We're inclined to count our blessings during the holiday season. Surrounded by family and friends, we take our comforts for granted as long as we have warm homes and a place to lay our heads.

For the volunteers at Operation Safety Net, a ministry that provides health care and social services to the homeless, blessings come from helping those who are often cold and have no place to lay their heads.

In 2006, nine of our fellow citizens died homeless in Pittsburgh, one short of the record a decade ago. Their deaths would probably have gone unnoticed if not for the relentless compassion of Operation Safety Net.

Last Thursday, an estimated 35 people gathered at the south end of Grant Street near Fort Pitt Boulevard for a service to commemorate lives lost on this city's cold streets.

The area under the Monroeville ramp leading to the Parkway East is a favorite gathering spot for many of the city's dispossessed. They go there to socialize and ask for change from commuters sitting in traffic at the light.

Candles were lit during the memorial service, providing a reminder of the inherent dignity of even "the least of these," as Jesus referred to them.

The number of homeless in Pittsburgh is estimated to be between 4,000 and 6,000 souls. Somehow, they muddle through days filled with hunger, exposure to the elements and never-ending danger. Inevitably and eventually, a few don't make it.

As we gather with loved ones on this Christmas Day, we should not forget the plight of "the least of these." We are grateful for the work of Operation Safety Net and the other social service ministries that help the homeless, but we must never stop asking ourselves why so many people fall through the cracks.

Lives shouldn't be allowed to flicker out like so many candles at a memorial service.