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When I visited my training parish in London recently I was reminded of a highly significant moment in my formation as a priest. The experience shaped my theology and influences how I operate as a priest. I was accompanying the Rector around his parish when we stopped at the request of a homeless man. Initially the man wanted money but the Rector made clear we had none. Instead he took time to speak to the man and ask him how he was. Before me, the man's eyes changed from being distant and lost to eyes that were bright and alive. In him we saw the face of Christ. The Rector had honoured the humanity of this person and the fact that this man was made in the image and likeness of God. That was the most profound lesson I think I have ever been taught. A priest's job is to be as Christ to the lost and to search out the Christ in all those in need. So too the job of every Christian person.

Another time, the Rector was leaving the church when he noticed the part-time caretaker carrying out the rubbish. There was a homeless person sprawled out beside the bin, looking barely conscious. As the caretaker approached the wheelie bin, he put down the black bag he was carrying, reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and removed a few pound coins. Without having been asked, he walked over to the homeless person and gave him the money, said something, then continued his work. The Rector was amazed and humbled by this extraordinary display of generosity. The part-time caretaker who earned less than anyone else on the staff gave generously without even being asked.

The priest asked the caretaker why he gave the money without even being asked and also pressed him about whether he thought the homeless person might misuse the money for alcohol or drugs. "I always do what I can," the caretaker answered. "I give them a little money and say God bless you, because I figure that even though they may be pretty messed up, they are some mother's son and some father's child, and so I give them something. What they do with the money - well they have to answer to God about that. I just have to answer to God about what I do with mine."

I just have to answer to God about what I do with mine.

Homelessness is one of the most pressing of contemporary social issues and very evident in most cities of Britain and even in our more rural villages.  The great Cardinal Basil Hulme in one of his many homilies noted that without a home or  family surroundings a person lacks something fundamental, deeply affecting.  He states that as Christians we have a duty to look frankly at the social problems around us and to work to do what we can to address the specific needs we find. It is a key aspect of the season of Lent which we are approaching that we should be consciously aware of those in need, of which the homeless are many. Supporting a homeless charity could be a way to exercise a concern for those in need during the season of Lent.

I will have to answer to God about what I do with mine… with my thanks and my gratitude, with my skills and my talents, with my personality and my qualification, with my possessions and my money, with all I have and all I am.

And when I give my answer to God, I have only one wish: I want to see a big broad smile on God's face that is mirrored in the faces of the people I have encountered along life's way.

Jason Phillips