When Did I see You?
For the first time reading this Gospel, I noticed something that never struck me. I am amazed I never saw it. When reading this passage, what stood out was the call of God to have a “preferential option for the poor.” Saint Pope John Paul II once challenged us to “…give from our sustenance and not just from our surplus.” We are called time and time again to measure ourselves against this standard. According to the Gospel of Matthew, our very salvation depends on it.
Have you ever noticed that the sheep and the goats ask the same question in the story? They both ask, “When did we see you hungry and (not) feed you and thirsty and (not) give you drink…?” It was a startling realization for me to finally notice that neither group, those who had done it right or those who didn’t, knew what made them blessed or damned.
Having a “preferential option for the poor” or living the Gospel, as expressed in Matthew 25, is not a conscious choice. The choice comes from a far deeper place in our soul than our conscious decision-making.
Having a life stance that impels us to embrace the poor and respond to their needs is an attitude that is planted and grows in our souls. Some of us tend the seed of God within us, and some let it wither.
The sheep and the goats are “thoughtless” in their response to people wounded by society. In the parable, they are oblivious to what saved or condemned them. They don’t choose a response. They responded to those in need in the only way they knew.
So then, what enables some of us to naturally see the need and respond to the broken and others to ignore those in need?
Consider that at birth, a seed that is God is planted in each of our souls. We tend and water it, giving it light and nourishment, or we don’t. If we do, then we do not make a “thought-out choice” to respond to the needs of people who are poor; the seed growing in our soul impels us to respond to people in need. If we have not tended the seed planted within us, it withers and dies, and we do not respond to those damaged by life; we walk by them absolutely oblivious to their need.
We don’t choose to have a “preferential option for the poor.” Our choice is whether or not to tend the seed of God planted in our souls. Our choice is whether or not to have a relationship with God and to care for that relationship. When we grow closer and closer to God, we become so much a part of God that we respond as God would respond. With the heart of God, we automatically reach out with God’s unfailing love to those who are damaged and envelop them in His love.
When we abandon the “God seed” and concentrate instead on nurturing our selfish desires, the seed of God’s compassion withers and we live only with selfish concerns. After a time, we don’t consciously choose to ignore those in need; we simply don’t see them.
Salvation is all about tending our relationship with God. It is becoming more and more at one with God. Then, we do not think about how we will respond when we see the hungry, thirsty, outcast, or the lepers of our age. We respond as God and embrace those who need us; perhaps more importantly, we allow the broken to embrace us. In that mutual acceptance is found salvation.
In God’s Unending Love,
Gwen
