The Price is Right

Lately in Chicago we've been having a real bonanza of freebies: a few weeks ago, Hillshire Farms was handing out plastic boxes of their "salads" (just add lettuce!). And this week, Oscar Mayer (not to be outdone) sent truckloads of their sandwich melt kits into the streets of Chicago, to be handed out by an army of smiling young people. I wondered where the street people were, but found them at their usual posts on different streets. I had expected to get some of the Oscar Mayer largesse on my way to Mass so would have a treat for the "regulars" on my route, but was not to be. Sadly, on my way back, I did see two shabbily-dressed men on a corner with a case of the sandwiches, and a police officer writing something up. I prayed that he would let them keep the sandwiches, even if they had run off with the box. It's not exactly shoplifting, after all, to take something that is being given a way for free.(When Hillshire Farms was in town, lots of the street people had a little box in their hand, probably given to them by the direct beneficiaries of the company's marketing strategy.)
Tomorrow is Good Shepherd Sunday, the World Day of Prayer for Vocatios. It is also First Communion Day for lots of kids, including one remarkably precious girl named Claudia. (Wish I could be there in Texas with you all!) Let's pray for an abundance of grace to be poured out over the Church as a sign of Jesus' delight in these children!