‘Nowhere to Turn’

Details: 20 July 2012

Not long ago, we received a cash donation from a woman who expressed her appreciation for us having helped a friend who was in desperate need.

The following is an excerpt from her letter:

"Dear Father Kubat, a little over a year ago I contacted CSS for assistance in helping a friend who had nowhere to turn for a place to live. Her life had literally taken a 180 degree turn in the wrong direction. I do not know what she would have done without your help. CSS gave her hope. Please accept this donation in gratitude for helping my friend."

She closed her letter thanking God for answering a prayer for another intention for a situation in her family. She ended her letter by saying, "God is good!"

Her only request was to use the funds for housing needs for somebody else in the future who would find themselves in a similar situation. As it turns out, the funds came in handy for the next needy individual who was facing homelessness.

Thanks to the evangelist John, we know that God is love, and the evidence of our love of God is our love of neighbor, and the evidence of our love of neighbor is whether we sacrifice ourselves for them and ultimately our willingness to lay down our life for them (see the First Letter of John and John 15:13). When I receive letters and cards like this it reflects concrete evidence of the great love people have for God. This is the greatest gift God has given us, having his very life or love in our souls. This was foretold by God to the prophet Ezekiel in the sixth century B.C. "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanliness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances" (Ez 36:25-27).

This passage from the prophet of Ezekiel is one of my favorites in the Old Testament. Prefiguring the Sacrament of Baptism, the most essential of the sacraments, it opens the door to the rest of the sacraments including the most important sacrament, the Blessed Sacrament, the medicine of immortality. With baptism, we receive God’s life or love into our souls for the first time, and with cooperation and the frequent reception of the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession the seeds of faith, hope and charity grow, enabling us to love God with all of our hearts, souls and minds and our neighbor as ourselves (Dt 6:4-5; Mt 22:37). This is why this woman wrote her letter of thanks to us and included a donation to help future clients. She, like all of our benefactors, has the love of God in her soul, that living faith that saves (Jas 2:1-26). Please be assured of our prayers for you and your intentions!