “This is making some real changes in so many of our lives. Going to school with a warm breakfast and coming home to a homemade meal certainly helps me study harder in school. And going to bed in my own bed makes me think I am an important person. But what happens when the money runs out?”

Father Peter replied, “That is a very good question and I have a surprising answer for you about how this money is being multiplied, but before I answer it I need to ask you if you had lunch yet?” Devon replied, “No I was hoping to get some food at my friend’s house since his mother also got a refrigerator and stove.” Father Peter said, “If you eat lunch with me I can answer your question. Will you stay for lunch?” Devon said, “Yes I will stay. I would like to hear about this multiplication of millions.”

Tomorrow: Multiplication of Millions

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