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