THE VERY HEART OF JESUS' TEACHING
Jesus lives in others. What we do to them, we do to Jesus.
It must have been a
wonderful thing to have lived with Jesus while He was on earth. What a great
privilege it was for Peter, James, John, and the other Apostles, to have known
our Lord so personally and intimately. Naturally, we wish we could have lived during
that time as well, and I think we feel that we would have been completely
devoted to Him. Actually, many people who lived with Jesus, either did not
recognize Him, or failed to respond to Him. And, today, it may be that we, too,
sometimes fail to recognize Him and respond to Him. However, we do not have to
wish that we could have lived during the time of our Lord. The truth is that He
is living among us right now. He is present in this world, not only in the
Eucharist, but also in the people with whom we encounter each day. He is all
around us.
In today's Gospel,
Jesus tells us that what we do to one of His brothers, we do to Him. It's
important to notice that He does not say it is as if we do it to Him, or that
He will consider what we do to others as done to Him. We must not water down
the truth. Jesus lives in others. What we do to them, we do to Jesus. The first
reading gives us many practical directives for dealing with people, all of
which are summed up in the one Commandment, "You shall love your neighbor
as yourself." Among the Old Testament people, the word
"neighbor" was understood as referring to a fellow Israelite. Jesus
gave two new dimensions to this Commandment. First, neighbor was meant to
include everyone, and, secondly, Jesus lives in the hearts of our fellow human
beings - our neighbors.
Living in the
fourth century, Martin of Tours was a young Roman soldier and seeker of the
Christian faith as a catechumen. One evening, he met an unclothed man begging
for alms in the freezing cold. Martin stopped, cut his coat in two, and gave
half to the stranger. That night, he dreamt he had seen the heavenly court,
with Jesus robed in the torn cloak. One of the angels present asked,
"Master, why do You wear that battered cloak?" Jesus replied,
"My servant, Martin, gave it to Me." As a result of this vision,
Martin "flew to be baptized." God is gracious and merciful; His love
compels us to treat others with mercy and kindness. When we do something for
one of Jesus' little ones, we do it for Him. How beautiful!
There is no sense
in daydreaming about how much we love Jesus or in imagining all the great
things we would like to do for Him. "It is truly right and just, our duty
and our salvation" (Preface - Eucharistic Prayer II) to seek Christ here,
in the Eucharist - His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. And He remains with us!
His Spirit dwells in the hearts of those around us, and in the people we meet
every day. When our time comes to leave this world and face God, Jesus will
want to know whether we have loved Him, not only by our worship of Him in the
Liturgy, but also in finding Him and serving Him in our fellow human beings.
Throughout Lent, we
do well in praying to God at Mass, and this is always necessary. At the end of
Mass we hear the words, "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord, by your
life." Indeed, we will fulfill these words if we go forth to serve others
for the love of God!