During World War II many people in the US lacked the basics of life – food and shelter – just as many do today. On a particular rainy winter’s day in South Louisiana in 1944, I spotted a man crossing our neighbour’s garden. He was dishevelled, and he approached our back door holding something in his hands. I ran to tell my grandmother, who was in the kitchen cooking. As she opened the door, we saw that he was holding a large piece of meat. He looked up at us with an expression of desperation I’ll never forget and said, ‘Lady, would you cook this meat for me?’

  

My grandmother said, ‘Come in out of the cold, and I will do that for you.’ As I watched, she prepared the meat, added other food from the family dinner she was cooking, and served the stranger at our kitchen table. While he hungrily ate the hot food, we hung his wet coat in front of our little gas fire to dry. Soon he was on his way. If we are alert to the needs of others, each of us can prepare to respond to the stranger at the door as if that stranger were  Jesus.

Prayer: Dear God, give us the compassion to open our eyes, our hearts and our doors to others. Amen