When Did I See You?
For the first time reading this Gospel, I noticed something that never struck me before. I am amazed I never saw it. Always 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 both 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 had failed to get the message 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. Let me say that again…it 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 soul. It is tended in some of us, and in some of us, it is left to wither.
The sheep and the goats are both “thought-less” in their response to people who are wounded by society. In the parable they are both unaware of what it was that saved or condemned them. They responded to those in need in the only way they knew how to react.
So then, is it predestination that enables some of us to naturally see the need and respond to the broken or ignore the needs of others? Is it an “either you have it, or you don’t” situation? Not at all!
Consider that at birth or baptism, 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 who are 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 to have a relationship with God and to tend 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 to those who are damaged with God’s unfailing love 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 concern. After a time, we don’t consciously choose to ignore those in need; we simply don’t see them. We see only ourselves and our wants.
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, and perhaps more importantly, we allow the broken to embrace us. In that mutual acceptance is found salvation.
In God’s Unending Love,
Gwen
