The Church of the Palms used the following litany, written by Rev. Max Klinkenborg, at the dedication of the “Homeless Jesus” sculpture on Saturday, November 18, 2023.
Jesus said, ”I’m telling the solemn truth; whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me – you did it unto me.” Matthew 25:40
Leader: Once I saw a man eating from a buffet of leftovers in a dumpster.
All: That was me!
Leader: Once I smelled the urine soaked clothes of an old women wearing two coats on a city bus.
All: That was me!
Leader: Once I saw a frozen body covered in snow with no coat, hat, shoes or gloves.
All: That was me!
Leader: Once I saw a man fall to the street; his shoes were stolen before he could get up.
All: That was me!
Leader: Once I heard the screams of a man set on fire in a dumpster for stealing drugs.
All: That was Me!
Leader: Once I felt the despair of a man turned away on a cold night from an overcrowded shelter.
All: That was Me.
Leader: Once I saw a woman on a bike pulling two carriers filled with her earthly possession.
All: That was Me.
Leader: Once I heard a person arguing with themself at full volume as they pushed a grocery cart.
All: That was Me.
Leader: Once I gagged at an infected blister under a blood soaked sock on the sole of a woman’s foot.
All: That was Me!
Leader: Once I wept as I saw a boy and his sister eating ketchup on crackers, alone in a restaurant.
All: That was me!
Leader: Once I saw three adults, four children and a dog sleeping in a minivan.
All: That was Me!
Leader: Once I heard a shivering man in a wheel chair, stuck in snow, calling to no avail for help.
All: That was Me!
Leader: Once I saw a man asleep on a park bench covered by newspaper.
All: That was Me!
Leader: Once I smelled burning flesh when a woman fell on a steel grate in August and no one helped her get up.
All: That was Me!
Leader: Once I sent Christmas cards to a woman’s prison; a woman thanked me later for her only card or gift.
All: That was Me!
Leader: Once I heard a bone-rattling cough from a pile of rags holding a blood soaked rag to her mouth.
All: That was Me!