Homeless

Updated: Oct 11

Prayers

A Prayer for the homeless in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Good and Gracious God,

We turn to you Father, Son and Holy Spirit to ask for your help for the homeless of Albuquerque. There have been some tragic incidents happening there that need your intersession. The interview of the people that have been homeless leads us to hear that thousands of homeless people have lost personal property, according to interviews with community advocates, service providers and those who have had their possessions discarded.

We know Lord that you will comfort these people and assist them in regaining some dignity as they go about their daily lives. Some said their belongings had been taken by city crews multiple times. They described losing medication, birth certificates, dentification cards, cellphones, chargers, carpentry tools, clothing, a car title, a dog kennel, treasured family photos and the ashes of loved ones. Nearly all of them said the city had thrown away their survival gear, such as blankets, sleeping bags and tents, even during cold weather and snowstorms. Lord, we all rely on these material things to move us toward our heavenly home with a bit of comfort and of course the challenge of being one with you in suffering.

Holy Spirit please guide these people on the path that will assist them in their plight. Alexandra Paisan spoke and said: “It’s the equivalent of having your house burned down multiple times a year — just over and over again, you’re losing everything and starting from scratch each time,” said Alexandra, the coordinated entry director at the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, which assists communities with solutions to homelessness. “I don’t think people always see it that way, which is unfortunate because if I went home to find just an empty lot and my house was completely burned down ... that’s devastating.” Lord, please help them find peace in their devastation and help others to assist them in obtaining what they need. We ask you this plea through Christ our Lord. Amen

by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism

A Prayer for Homeless Children

Lord, please bless them and meet their needs. Bless the little ones and babies who must be so uncomfortable and scared. Let their eyes see the angels that You send for their protection, that we as adults, cannot see. Give them this comfort, Father.

by Brother Henry

A Prayer for the Homeless

Dear God, now that I am aware that some of the most vulnerable among us, the forgotten, the outcast, those with few resources to safely isolate during this crisis have probably died anonymously, unknown, uncared for - what can I do, Dear God, what can I do to Help just one person OFF THE STREETS One Person At A Time? by Deacon Mike Oles

A Prayer for the Homeless

Lord, everyone who comes into the world breathes with the breath of your Spirit. Without you, we collapse into nothingness. That makes us all brothers and sisters. We cannot hope to know all of your children, but some of your children we avoid getting to know on purpose. We avert our eyes when we see a sister or brother sitting on a milk carton outside of a store, picking through a trash container, slumbering under a viaduct, in line for a free meal, holding a sign in the middle of a busy intersection, draped over a bench, or just walking with well-worn clothes. These brothers and sisters live with few resources and little security, and so are most vulnerable when disease sweeps through our world. Lord, this pandemic knows no favorites. We are all exposed; but some who die from COVID-19 die with great attention and ceremony; others just disappear. Lord, we pray for all the homeless people who have died of COVID-19. Grant them eternal rest. Even if we don’t know them, you know them

by Father Joseph Chamblain, O.S.M.

A Prayer to Remember the Homeless...

O God, you are the Source of our protection, shelter, faith, love and eternal life. You are the Creator of all that is good, beautiful and everlasting in your holiness.

We pray for the lives of all our homeless brothers, sisters and all children of God, living and deceased. We especially pray for those homeless friends, who have died because of abuse and violence. May they now know God's peacemaking and eternal healing. Please, O God strengthen all with the power of the Holy Spirit to guide others for proper protection, shelter and health care. Yes, Lord we know that All Life Matters in your eyes, your love and gentleness. Send helpers to bolster our homeless friends away from evil and danger towards safety. May they find, you O God in those peaceful helping hands towards security and blessing, now and forever.

We ask this prayer in the name of the Almighty Father, Jesus, our Lord and Savior and their Holy Spirit, Amen and Amen. by Father Christopher Krymski, O.S.M.

Prayer for the homeless who died from Covid-19

In this moment of sorrow the Lord is in our midst and comforts us with his word: Blessed are the sorrowful; they shall be consoled.

Almighty and eternal God, hear our prayers for your child whom you have called from this life to yourself due to Covid-19. Grant him / her light, happiness, and peace. Let him / her pass in safety through the gates of death, and live for ever with all your saints in the light you promised to Abraham and to all his descendants in faith. Guard him / her from all harm and on that great day of resurrection and reward raise him / her up with all your saints. Pardon his / her sins and give him / her eternal life in your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. by Father Anthony Coloma

Homeless Interviews

Book Reviews and Commentaries

Shelter Theology by Susan Dunlap Reviewed by Yonat Shimron Religion News Service
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in The American City by Matthew Desmond. Reviewed by Father John A Coleman, SJ Box
'Street Homelessness and Catholic Theological Ethics' Edited by Fr James Keenan SJ and Mark McGreevy Commentary by Independent Catholic News