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| The river flowing in Lake Quinaut Washington, St |
'Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
or thirsty and give you drink?
I read the question,
"When did we see you...?" as key to this parable concerning the
Judgement. The just who cared for the hungry, thirsty, naked and imprisoned do
not remember seeing this Man before them. Nor do the wicked.
So why did the just care
for him if they did not recognize him in the "least brother of mine?"
And why did the wicked fail to care for him?
I'm sure we can hear the
wicked complaining, "If we had recognize you, Most Honorable Sir, we would
certainly have cared for you! But we've never seen you, Your Esteemed Holiness,
in our lives! This is not fair, that you should judge us for what we failed to
do when you didn't show yourself more clearly!"
The complaint sounds like
that of the rich man who failed to care for the beggar Lazarus . "Yes, Father Abraham, but if someone should come back from
the dead they will surely listen to him!" Didn't Scrooge listen to
his former partner, Marley? He was given a second chance! Why not
me?"
The point of the parable,
as I read it, is the just, when they did the right thing, didn't do it for
religious reasons. These just people "from all the nations" cared for the poor,
imprisoned and so forth because it was the HUMAN thing to do. They acted out of
natural human compassion, that fellow feeling which is common to all people.
When there is a hungry
mouth, I feed it, whether it's mine or someone else's. When a someone is
thirsty, I give him to drink, whether that person is me or someone else. This
is not a specifically Christian act; it is native to all human beings and (for that matter) many
non-human creatures.
Only sin would prevent my doing what comes naturally. We hear all the time of
heroes who, when honored, say, "I only did what anyone would have
done." And they're right; although, in fact, several other
"anyones" failed to act during that particular crisis.
In the end we will be
judged not for how Christian we were, but for how human.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.