These words of Bl. John Paul II in his first encyclical kept echoing in my mind as I watched this video about the work of Dirty Vagabond Ministries in Steubenville, Ohio. When most people hear, "Steubenville," they think of the college, often calling Franciscan University by the name of the town in which it is located. But Steubenville is a town, a city, a place ... not a college. Steubenville is a town where the economy's struggles have had a particularly negative impact. Steubenville is a city where many people are suffering, lonely and living without faith and without love.
It's a story that plays out in towns and cities throughout the world. There are people who are forgotten. People who live through unimaginable experiences.
And the answer to each person, no matter his economic situation, is love. To know he is wanted and loved. It can look something like this:
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