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Good Morning.  
I first met Maura Clarke, a Catholic missionary sister from New York, in Nicaragua. It was soon after the earthquake which hit the country in 1972, killing thousands of people.  She was living in a poor shantytown called Open Tres, in an area that had been cotton fields. People had built shacks of wood, cardboard and corrugated iron and everything was covered in dust. Maura and her colleague lived in a simple wooden dwelling which was also a clinic. Inside, everything - table, chairs, beds, shelves, medicines -  was covered in plastic sheeting because of the dust. 
I remember thinking with embarrassment I would not be able to bear living here for long. But Maura was a generous, gentle presence, always trusting that with God’s help she could do what was needed for the vulnerable people she chose to live alongside and serve. She worked tirelessly with those whose lives were diminished by poverty as they rebuilt their homes.    In 1980 Maura moved to neighbouring El Salvador, then on the verge of civil war.  Her work took her to rural areas where, she would search out the missing, pray with prisoners’ families, bury the dead, and comfort the bereaved.  Her days were filled with fearful danger, but Maura was confident that her faith would give her the strength to face whatever would come. 
Early in December 1980, Maura, along with three other women, was raped and murdered by government soldiers who saw her work with displaced people as subversive.
We may not be asked to discover what our faith means in such a situation; but – if we look for it – the opportunity to serve those in the dust and dirt of poverty is around us even here.
Lord, help us to see the poverty around us; open our hearts to respond. Amen.