Whose soul will I meet?

So here's the thing and I'll go ahead and put it out there before I start into this...what I'm about to write will probably make me seem very selfish and self-serving. I'm not even sure that's inaccurate. I often joke about my "it's all about me" attitude. I'm acutely aware of my faults, sometimes perhaps too much so.

With that said, I've never really been into the whole "saving the world" concept. I have always thought that there is so much need here, in our own backyards, that it is hard for me to expand my thoughts outside of the USA. I'm sort of narrow-minded in that way. I haven't traveled overseas a lot so my perspective pretty much ends with the poverty and struggles that I see in the families that I work with each and every day. Don't get me wrong. I recognize that the need is far greater in many underdeveloped countries than even the poorest places in America. But my willingness to help people outside of an arm's length has been little to none.

So it brings me to church this morning when a visiting Priest from the Order of Friar Servants of Mary gave the sermon. One point that he made really stuck with me. He made no attempt to hide his purpose in visiting our massive church. Begging. He was there to ask for prayers, support, and financial donations for his Order as they travel to Africa for missionary work. He described what all they will be doing in Africa: "provide primary health care centers for AIDS victims, assistance with adequate housing, as well as to support an improved water system and aid in the elimination of malaria" as quoted in last week's church bulletin.

While he was an excellent speaker, I didn't find myself too awful engaged until he made this point. As I've been doing lately, I whipped the notebook out of my purse to start taking some scribbled notes to blog about later.

Paraphrased: Some of you might be sitting out there today wondering why you should help and pray for others whom you will likely never meet. It's true. You will probably never know any of the people that benefit from your donations today. You will not know them. In this life. But in the next life [as a soul in heaven], when a soul comes up to you and extends a hand in the name of the Lord, you will know them.

Now, to some, that might not seem like anything earth shattering, but somehow it put it in a different perspective for me. We are all God's people. I know this, but I think I often forget the vastness of our family. Whose soul will I meet in heaven and what impact will I have had on him/her?

He went on to say that God remembers every single act of your love, prayer, and kindness in His name, both public and private. A wonderful thought to carry me through this week.