Recently, after a jog on a sunny Saturday morning, while approaching the back of our main office building, I noticed a homeless person. He was tucked in between a mechanical box in back of our building and the dumpster enclosure. He was fast asleep in a sleeping bag, snug as a bug in a rug. The smashed-down iris leaves provided a soft mattress underneath. 
“Good morning!” I said in a soft tone, not to scare the person.
“I’ll be right on my way!” He replied. We immediately recognized each other, as we are on a first-name basis with many of the homeless people who sleep under the many bridges and alcoves of the buildings downtown and the near downtown area.
He was relieved it was me, but after pointing out the chubby field mouse crawling next to him he became a bit fearful. I bet he was thinking what I was thinking… that this furry creature crawled underneath his sleeping bag to share a warm bed for the night.
“Do you have anything to eat?” I asked. He answered in the affirmative, but I learned it was only a can of pop and a bag of chips.
“I’ll be right back,” I said. I returned with a big piece of gourmet, double-crusted pizza.
As the weather gets colder, we are once again making preparations to help those who, for a handful of reasons (usually because of alcoholism, drug abuse, mental disease or a combination), chronically live on the streets, or in abandoned buildings and cars.
I am grateful to our many benefactors who make it possible to help us assist them not only to survive on the streets but for some to escape homelessness.
Just weeks ago, we helped one such person find a job. For some, in order to put them on a trajectory for success, after finding employment, we often help with their security deposits, first month’s rent, and the necessary furnishings in their new apartments or homes.
After having celebrated All Saints and All Souls Day, let us remind ourselves that all of us should always be forward-thinking like St. Paul, who said, “One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:13).
As we leave the past to God’s mercy, not worrying about tomorrow as it is in God’s providence, let us concern ourselves with today and God’s grace as we look forward to eternal life where we will be all perfectly one. It is there where those who we helped here on earth will thank us, face-to-face.
