Word to the Wise
Monday, March 7, 2022 - 1st Week of Lent - Mon
[Lev 19:1-2, 11-18 and Matt 25:31-46]"'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink" When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'" [Matthew]
The parable of the Last Judgment in the Gospel According to Matthew is vividly portrayed on the wall behind the altar in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. It is an unforgettable sight, especially in the figure in the middle. That figure is the person who realizes that he is doomed because he failed to "see" the hungry, thirsty, ailing, imprisoned and lonely Christ in others and respond to their need. This mural is easily available online and I know that I, for one, feel a little uneasy when I see it. But it remains a graphic reminder of the "checklist" (in addition to the Sermon on the Mount earlier in the same gospel) for Christian life. I have heard it said, "Don't show up at the Last Judgment without a letter of recommendation from the poor! When St. Paul had his vision on the road to Damascus, the voice that speaks to him says, "Why are you persecuting ME?"
The late Dominican archbishop of Louisville, Thomas Cajetan Kelly, O.P., once told me that when he became archbishop he noticed that the cathedral rectory downtown had people in need come around to the back of the rectory to receive assistance and he asked why? He was told that others had complained at the sight of a line of the needy on the sidewalk in front. He asked that the line be brought to the front, "because nobody likes to see the faces of the poor!"
Lent offers the opportunity to strengthen, or even create in ourselves, the ability to see Christ in the poor, the sick, the naked, the migrant, the naked or in the "tax collectors and sinners." Jesus died for them as well as for us, but he clearly expects those who have more to share and care for those who have less. If we fill out the "checklist," what does it look like? How can we improve? AMEN