Radical Compassion: Finding Christ in the Heart of the Poor

To connect with him again was a gentle affirmation of this ministry, in which I try to be a person of love, putting flesh on faith. It revealed how this ministry of presence extends through time and space: on the streets in another city ten years ago, through humdrum prison correspondence, by means of the occasional long-distance phone call, and no

In a culture that deifies physical beauty, she lives in a constant storm of unattractiveness. Isn’t the flip side of all her attention-seeking a desperate plea for friendship, love, care, attention, meaning?

I don’t kid myself; I know I can’t do this by myself. So I do my own kind of handing over. I hand over the mystery of death to God, and I hand myself over to the mystery of my vocation: to be there for these folks, living and dead. I am the divining rod in their search for the holy in their lives. I have confidence in these moments, because I know

through the game, Mary pulled out a five-dollar bill and, with great motherly solicitude, told me to go buy myself a hot dog and beer and to please get her a diet Coke. It was one of those moments to die for. After rent, five dollars is actually a significant percentage of her monthly budget. It was the unmatchable gift that only the poor are capab

My dearest Father Gary, I cannot adequately put into words what your friendship has meant to me over the past few years. You have been my steady rock in the raging storm. You’ve been the father to me that I always wished for when I was growing up. You’ve given so much, and I know you’ve got so much more to give. Your ministry has just begun. When t

Among the poor, we learn to internalize their suffering, and we are transformed into the heart of Christ.

In situations like this, it is controlled chaos. I wish I had the code to unlock Michael’s mind. But no such code exists. All I can bring to the conversation are my heart and my trust that God wants me in the midst of this chaos. The imprisoned are the poorest of the poor. If the heart of God is to be found anywhere, it is to be found in the hole.

Before we left, he suddenly asked if we would pray with him, and so we sat in that crappy little room, hand in hand, Mary Sue and Robert seated on his bed and me in a chair facing them. We lit the place up. It was a positive visit. It is clear that he trusts the two of us.

That is partly how I feel about my life. I am a witness to a movement in me that I can’t understand or articulate. As impossible as it is for me to understand my call to service, there will be people who do get it and who can point to me and say, “There it is, there is faith in operation, there is a believer, there is the holy operating in another