Editor’ s Notes
Can You See Me Now? by Fr. Richard Bayuk, c. pp. s., Editor
Companion Trish Frazer writes in this issue,“ As Companions, St. Gaspar challenges us to include those who are on the fringes of what we call community and to do so with compassion. I often forget that seeing through the lens of Precious Blood Spirituality is omni-directional. I can see the homeless on the street but miss seeing the lonely person in the nursing home. I gather food for the food pantry but don’ t see the child in the children’ s home starving for attention.” Many people and categories of people are invisible because we fail to see them.
This issue arrives during the first week of the new year, as we prepare to celebrate Epiphany, and the Advent-Christmas season is coming to a close. Back in late November, a week before the start of Advent, the gospel reading was from the 25 th chapter of Matthew(“ I was hungry and you gave me food …”), where Jesus directly identifies himself with the poor, the immigrant, the marginalized. If we are looking for Jesus, that is where we will see him. We are called to see the poor and those on the margins through a uniquely Christian and Precious Blood lens. To tolerate the inequities and injustices among the hungry and poor, the displaced and marginalized— to see them and do nothing— is to see Jesus himself and not be moved. Or worse, to not see them at all.
We speak about our call to minister to those on the margins, i. e., the“ marginalized.” This word can be applied to those who are underserved, disregarded, sidelined, ostracized, and unseen. These are the“ invisible” people— including( but not limited to) the homeless, mentally ill, physically limited, runaway teens, ex-offenders, immigrants, refugees, the incarcerated, the unemployed, and even the elderly.
It’ s not always obvious who the invisible people are. For example, we have all had the experience of walking or driving past someone on the sidewalk or at an intersection holding up a sign asking for help. Most of these folks will tell you that they feel invisible much of the time because passersby don’ t even look at them, don’ t“ see” them. But another group we might not immediately think of as invisible are the elderly, and especially the elderly who look to be infirm.
Frank Bruni, in the New York Times this past weekend, described a recent experience of an 82-year-old friend of his. She remembers it as“ when she vanished.” He writes:“ She went shopping for a mattress.… Because the mall was so big and her legs were so weak, she used a wheelchair, which was new to her, and had a friend push her. Their wait for service was continued on page 4
2 • The New Wine Press • January 2018