Serving the Poor – Dilemmas

Last weekend we heard the parable of the final judgment.  It is based on our care for the hungry, the stranger, the imprisoned, etc.  Jesus concludes: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least ones, you did for me.” (Mt. 25:40)

Dilemma 1. Did you notice the following wording? “When the Son of Man comes in His glory…all the nations will be assembled before Him.  And He will separate them, one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats…” Does that mean we will be judged as a nation?  That makes me a little nervous.  How about you? 

Dilemma 2. I get the part about caring for the poor and the marginalized.  But Jesus doesn’t distinguish…like I tend to do…between the ‘deserving poor’ and the ‘undeserving poor’. The poor are simply the poor.  What do you think about that?    

Think of St. Teresa of Calcutta. Her helpers brought dying people to her centers every day.  They were bathed, given clean clothing, food and shelter until they died. No questions. She simply understood that all of them deserved to be cared for.       

                                                                 Integrity

A couple weeks ago the Gospel highlighted the roots of the conflict between Jesus and some of the Scribes and Pharisees. (Mt. 23:1-12)  Jesus looked into their hearts and saw that they were not people of integrity.  They neglected to do the very things that they told other people to do. For Jesus, hypocricy is the ‘worst sin’.

Jesus encourages His disciples and us to avoid falling into that same trap.

But it’s easy to be pretentious and to wear ‘holy’ masks.  I can profess to be committed to loving others in one breath, and then criticize people behind their backs with the next breath. (I do this all the time with politicians!) Or I can tell children not to lie, but then fabricate a story to explain away something I actually forgot to do.      

When was the last time you told someone to do something that you don’t always do?   

Being a person of integrity means owning up to our duplicity and committing ourselves to make our actions match our words. I have some work to on this. What about you?

                                                        Unexpected People

Several weekends ago, the first reading from Isaiah (45:1, 4-6) told us about Cyrus, whom God  called to free the Jews from their 70 year Babylonian Captivity. 

The Babylonian Captivity occurred in 607 BC. When King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. Then he forced the Jews to leave their homeland and live as captives in Babylon (60 miles from modern day Baghdad, Iraq).

The amazing thing is that Cyrus was not a Jew!

So God put someone completely unexpected into the lives of His people. He even called Cyrus ‘his anointed’ which means a ‘messiah’!  And in addition to freeing the captives, Cyrus also rebuilt their temple.

Think about unexpected people that God has put into your life.  Remember their stories and some specific ways that they affected you.   Make a Top Ten list of them.  If they are still alive, send them a message to say ‘Thanks’ and tell them how they impacted your life.