Fr.
Tony’s Mid-week Message
July
15, 2014
“The
Least of These”
The
Gospel reading for the Daily Office today is the scene of judgment from the
Gospel of Matthew (25: 31-46) where the “goats” and the “sheep” are divided on
the basis of whether they helped “the least powerful of these, my family.” It will also be the Gospel reading for the
Celtic Eucharist this Sunday evening, in honor of St. Declan, whose family and
Christian tribe saved the young St. Patrick from death as he fled from slavery
by providing him refuge and a safe haven.
In the Holy Women, Holy Men cycle of
commemoration, today remembers Raoul Wallenberg and the “Righteous Gentiles”
who at great personal sacrifice and risk helped to save Jews from destruction
during the Nazi holocaust. The theme of
caring for “the least of these” is definitely the theme for today.
Marcus
Borg writes:
“In Jesus’ compassion for the marginalized, for ‘the least
of these,’ we see God’s compassionate character. God wills the well-being of us all, indeed,
or all creation. In Jesus’ passion for
the kingdom of God, we see God’s passion for a transformed world—a world of
justice and nonviolence in which no one needs to be afraid (see Mic.
4:1-4). God’s character and passion as
we see them in Jesus also have a confrontational dimension: the indictment of
what gets in the way of well-being of all of us, and of all that is.” (Speaking
Christian, pp. 93- 94).
When all is said and done, it will not be our religiosity,
our faith, prayer life, cultivated serenity and focus, or our correct opinions that
will matter in God’s eyes. What will
matter is whether we cared for each other, and especially, whether we cared for
those who needed it the most.
Grace and peace, Fr.
Tony+
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