writing: he that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none.

“He That Hath Two Coats, Let Him Give to Him That Hath None” – Catholic Stand (March 2025)

“And he answering, said to them: He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner” (Luke 3:11, RHE).

What a beautiful thing it is to serve God’s poor. How beautiful their faces are. How happy I am to see the Heart of God.

I am a convert and grew up in the world. I did not have any experience serving the poor throughout my childhood. Once I was 18 years old, I was not yet Christian, but I was interested in joining different volunteer opportunities. Something about it made me feel fulfilled. I had a good enough life on paper: educated, on my way to getting a good job. But it was when I started to volunteer that I started to be proud of who I was becoming. I felt fulfilled. I felt like a valuable member of society. I felt kind-hearted. I felt moral. I liked to join many different volunteer opportunities and I was in the stage of trying to figure out which one I liked best. I liked to help improve the nutrition of struggling children, I liked to pack food boxes for the poor, I liked to deliver packed meals to the poor, I liked to serve in soup kitchens, I liked to hand out bagged groceries, I liked to serve inner city children with educational and art activities, I liked to play sports with children. And I enjoyed some other volunteer opportunities as well. 

Without yet being a Christian and completely not knowing God yet, I simply could say that I like how I felt when I volunteered. I loved making people happy and seeing their faces when I serve them. I love engaging with the poor and being helpful to them. And I loved feeling as though I had some virtuous qualities about me. 

Once I became a Christian, I joined a few different serving opportunities. I wanted to try different options to see where I fit best. I joined their prayer group, where we met weekly to pray and we would also pray for people after the services. I really loved this. Something about it called to me and I threw myself into the prayer team. In addition, the church also had a big heart for the poor and would regularly partake in volunteer ministries. It was something that caught my eye and I felt a yearning to serve the poor, so I started to volunteer. I volunteered in many different types of opportunities, including giving food to the poor in soup kitchens, delivering packaged food to their doors, and serving poor children in the inner city. I had decided that my favorite was serving in the soup kitchens, both preparing the meals and also giving the food by hand to the poor. I did not just want to stay in the kitchen. But I wanted to do both. I wanted to be hands on and to give the plates to the poor myself and see their faces. I wanted to talk to them and serve them. I wanted to hear their needs and help them. It was such a joy to me. 

Serving the poor really changed me. Something about it was so heartbreaking. It broke my heart in the best possible way. It gave me a happiness I did not know beforehand. I was able to see these people in need and help serve them. I helped fulfill their needs. And they were always so thankful. And the atmosphere is a very happy one, with worship music on in the backround and very happy and smiling faces serving and giving them food. I cannot explain what happened to my heart, but I simply know that I was then lost to the world. All I wanted was to serve the poor. I did not know God fully yet, but I just was so happy to serve the poor. Since I had not had many or any encounters with God yet at this point, it was the closest thing I could get: serving His poor. I did not even know that that is what I was trying to do: to get closer to God. It was unexplainable. All I wanted was to serve the poor. I loved seeing the faces of the poor. And I loved how it made me feel. I felt accomplished finally in my life. Like I had finally made it in life. Yes, my education was an accomplishment and I had the perfect job for me. I had everything. But when I served the poor, I knew I had finally found what I was looking for. 

Once I became a Christian, I really calmed down and I found that I was not a fit for the city I was living in anymore. It was so fast-placed, constantly running, constantly going, fast-talking, always doing something. And I had all of a sudden calmed down severely and only wanted to serve God. I became very focused. Beforehand, I wanted everything that city had to offer: this and that restaurant, this and that site to see, this and that trip, this and that place to visit. It was all so exciting to me, to explore the city. But once I became a Christian, I no longer wanted any of that. I just wanted God. And I knew that if I stayed in that city… I had a very deep sense… that if I stayed in that city, I would not be a strong Christian and I could possibly fall away. I knew I had to move.

I moved to the west coast. I have some family there. It felt right. I became part of a megachurch and again took part in many different ministries. The megachurch was famous and it was so exciting to me and I wanted to be part of every single ministry they had, in order to see which one I liked best. I was part of their prayer team, and again I really felt at home in this. I also took part in their ministries to the poor. They had many ministries to the poor. They served food to the poor in their soup-kitchen. They threw big events for the poor. They would have events of outdoor ministry to the poor. It was very exciting. I tried all of them, along with other volunteer opportunities as well. My favorite ministry was to pray. I really enjoyed it and I yearned to go deeper into prayer. I was on their prayer team. I wanted to know God on a deeper level. I also had a big heart for missionary work. I really thought I was in a time of praying deeply in order to prepare me for going to the mission field. I wanted to go to some country in Africa and serve the poorest children of the world. I wanted to help very poor and underserved children. My heart hurts just thinking about them.

I do not know what happened. In a way, it feels like I am missing something. I was in that megachurch’s ministry school and I really loved it. And I had attended their missionary-extension program, to learn how to be a missionary. I remember raising funds for going to a missionary program in a country in Africa. I was so excited. For some reason, I started to suffer from symptoms of unexplainable illness. I was not able to raise the funds for the trip. I had already been in a lifestyle of prayer at that time, and I chose to go deeper into prayer. 

I threw myself into God. I threw myself into prayer. All I wanted was God. And for me, the easiest way to find Him and to spend time with Him was to pray. And my desire to be a missionary was kind of torn from me. So all I had left was prayer. And it is really all I desired. Even when I was planning to be a missionary, I wanted to spend half my day in prayer and the rest of it serving the poor. I always planned to have most of my day in prayer, regardless of what route I took. I was not planning on being completely in a lifestyle of only prayer, but I fell into it by not becoming a missionary. And also, I really could not pull myself away from prayer and nor could anyone I know. All I wanted was to spend more time with God. I was addicted. In love. All I wanted was more of God. I did not know what would happen to my life in the future or what I would do for a living, but I knew that all I wanted to do was pray. And that was enough for me. I was not the type anymore to make all of these plans and I was okay with living in the moment, one step at a time, with no destination that I need to get to. I was happy to just sit in prayer.

I was suffering from unexplainable illness. And I decided to go back to the city I was previously living in (because I had no idea where else to go and I had grown up nearby that city). When I got to the city, I realized I was out of place. I had already giving almost all my clothing and belonging to the poor and I came to the city with my only remaining posessions in life. I think I had two suitcases. In that city, I really was confused on why I was there and all that kept me going was praying every day. All I did was spend my life in prayer. All I did was seek God and spend time with God. I went to pray in churches every day, as I enjoyed the peace that came with sitting in a church. During my commute to and from churches, I would buy a few bananas at a time or other small items and give one to each homeless person I saw on the way, giving them an encouraging word or praying for them. Serving the poor simply became part of my life. During this time, I was confused and did not know where to go. I was not in the place to join a ministry team for volunteering. I simply wanted to pray and that I did. And I served the poor in my own way through serving the homeless I saw on the streets of that city. 

I loved those homeless people. Today, when I think about the poor, I think about those homeless people. The homeless on the streets of that city. They are poor. They sit outside for hours and beg. They struggle a lot. And when you give them something or an encouraging word, most of them are really nice and thankful. God protects those who serve the poor.

When I starting attending a Catholic Church and preparing to enter the Church, I continued to serve the poor as part of my lifestyle. I had given away all my remaining belongings. I had given away those last two suitcases. I simply kept one or two outfits for me, to alternate between the two when one is washing. And I had one pair of inexpensive sneakers. And a hiking backpack. Whatever other few belongings I kept in there. And that was it. I had happily and proudly narrowed everything down to a backpack. I was living my dream. As part of my life, I continued to serve the poor in my daily life. I had already given away my things, so I had nothing else to offer them. I had made myself poor. If I got anything that was worth anything, I would get really excited and give it to the Church for them to give to the poor. Or if I found a poor person in that small town I was in, I tried to serve them in whatever little ways I could. 

Today, I do not have much physical interaction with the poor anymore. I do not live in an area where it is very easy to serve the poor in my daily life. I continue to live poorly for God and continue to give away small items to the Church to give away to the poor. What used to be more hands on has now turned more into a life of prayer. I serve the poor still through prayer. I pray for the salvation of all the poor. I do not know what direction my life will take yet or what I will be “doing for a living”. But for now, while I still can, I pray for the poor. Only God knows where my life will go and what I will be doing. 

Serving the poor is not just for the select few to do. It is not just for priests or religious or church staff. It is for everyone to do. Every single person, every single layperson, can serve the poor. Everyone can stop for that homeless person in the street and give them food or clothing or prayers or encouragement. Everyone can offer someone who is underserved a drink of water, a book, a Bible. Anyone can draw or paint or make something creative to give away to someone poor they know. It does not have to be that poor person in Africa, though it can be. It can be the homeless person on the city streets. It can be the homeless in the small town you live in. It can be the poor man or woman in your parish. It could be someone struggling with something in your family. Some friend you know that needs help. The poor are around us. We are the poor. We can look to one another and serve one another. We can give ourselves to God and to one another in any way we can. We can do small acts of serving or we can give our lives to serving the poor. What is important is that we simply serve the poor. That we give ourselves fully to God, regardless of what we are doing for a living. That we live our lives as what we are named: Christians. We, Christians, we, Catholics, must serve the poor. We must live in God.