Thoughts Before Christmas

I'm sitting between St. Nicholas Day (honoring one who gave anonymously) and the Feast of St. Ambrose (who converted St. Augustine), and I'm reaching out to ask friends for help. Some of you may know that my husband was laid off this fall. I am still hoping to write a Christmas message that tells about the miracle of Captain finding a new path of employment, but that hasn't happened yet. I am confident that God is trying to lead us to a better place. Meanwhile, we are extra thankful for all the good things we DO have, and to ask for your prayers for next year.
But this has also caused me to wonder more frequently about the poor. Ever since the election of Pope Francis, my thoughts have returned to his friend's last-minute, whispered plea: "Don't forget the poor." Already the Pope has shown us his modest lifestyle, and now his words of Evangelii Gaudium call us "to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others."
I know you already give to important and worthwhile causes and are careful with your money (especially in the midst of holiday shopping for your children and relatives). But if my request is taken to heart by half of the people that I send it to, then the Holy Spirit will have done its work effectively. Please consider making an anonymous donation to a man named Jorge, who is on the verge of homelessness right here in the Midwest.
I do not know Jorge personally, but I found out about him on a Catholic News site back in the late summer. He is unemployed and trying to raise his daughter alone. He is attending college on the GI Bill and receiving food stamps. He and his daughter will not starve to death, but he needs money for rent and utilities. He doesn't know where else to turn, so I'm turning to you.
It is easy to donate through PayPal to his account.
I hope you will help alleviate his fears and make a small sacrifice to help him get through the holidays. It is through God's initiative that I write to you. As Pope Francis recently wrote: "This mission demands great generosity on our part, it would be wrong to see it as a heroic individual undertaking, for it is first and foremost the Lord's work, surpassing anything which we can see and understand."
You can read more about Jorge and his situation on his own blog. Or simply join me and send a few bucks this Christmas as a present to AnnaMarie and Jorge.