Bishop Anthony B. Taylor delivered this homily Nov. 22.

Today is the feast of Christ the King. When we think of a king, we think of a man who lives in a palace, has lots of servants, dines lavishly on the very finest foods and issues decrees that have the force of law — when we think of a king, we think of wealth and power.

In “Camelot,” the Broadway musical from the 1960s, there is a song that asks the question, “I wonder what the king is doing tonight.” Let’s borrow that thought and ask what our King is doing today. The answer is found in today’s Gospel, where we are given a description of a very strange kind of king. Our King describes himself in terms of great need, not great wealth.

• Most kings dine lavishly on the finest foods, but our King is hungry today. Seated upon his throne, he looked back to this very day and said, “I was hungry…and you gave me no food.” We have all seen him on TV. He is starving in war-ravaged regions of Yemen and South Sudan and among the malnourished poor in COVID-19 impacted countries throughout the world.
• Another strange thing is that our King has no home. He says, “I was away from home and you gave me no welcome.” Most kings have a kingdom and a castle, but our King is a homeless wanderer. If you wanted to see him today, you could find him in a refugee camp in Jordan or waiting just across the border in Mexico for his application for asylum in the United States to be heard. Wherever you find people cut adrift, wandering homeless, he is there.
• But in your search, don’t look for a man in purple robes. Our King does not have any; not because he is a nudist, but rather because he is poor. Or more likely, he will be wearing worn out shoes and an inadequate coat. He says, “I was naked, and you gave me no clothing.”
• And if you don’t find him among the refugees, check the hospitals. In our Gospel he tells us that he was sick, so maybe that’s where he is. On second thought, he probably doesn’t have health insurance. Ours is a strange kind of King. Most Kings have their own personal physicians; our King is both poor and sick and languishes for want of someone who even cares.
• And then there is one other place where we might find our King, the strangest place of all — behind bars. “I was in prison…and you did not come to comfort me.” What is this? Kings don’t go to prison; they put other people there. But not our King, he is different. 70 years ago, he was in death camps with Jews, gypsies and homosexuals. Today he is with political prisoners all over the world. He is with the innocent and even with the guilty. The man who died with two thieves on Calvary is not too polite and delicate to sit with them in a jail cell.

A strange kind of King: hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, sick and in prison. Most kings are known for their wealth; ours is known for his need. And there is another thing about him, and that is the way he works. When I think of a king, I think of power, authority, someone who issues orders and demands obedience. A king is a powerful man who can get what he wants by pushing people around. But this strange King works exclusively through volunteers. In a world that relies on coercion, he depends on persuasion. That’s the only way he works.

Wherever there is a needy person our King is not only with that person, he is that person, waiting to be helped. But we don’t have to help him, not unless we choose to — Jesus relies exclusively on volunteers. He’s not going to force us. That choice is ours but make it carefully. 

One day we will stand before him and answer to him. Surely we want to stand with those to whom he says, “Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world,  I was hungry and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me. As often as you did it for one of the least of your brothers, you did it for me.”

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The Corporal Works of Mercy have a clear theme — help those in need. For Catholics Dale Pekar and Steve Hoffmann, they are living out that mission and have been recognized as Arkansas’ 2018 National Service honoree and Community Service Award honoree, respectively.

Since 1978, the state has honored individuals and companies for extraordinary examples of service and volunteerism, recognized through the Governor’s Office, Arkansas Department of Human Services Office of Communications and Community Engagement and KARK.

The Governor’s Advisory Commission on National Service and Volunteerism selected the national service, corporate humanitarian and youth humanitarian as well as community service awards from nominations. KARK chooses the distinguished citizen honoree.

Pekar and Hoffmann, one of 11 total honorees, will receive their awards during the 41st annual Arkansas Community Service Awards April 20 at Embassy Suites in Little Rock.

Beyond teaching English as a Second Language classes through Literacy Action of Central Arkansas, Pekar often helps recruit more AmeriCorps volunteers.

“He’s really taken that and done a lot more raising awareness about literacy,” said Shana Chaplin, deputy chief of community engagement at DHS.

For Hoffmann, Chaplin explained it was his involvement in a variety of organizations and “the depth he goes with the people he meets” at Jericho Way homeless day resource center in Little Rock.

“When you take the time to truly get to know people and walk people” through various services, it makes him stand out, she said.

Hoffmann, founder and owner of Insurisk, volunteers in several capacities at Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock, including adult faith formation.

When Sister Elizabeth Greim, DC, former director of Jericho Way, came to Holy Souls in 2015 and spoke of the needs for homeless clients, parishioners Steve Hoffmann and Shannon Callahan thought they’d donate some supplies. That led to volunteer training, which Hoffmann assumed would prepare them for going to the center about once a month. That quickly snowballed to leading a weekly Bible study and serving breakfast — for which he buys and brings about 100 bananas so clients have fresh fruit — on Wednesdays. He also helps with housing assistance and various client needs throughout the week, like recently taking client Wendell Jackson to Home Depot to buy tools for Jackson’s carpentry job after his were stolen.

Jackson attends weekly Bible study and will soon work with Hoffmann on permanent housing.

“Steve first has been faithful in coming here,” he said, adding he’s experienced “spiritual growth from the Bible study.”

”People are defeated here and they remind people there’s hope in Christ,” Jackson said.

Volunteering has strengthened his faith, pointing to the Gospel reading for March 8, Luke 11:14-23.

“Jesus says you either gather or you scatter, you’re either with me or against me … don’t stay neutral. I think from a spiritual standpoint that’s what I try to do,” Hoffmann said. “… Catholicism does not separate body and soul. It is not enough to hold the presence of God within you. It must be evident throughout the daily conduct of your life. Jericho has helped me understand this in a way nothing else has. Prayers and empathy for the poor and homeless are fine, but incomplete without doing something to help change their situation.”

Parishioner Shannon Callahan, who nominated Hoffmann, said, “In my opinion, nobody deserves it more. Just everything I have witnessed with him — he is fearless, he is persistent, he never gives up and it’s amazing to watch how dedicated he is helping with others.”

Pekar, a retired economist, was part of the Social Concerns Committee that launched ESL through Literacy Action of Central Arkansas at St. Edward Church in Little Rock in 2014.

“The adults really want to learn; they’re ready to invest the time and effort,” he said, adding he’s been an AmeriCorps member for about four years.

He teaches classes Monday and Thursday from 8:30 to 11:30 and again from 1:30 to 5:30, with about six to seven attendees for a normal class. The majority of students are Latino, with others from Asian, Middle Eastern and European countries.

Student Céline Riviere, a native of France, said, “He’s a very good teacher, very interesting … very open-minded about different cultures.” And Jacquelina Valenzuela, a native of Peru, added, “He’s a wonderful person, has compassion.” 

Aside from curriculum, Pekar said it’s important to bring classroom instruction into the real world, traveling to places like the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, Arkansas Arts Center, the main library in Little Rock and even the bus station.

“I just try to expose them to the things that are available to them in the city they may not know about,” he said.

Several students stand out in Pekar’s memory, including a Latino father who no matter how early Pekar would try to get to his former 10 a.m. class, the man always arrived first.

“I finally asked him and he said, ‘I drop my kids off and I just come here and wait.’ It was just that realization that he was so desperate to learn that he’d do that,” Pekar said.

In a society that has become increasingly hostile to immigrants, Pekar is well aware that many are at risk when it comes to be stopped for not having a driver’s license or even being deported.

“Those things are very sad so I think it’s important to give them a warm greeting, a smiling face, try to make them feel as comfortable as possible,” he said, adding that being a part of ESL tutoring is simply following Jesus’ call.

“I’ve had a pretty soft life compared to other folks. You think about meeting your maker: ‘You had a pretty sweet life and you did all the minimum stuff, but I was looking for more than that,’” Pekar said. “I think if you really listen to the Gospel message it’s not about obeying rules … it’s trying to see Jesus in every one and trying to behave accordingly.”

Each will receive an award as well as $500 to donate to a charity of their choice. As might be expected, Pekar chose Literacy Action of Central Arkansas and Hoffmann chose Jericho Way.

Hambone, a poodle-and-Bichon-Frise mix — a.k.a. “a ball of white fluff” — has a gift for stealing hearts with his loving gaze, his occasional curled-up “Elvis lip” and his snuggles, gently wrapping his two front paws around your arm while his face is gently stroked.  

But in order for this sweet scenario to happen, he has to know he can trust you.

The 18-month-old pup has come a long way in his short life after being found in the woods.

“He is not aggressive, but he’s reactive because I’m sure he was hit and kicked. When we first got him if your foot went too close to him when you were taking a step, he would hop back,” said Leslie Henson-Kita, a volunteer with Helping Hands for Little Paws nonprofit rescue, who has rehabilitated him with a structured desensitization plan. “He is ready for adoption. He is such an awesome little dog. I call him a little boy in a puppy suit.” 

He is just one of countless dogs that need a forever home in Arkansas. As Catholics celebrate the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi Oct. 4 and take their furry friends to pet blessings at local parishes throughout the month, people like Henson-Kita and Janet Sewell, a shelter volunteer at Charleston Dog Shelter, go the extra mile for animals in need every day.

A little help from heaven

“St. Francis and I are on a first-name basis,” Sewell laughed. “I’ve had many puppies with Parvo,” a contagious viral infection that can kill a dog if left untreated. “I’ll say, ‘OK, Lord I can’t do this myself.’ You have to give them Pedialyte every 30 minutes during the day and every hour each night. I have blessed oils and holy water, and I don’t hesitate to use them. I’ve had more than one puppy with Parvo pull through and it’s not from me or the Pedialyte.”

Sewell, a married mother of two and member of Sacred Heart Church in Charleston, has been volunteering at the shelter for four and half years. The shelter recently received nonprofit status to allow donations toward an actual building — for now, the shelter’s 30 dogs are on a property with covered kennels, but they are still outside in the elements, she said. Throughout the years, Sewell’s family has fostered more than 600 dogs, some for just a night but others for longer stretches.

While the days and nights can be hard, rescue and shelter workers often have their stories, cases that make all the work worth it. For Sewell, little Finn — who her daughter named because it means “warrior” — was one such dog. In July, Finn, an Australian Shepherd mix, came from Alma with a severe case of manage. He was 10 weeks old and weighed just 9.2 pounds instead of 18, she said.

“I just immediately cried when I saw him. Let’s just take him to the vet,” she said, thinking there was no hope to save him. She put his photo on Facebook and asked for prayers — “We don’t hesitate to say we need prayers” — and within days, his photo was spread nationwide and donations poured in that were able to go to him and the other dogs under the shelter’s care, she said. His condition healed faster than the vet anticipated, his fur grew back and he was adopted in August.

“My friend knowing I’m Catholic said, ‘I just found a St. Francis medal. Can I bring it to you?’” and he still has the medal on his collar, Sewell said, saying God saved his life. “There is no doubt.” 

Some owners unprepared

Henson-Kita, a married mother of two who attends Immaculate Conception Church in North Little Rock, has seen a lot of heartbreak-to-hope scenarios throughout her six years as a volunteer rescue coordinator for Helping Hands, which specializes in fluffy, non-shedding dogs often pulled from shelters.

“People don’t think poodles need rescue, but they have high grooming needs and they get gnarly pretty quickly if you don’t take care of them,” Henson-Kita said, who works part time at her husband’s orthodontics clinic. “… You can get a purebred dog in a shelter easy; every day, all day long.” 

Both agree that people should adopt, not buy from a breeder, because it saves the life of the rescue or shelter dog plus the next one that will fill that space. While there are safe, accredited breeders, some — called puppy mills — are inhumane and churn puppies out purely for profit. 

On March 17, 2015, Henson-Kita was part of a puppy mill raid by the Sherwood Animal Shelter where she also volunteers, which rescued 27 Shih Tzus from one house, which had to be torn down. The Kitas fostered one of the female dogs and her puppies.

“They never got food, so she would climb up on the tables” and try to get food scraps as they had always done, said Dr. Alexander Kita. “So they got food wherever they can … then I’d go get the dog food and say, ‘Here eat it,’ and she wouldn’t eat it at first. She finally (did); it all came down to a trust thing.”

As shelters and rescue organizations throughout the country and Arkansas struggle with overcrowding, Sewell and Henson-Kita said spaying and neutering is a priority.   

Sewell, who works as a special education aide at Charleston Public Schools, said dogs are often left at a shelter after a person or family brings home a puppy without being emotionally or financially prepared for the responsibility.

“If they do not feel they have the time to commit to it and are not willing to consider this life a member of their family, they don’t need to take in a dog or any animal for that matter,” Sewell said.

A work of mercy

In September, Pope Francis declared a new spiritual and corporal work of mercy called “Care of Creation” that encourages Catholics to contemplate the gifts of God’s world to us and to do “simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness,” that harm God’s creations, he wrote.

For Catholic animal-lovers, donating to, fostering or volunteering time at a shelter or rescue group can make a difference.

“It’s nice to have people come out and brush them for 10 to 15 minutes. Or to play fetch for an hour,” Sewell said. 

“I think everybody has to have a personal ministry, and we love pets,” Henson-Kita said. “This is just our way of giving back to the world that we live in.”

For more information about these organizations, visit helpinglittlepaws.com and search “The Charleston Dog Shelter” on Facebook.

When one thinks about the spiritual work of mercy “admonish the sinner,” the picture of John the Baptist in the desert — the fiery prophet we see in Matthew 3:1-10 calling for people to repent their evil ways and  produce good fruit as a sign of repentance — comes to mind.

While Jesus used similar language at times, his approach to dealing with sinners usually took a different track.

The guidance Jesus offers on how to correct someone appears in Matthew. We are told to “stop judging” and to first correct our own faults before daring to challenge others: “You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).

Jesus was known as someone who ate with tax collectors and sinners. When questioned about this seemingly inappropriate behavior, Jesus answered, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Mark 2:17).

Think also of how Jesus treated someone who was publically recognized as a sinner. In Luke 7:36-50, we hear the story of how a “sinful woman” comes to meet Jesus while “he was at table” in the house of a religious leader. There, she “began to bathe his feet with her tears,” wiped them dry with her hair, “kissed them, and anointed them” with oil.

While the religious leader was appalled by this (if Jesus only knew “what sort of woman this is who is touching him”), Jesus only said to the woman that her sins were forgiven and “your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

To the religious leader Jesus said that the woman’s sins had been forgiven because she had shown great love for him. Jesus goes on to make the point that one who has been healed of a great sickness has great gratitude but that “one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

Finally, consider Luke 19:1-10, the story of Zacchaeus, a tax collector and a wealthy man (with the suggestion that his wealth may have been illegally gained). Zacchaeus must have been well-known because Jesus recognizes him immediately and calls to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”

Because of Jesus’ public act of kindness (honoring Zacchaeus when others heaped scorn), Zacchaeus changes his life and makes amends to all he has harmed.

During this Year of Mercy, it is good to remember how Jesus called others to recognize their sinfulness. It is indeed an act of mercy to invite someone to forgiveness and healing, but how we do it can make all the difference in the world.

As the saying goes, loving the person does not mean loving the sin. Jesus showed this through his actions. His kindness led people to accept the gift of mercy he offered.

The spiritual work of mercy “to instruct the ignorant” is solidly grounded in the New Testament. The foundation for this teaching is found in Matthew 28: 19-20 when Jesus sent his disciples out to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

This command flows directly from Jesus’ life and ministry. For Jesus was known as a rabbi — one who taught people how to follow the Jewish faith. Throughout the New Testament there are numerous passages where Jesus taught the disciples or the crowds of people that followed him.

Consider the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 or his many parables. Jesus was known as a teacher, so it is no surprise that Jesus wanted his disciples to teach others.

This work of mercy is the reason why Catholics have invested so much time and energy in starting, staffing and supporting Catholic educational institutions from early childhood to the university levels. By providing educational opportunities in schools and parishes, we are following Jesus’ example.

But the meaning of “instructing the ignorant” goes deeper than simply teaching one to know math or science or even religion. At the heart of this work is the understanding that education is transformational.

Education is more about changing hearts and minds and forming a person’s character than it is about the sharing of information and knowledge. While sharing knowledge and teaching people how to think are critical, this work of mercy begs for something more.

To understand this, consider first this passage from Luke 2:52: “And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man.” This verse, which comes after the scene of Jesus teaching the elders in the temple, makes the point that growing in wisdom and favor are key developmental steps in one’s formation.

This passage from Luke is very similar to the passages about the young prophet, Samuel, which appear in 1 Samuel 2:21 and 3:19: “Young Samuel grew up in the service of the Lord” and “the Lord was with him.”

Consider also the passage from 2 Peter 3:17-18: “Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability. But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.”

Here the writer points out that the key point of instructing the ignorant is to help them to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord.”

During this Year of Mercy, look for ways that you can support Catholic education in some way. Pray for teachers and catechists. Make a donation to support Catholic schools or religious education.

But also look for ways to share your faith and understanding of the Gospel with those who do not understand. Do not be afraid to change someone’s life.

Of the seven corporal works of mercy, only one is not found in Matthew 25:31-46: bury the dead. Why then is it included as one of the works of mercy?

Proper burial of the dead was an important practice in Israel from its earliest days. A common practice was to prepare the body for burial with ointments and spices, and then to wrap the body in a linen cloth before laying it in a tomb, as was done with Jesus (John 19:40).

There the body would decay until only bones remained, and then they would be moved to a permanent burial place where they would be placed with the bones of one’s ancestors.

According to Luke 23:53, Jesus was wrapped in linen and laid in a “rock-hewn tomb in which no one had yet been buried,” but because of the Sabbath, his body had not yet been anointed with the appropriate spices and perfumed oil.

Thus the women returned early in the morning on the first day of the week to finish the burial ritual, only to find the tomb empty.

The importance of proper burial can be seen in Genesis 23 when Abraham, who is then living among the Hittites, purchases a field in which to bury his wife Sarah. Genesis 49:31 informs us that Abraham will also be buried in that tomb, as will Isaac and his wives Lea and Rebekah, and their son, Jacob.

The importance of a proper burial is also seen in the internment of Joshua and the bones of Joseph (Joshua 24:29-33).

Proper burial of the dead was considered so important in Israel that being left unburied was considered a curse and a condemnation.

In Deuteronomy 28:26, where all the curses for disobeying God’s commands are listed, this curse is found: “Your corpses will become food for all the birds of the air and for the beasts of the field, with no one to frighten them off.”

Not to bury someone properly then was a sign of great disrespect and a condemnation.

According to the Book of Tobit, burying the dead was an important work of charity: “I had performed many charitable deeds for my kindred. … I would give my bread to the hungry and clothing to the naked. If I saw one of my people who died and been thrown behind the wall of Nineveh, I used to bury him” (Tobit 1:16-17).

As with all of the works of mercy, what is emphasized here is the importance of compassion for others and the need to treat everyone with the dignity and respect they deserve as people created by a loving God.

Showing love for others, even after death, is how Jesus’ disciples are to show their love for God.

Sister Elizabeth Greim, DC, and volunteers at Jericho Way, a Little Rock day resource center for the homeless, encounter Jesus in every person who walks through the doors.

“I feel privileged not just working with these people but spending my day with 150 Jesus Christs,” said Sister Elizabeth, program director. “He is alive in mind and body in every single one of them.”

On March 30, 2014, Jericho Way, at 3000 Springer Boulevard, was given a renewed spirit, leased under the operation of the City of Little Rock to Depaul USA, a nationwide Catholic nonprofit that offers services to the homeless. Depaul USA has homelessness programs in just six U.S. cities.

“Their lives are very tough. I’ve worked in Baltimore with the homeless, I’ve worked in Macon, Ga., in Richmond, Va., and there’s something about here that’s very raw,” Sister Elizabeth said, citing how the Benedictine and Vincentian models of “no one is a stranger, everyone is welcomed as Christ” has changed the lives of clients. “There’s a tenderness inside many of the people you meet here.”

Michael Sneed, 55, said the “quality of help is a lot better” since Depaul USA took control. 

“They helped me get a job and they’re going to help me get an apartment. It means the world to me. Without them, there’s no telling where I’d be right now,” Sneed said.

Jericho Way offers several services, including breakfast and lunch, showers, laundry, access to computers and transportation. Case managers work with clients on job counseling, help with resumes and housing referrals. Some clients are also permitted to go on “field trips” to places like Heifer International and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and are taken out to a restaurant for a meal, which helps restore their dignity, Sister Elizabeth said.

“We moved very quickly from being showers, laundry, computers to housing, jobs, transportation, an increase in income. Which is really where we want to be,” Sister Elizabeth said.

However, Jericho Way is not defined by its services, but rather the transformed lives of clients and volunteers.

Shannon Callahan and Steve Hoffmann, both parishioners and Bible study leaders at Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock, lead a weekly Wednesday Bible Study at the center and volunteer in a variety of ways, including with the new housing program.

“Sister calls what we do the ministry of presence, not just volunteer to do laundry or serve food but actually to sit and visit and listen to everyone,” Hoffmann said.

The Bible study uses Catholic Bibles, but no one is ever forced to attend or pressured to convert. While Depaul USA is Catholic, Sister Elizabeth explained that it’s not about pushing the faith, but rather doing this ministry “because we’re Catholic.”

“I didn’t expect God to send me to work in a homeless shelter, but it just kind of happened,” Callahan said, with Hoffmann adding, “It makes us humble also that these people are willing to let us into their lives.”

It’s that trust and respect that makes people like James McEntre, 43, come back.

“I’m manic depressive, bipolar state and they keep me happy. Sister is awesome; she gives you a hug as soon as she sees you,” he said, adding if you’re there for the right reasons, “miracles are going to happen.”

Just since February, Jericho Way has placed 15 clients into permanent housing. Tim Williams, 47, who volunteers in the kitchen, is proud to be on that list.

“I walked from North Little Rock to over here,” he said this past January. “I’ve been to a lot of homeless shelters, day centers and everything, but here I feel comfortable. I can really talk to people who have been experiencing the same thing I have been experiencing.”

Isaac Wade, 52, began as a client and then volunteer, but was quickly sought out by Sister Elizabeth for his “capability and charisma” to take over the full-time paid position as a custodian for Jericho Way.

It’s a position he’s excelled at for almost a year now, even traveling to Philadelphia to complete a Vincentian values course offered to Depaul USA staff members.

Wade now has a home, a girlfriend, a vehicle and even an iPhone for his work. It’s a far cry from his past. 

“I had a cocaine addiction. That’s what kept me homeless. It was just another tool the devil used. The devil has a lot of tools; it doesn’t make me feel like I’m not as good as the next person,” Wade said. “I slept up under the bridge for two years … I did everything a homeless person could ever do and some more. I’m still here by the grace of God. I ain’t mad about it. I feel like it’s just an experience for me. I know what it’s like to be homeless, to sleep outside in the cold, to deal with the mosquitoes, to eat out of the trash. I know what it’s like.”

The hard work that Wade put into turning his life around is “beautiful, makes me want to cry,” Sister Elizabeth said.

Sister Elizabeth has told fellow Catholics, especially in this Year of Mercy, that Jericho Way is not a place to just give mercy, but a place to receive it.

“You need to ask of them for mercy and forgiveness for the ways that we’ve created systems that oppress them,” Sister Elizabeth said. “It’s not about me feeding you. It’s about Jesus has fed me in his body and blood, and I take that out to feed others so they don’t just get the food they eat but they also get food for their soul. If I can’t do both, it doesn’t work.”

For volunteer opportunities or to find out what donations are needed, contact Calandra Davis at (501) 297-0991 or calandra.davis@depaulusa.org or Sister Elizabeth at (501) 297-8904.

In the time it takes to read this article, children will die from sickness related to unsafe drinking water. According to Rotary Water Projects in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., chapter, 80 percent of illness in the world is traced to unsafe water and it claims the lives of children every eight seconds.

Thanks to Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock in partnership with the Rotary Club of Little Rock (Club 99), students in the Homa Bay area schools in Kenya will not become a statistic.

In December, parishioners raised $6,500 to purchase water filtration systems called Lifestraw Community and on March 8, Club 99 made it an even $10,000 with an additional $3,500 donation.

“I think we just take (clean water) for granted; we never think about turning on the facet and water coming out,” said pastor Father Erik Pohlmeier.

While clean water is often hard to find in rural parts of the world, with Rotary explaining many on average have to travel miles for it, it has most recently come to widespread attention in the United States in Flint, Mich., where residents are still struggling with lead-tainted water. (See sidebar at arkansas-catholic.org)

“The problem in Flint is raising people’s alarms a little bit,” Father Pohlmeier said. “It raises the awareness that not everybody just has (clean water).”

When the Year of Mercy kicked off in November, Holy Souls came up with a monthly plan to live out the 14 corporal works of mercy for the year. In December, the focus was both “welcoming the stranger and giving drink to the thirsty,” Father Pohlmeier said. An online search of water purification efforts and clean water projects led him to the Rotary Club.

For the past eight years, the Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale has donated $1 million, saving the lives of more than 800,000 students in Africa through safe drinking water. The club buys the filter systems, which cost approximately $298 each, through Replenish, a ministry-based nonprofit in Arlington, Texas. The nonprofit then contacts LifeStraw in Africa, which distributes the LifeStraw systems and provides education on maintenance for the locals. Club 99, with the help of parishioner and Rotary Club member Hank Kelley, helped make that connection with the Fort Lauderdale chapter.

“The larger ones provide clean water to people for three years,” Father Pohlmeier said. “We bought one so we can use as a visual for the month of December,” displayed in the parish. Money was collected in the water filter for the month, which had photos displayed of the filter being used in Africa.

“You take the top off and it’s a pretty good collection plate,” Kelley said. “Every Sunday people would put more money and more checks in.”

The parish filter was raffled off at a parish event, Father Pohlmeier said.

Barbara Lamb, co-founder of Replenish, said in a news release that the $10,000 donation will provide clean water for up to 10 schools in the Homa Bay area. The money will go toward more than 30 filters.

“They’ve offered to document the real life setting of where (the filters) go and get that feedback to us,” with photos and information about the schools, Kelley said.

Though it was merely a month-long effort for the parish, the impact will stretch well into the future.

Each system purifies 50 liters of water for about 60 to 70 students for three years. After three years, $75 filters are bought every three years to continue extending the life of the system. The dirty water is poured into the top of the unit, leaving about 25 liters of dirty water on the top and 25 liters of clean, filtered water on the bottom. Children can gather around the four spigots to fill their cups.

Having it available for students at a school is “practical,” Kelley said, serving children first, but also adults.

“It’s easier to have a (water) resource where people gather,” Kelley said.

Martin Brody, founder of the Rotary Water Project, said he does not know when the filters will arrive in Kenya, but when they are set up in the schools, it will be life-saving, as many now have to seek out lakes and rivers that are unclean.

“They die,” Brody said without clean water, without water filters. “(Children) die every minute due to the lack of clean drinking water.”

Some of Jesus’ final words to his disciples help form the foundation of our corporal works of mercy — including “[I was] ill and you cared for me” (Matthew 25:36).

But let us also recall Jesus’ words much earlier, in his commissioning of the disciples (Matthew 10:7-8): “Cure the sick. … Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

Though “caring for the sick” is not the same as “curing the sick,” there is certainly healing when we are sick and tended to by caring people who we may or may not know, but who are truly interested in our well-being. And they aren’t the least bit interested in being paid back.

My late mother was a registered nurse, an excellent nurse by all accounts. That was her profession, but it was also her gift that she continued to share long after she stopped working professionally.

In her retirement community, she continued her nursing career unofficially, checking in on those she knew were sick or elderly and in need of attention.

While she didn’t administer medication, the time she spent with these folks no doubt brought them a measure of comfort and, I am sure, healing — physically, spiritually and emotionally.

For who among us wishes to be lonely, however healthy we are in body? And if we aren’t healthy physically, how much worse do we feel if no one — other than, maybe, our doctor — ever does anything for us?

We would expect to receive loving care, of course, from our families and those we know. But how many of us model the good Samaritan, who, in Luke 10:29-37, lovingly tended to an injured stranger on the road, without regard to cost or kinship?

In this story, Jesus not only makes a Samaritan — an outcast in Jewish society — the hero, he casts a priest as one of the villains for not tending to the injured man’s needs.

This is a device Jesus uses regularly, to let us know that we cannot be bound by societal customs or mores when it comes to serving (and loving) one another — if, that is, we wish to be his disciples.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 2447) states that one of the corporal works of mercy is “sheltering the homeless.” The Gospel of Matthew, from where the works of mercy are taken, says that those who are “blessed by my Father” are those who welcome the stranger.

While the wording here is somewhat different, the meaning is clear: Believers are called to provide shelter for those in need, especially those who are refugees.

Judaism identifies strongly with caring for those fleeing from their homeland. Abraham, the great patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, was himself a refugee, having fled to Egypt to escape famine, guided there by God “to go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

Later, in Genesis 23 Abraham is an invited guest in Canaan, and Jacob and his family are refugees in Genesis 46. Deuteronomy 26:5 says that when the Hebrews reach the Promised Land they are to identify themselves this way:

“Then you shall declare in the presence of the Lord, your God, ‘My father was a refugee Aramean who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as a resident alien.’”

Numerous passages lay out how visitors are to be treated, including Leviticus 25:35 (“When one of your kindred is reduced to poverty and becomes indebted to you, you shall support that person like a resident alien; let your kindred live with you”) and Exodus 22:20 (“You shall not oppress or afflict a resident alien, for you were once aliens residing in the land of Egypt”).

Isaiah 58:7 declares that the fast God requires is “bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house.”

Leviticus 19:33-34 puts it quite strongly: “When an alien resides with you in your land, do not mistreat such a one. You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I, the Lord, am your God.”

Clearly, Jesus’ teaching about welcoming the stranger comes from this understanding.

This teaching of Jesus also emphasizes the importance of providing hospitality to the stranger, as expressed in Hebrews 13:1-2, which connects the importance of hospitality to an experience of the divine: “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels,” a reference to Genesis 18.

If we are to shelter the homeless and welcome the stranger then we must act: Good intentions are not enough.

As James 2:14 puts it, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?” As 1 John 3:18 says, “let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.”

Shelter the homeless and welcome the stranger. That is what Jesus would do.