The rich man had everything he wanted in this world. Every meal had rich foods in abundance. Every material need was met. Yet, spiritually, where was he? Did he hear the cry of the poor? Did he those who were suffering in his midst? He passed by poor Lazarus each day, but the pain and struggles that Lazarus was going through were something he never even noticed.
Frederic Ozanam was a young student at the University of Paris in the early years of the 19th century. Even though he questioned his own Catholic faith, he found himself being a defender of the faith agains the atheists and agnostics he met in post-revolutionary Paris. After a formal debate in which Ozanam defended Christianity’s role in civilization, one club member ask him what he was doing to live out his faith and to make society a better place for the needy and the poor. Ozanam was struck by that question and decided to turn to action. He and a friend started visiting the poor in tenement buildings in Paris, offering them assistance as best they could. Those first visits inspired the founding a group of Christians who would journey in faith together in order to provide help to the poor and the needy under the patronage of St Vincent de Paul, the 17th century French priest whose compassion and generosity to the poor was legendary. Frederic Ozanam could have been like the rich man in the Gospel today, ignoring the poor and the needy in his midst. But, instead, today, Ozanam vision of helping the poor with the Society of St Vincent de Paul continues to help many in need. Like Ozanam, are we willing to hear the cry of the poor?
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