Friends,
I write to you today with a heavy heart and a clear pastor’s alarm. Last week Brian Kilmeade a host on a Fox News morning show suggested, on national television, that certain people experiencing homelessness, many of whom live with severe mental illness, should be put to death by “involuntary lethal injection.” The remarks went viral, prompted protests and demands for accountability, and were later followed by an apology from the host. This is not a mere lapse of taste; it is a moral line crossed in public, and we Christians should name it clearly. Reuters+1
Feeling isolated in a crowded world? You’re not alone. Discover hope and healing in Loneliness: The Silent Epidemic.
We are called, again and again in Scripture, to the countercultural work of mercy. Jesus says, “I was hungry and you fed me; I was naked and you clothed me; I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” When we act compassionately toward the least among us, we are serving Christ himself. To suggest that the answer to poverty and mental illness is execution is to put Christ on the cross all over again, as a public policy. It is to invert the gospel so radically that our entire tradition of care, shelter, and sanctity of life is mocked. The Guardian
This moment should be a summons to conscience for every Christian. If you are getting your information and your formation from sources that normalize talk of killing the vulnerable, then you are being fed a spiritual poison disguised as news. Our faith does not permit the casual dehumanization of people who have fallen through the cracks of this broken economy and a failed mental health system. Christians should be the loudest voices saying no to that dehumanization, and yes to humane solutions. Axios
There are practical responses we can take, rooted in our theology. First, turn the volume down on voices that traffic in cruelty. Turn off channels, change the feeds, stop giving oxygen to narratives that treat people as disposable. Second, engage your congregation: preach, teach, and organize around feeding programs, shelter expansions, mental health support, and restorative civic policies. Third, support organizations that actually serve people on the margins—shelters, outreach programs, mental health services—and pressure elected officials for humane, evidence-based solutions. The National Alliance to End Homelessness and local service providers already lay out thoughtful pathways that prioritize care over punishment; listen to them and amplify their work. National Alliance to End Homelessness
Finally, a pastoral word of urgency: this moment reveals something deeper about the soul of our public conversation. When a commonplace response to suffering is cruelty rather than compassion, we are witnessing spiritual decay. The gospel asks us to stand with those society most easily forgets, to bear witness to their dignity, and to build policies and neighbors that protect life, not end it. If we claim Christ as Lord, then our politics, our media choices, and our prayers must reflect that claim.
Turn off what teaches you otherwise. Then go feed someone, give them a blanket, make a phone call on their behalf, write to your representative asking for humane funding for homelessness and mental health services, and pray without ceasing. That is where the work truly begins.
With a heavy but hopeful heart,
Fr. Rich
A Prayer for the Homeless
Loving God,
You who had nowhere to lay Your head,
look with mercy upon all who wander without shelter tonight.
Be a roof to those who sleep beneath the open sky,
a companion to those who walk the streets alone,
a comfort to those who feel unseen and unworthy.
Warm the hearts of Your people, Lord,
that we may never grow numb to suffering
or explain away the pain of others as their fault.
Help us to remember that every unhoused person
is Your image—beloved, sacred, and worthy of care.
Give strength to those working for shelter and justice,
and stir our own hearts to action:
to feed, to clothe, to speak up, and to stand alongside
our brothers and sisters who bear the weight of this world.
May every act of compassion
become a brick in the dwelling place of Your love,
until all Your children have a home.
Through Christ our Lord,
Amen.
Further Reflection: The Message From the Margins
If this reflection stirred something in you, The Message From the Margins goes even deeper. It’s a book about what it means to live the Gospel in a world that too often crucifies compassion. From the voices of the poor and forgotten, to the hard truths about how power and privilege distort faith, this book invites you to see Christ where He told us He’d be found: among the hungry, the unhoused, the broken, and the dismissed.
When we lose sight of the margins, we lose sight of the Gospel itself. The Message From the Margins calls us back.
Paid subscribers receive this book instantly, along with five others—each designed to help you live a faith that feeds, clothes, heals, and restores.
Subscribe today and get all six books — reclaim the Gospel of mercy, justice, and love.
