My Dearest Friends,

One of the ethical delimmas many American face is how best to spend money. We want our money to be used for the building of the Kingdom, but how is that accomplished? Through tithes and offerings at the local church? Secular nonprofits? Foreign missions? Voting for political figures who promise to provide more social programs for the weak and vulnerable?

It breaks my heart when I see people prostrate on the streets, not in prayer and supplication, but in drunken and drug-induced stupors. What may have started as an innocent little joke or positive question about drugs on the OT led to a poor teenagers' curiosity to try a marijuana cigar laced with heroin. A few months later, his life is broken: he's homeless, friendless, destitute, beaten. The least of his short term worries is the Hepatitis C he now has.

What do we do with such people? As an individual, I am faced with a decision: do I ignore this person, formed by God's own hands in God's own image, and continue walking? Do I offer him financial assistance, knowing that what I give him may only allow him to further debase and destroy himself? Do I sit, talk, and pray with him?

St. John Chrysostom wrote, "The poor are the physicians of our souls, our benefactors, our protectors. You give them less than you receive from them; you give them alms and you receive the Kingdom of Heaven; you save them from poverty and you are reconciled to the Lord. See how unequal is the exchanges. The goods that you give you give pass away, the others remain; the former perishes, the latter is indestructible."

These poorest of the poor, the lost and addicted, need our help and perhaps we need their help, as we shackle ourselves with material wealth and stuff. One of the best charities I know in New Orleans has been Ozanam Inn. Our youth group used to volunteer here somewhat regularly and it was always with great benefit to me. It came as a surprise when the building on Camp St, owned by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, recently was sold. Although Ozanam Inn officials have said a new facility will soon be announced, I fear for the Inn's future. Over the years, the Inn has housed over a million people and changed countless lives.

One of the best weekends of the year to walk through New Orleans is Bayou Classic weekend. The fans are some of the friendliest you'll meet. Tailgaters are generous to strangers with their foods. The regular tourists are low in number and the streets remarkably quiet as certain Orleanians, Metairites, Kennerarians, and Mandevillians seem frightened to partake in the festivities. The weather, for most years, is brilliant. There isn't a year I can recall when I wasn't downtown for this weekend. My tradition continued this year.

This weekend, I ran across a certain individual near Ozanam Inn who clearly had made some poor choices and didn't have a loving family to support him through that rough time. While he admitted to illegal drug use and excessive alcohol consumption, he was a friendly and seemingly honest person. After talking for a few minutes, I asked him, "Have you ever seen the lights at the Roosevelt, or perhaps you know it as the Fairmont?" He looked confused by my question, and I took it that he hadn't. "We mustn't delay. You must come see!" I then said.

It isn't a far walk between those two local landmarks, but the wind was ferocious yesterday! I nearly blew over as I walked past One Shell Square. As we approcahed, I was nearly in a sprint, like a kid's first visit to Disney, running of the monorail to the front gates. To share in this special Christmas display with someone bereft of beauty whose eyes have never feasted its splendor! Why again, it was I believe as much a treat for me as for him. Perhaps his viewing of this visual treat might make some difference. I gave him a tour of the hotel's lobby while describing many of Christams's traditions and the meanings behind the decorations. He seemed enraptured. My prayer, for him as well as for you, is that by setting your gaze and focus on the good and the beautiful, even small Christmas decorations, you might see the world as beautiful. You fit into this world's design, as you are a creature of beauty and love, destined to bring goodness and add beauty to it. My prayer is for you to find the beauty in your life this day. Share it, for by sharing, beauty increases.

TulaneLSU's Top 10 Christmas Decorations at The Roosevelt Hotel:

10.

1. The sum is greater than its parts. This bounteous and beauteous world awaits you today!