Reflection
Whatever you did to the least of my brethren you did it to me.
Matthew 25:40
Sadly, we who call ourselves Christian often forget that we are called to be the “light of the world” and we embrace the darkness. We compartmentalize the teachings of Jesus while we live our daily lives absorbed into norms that contradict them. Jesus’ radical politics of compassion, emphasized care for the poor, marginalized, and suffering as the core of community life. His teachings directly challenged the societal norms and power structures of his day to create a more just world, viewing each human life as sacred. Jesus envisioned a world transformed through tangible acts of empathy because it recognized the divine presence in every human being, especially the most vulnerable. This was how his followers would be light in the darkness of selfishness and oppression. Jesus’ revealed God’s unconditional love by identifying with those despised and excluded and calling His followers to do the same thus transforming hearts and societies.
Prayer
Love one another.
Action
In the darkness of violence and prejudice that surrounds us how are you called to be light? Are there ways you embrace the darkness? What can you do to make change possible?
Suggested Reading
When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
Matthew 25:37-49
let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16
the dignity of others is to be respected in all circumstances, not because that dignity is something we have invented or imagined, but because human beings possess an intrinsic worth superior to that of material objects and contingent situations. This requires that they be treated differently.
Pope Francis
I know I am touching the living body of Christ in the broken bodies of the hungry and the suffering.
Mother Teresa
A mature Christian sees Christ in everything and everyone else. That is a definition that will never fail you, always demand more of you, and give you no reasons to fight, exclude, or reject anyone.
Richard Rohr
We have an ethical obligation, I think, to prevent suffering wherever we can.
Jimmy Carter
Unless you’re putting on the mind of Christ, I don’t know if you’ll ever see the face of the Christ in the other… You may be a highly efficient social worker or a marvelously compassionate do-gooder, but you will not necessarily be a Christian contemplative.
Joan Chittister
No matter how hard I fight to stay “in the light,” I will have some darkness in my life. This is as sure as the patter of sunrise and sunset in the natural course of the day.
Joyce Rupp
The movement for Jesus was always from the outside in. His message was always one of inclusion, communicated through speaking to people, healing them, and offering them what biblical scholars call “table fellowship,” that is, dining with them, a sign of welcome and acceptance ..Jesus’s movement was about inclusion. He was creating a sense of “us.”
James Martin, SJ
The sociology of many communities shapes the theology of their churches, making them “conformed to the world” and disobedient to the gospel.
Jim Wallis