A Message from Allison Oblen 3/14/2026
Dear Friends,
On the campus of my alma mater, Franciscan University of Steubenville, there is a statue that students pass every day. It depicts a beggar, cloaked and bent over, head down, one hand stretched out as if asking for help. But if you look more closely, you notice something striking: in the palm of his outstretched hand are the wounds of Christ. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40) Jesus is not merely asking us to notice the poor and the homeless; He is inviting us to love them as we would love Him. This week at St. Peter’s, we are reflecting more deeply on one of Christ’s Works of Mercy: Give Shelter to the Homeless.
“Christ the Beggar” statue
While in college, I served on the homeless ministry core team. Each week we cooked meals and brought them into downtown Pittsburgh. One memorable night, a pot of chili exploded in my trunk on the way there, an inconvenience at the time, but one I laugh about now. What stayed with me far more deeply, though, was the philosophy of the ministry: we didn’t “feed the homeless,” we ate with them. In those shared meals, I formed some of the most profound relationships of my life. The people we served quickly became friends, friends who reminded me, simply by their presence, that a paper due at 8 a.m., a stressful exam week, or drama with a roommate was not the hardest thing a person could face. Those friendships extended beyond our Thursday nights in Market Square and changed how I understood suffering and God’s love.
There is a story told of Mother Teresa: while caring for the dying in Calcutta, she tended a man who resented her help. He spat at her, rejected her kindness, and insisted he did not believe in God or in human goodness. Day after day, she continued to care for him, washing him, feeding him, and clothing him, so that he might have dignity in his final days. Only at the very end of his life, frightened and weak, did he finally lean into her arms and ask, “Please… is your God like you?”
This Lent, as we reflect on the Works of Mercy, let us learn to see Christ in the wounded hands of those around us. May our hearts be softened to recognize Him in the least among us, and may our actions answer the question He places before the world: Is your God like you?
In Christ,
Allison Oblen
Allison Oblen, Director of Faith Formation