Aug. 25, 2019: 21st Sunday C

Aug. 25, 2019: 21st Sunday C

You’ve heard the saying: “don’t judge a book by its cover,” meaning, we should not prejudge the worth or value of something by its outward appearance alone. Every person we encounter each day, is made in the image and likeness of God, or as Mother Teresa would say, is “Jesus in disguise.” In her prayer, Jesus asked Mother Teresa to love each person as she loved Him. Jesus said to her, “In your love for me, they will see me, know me, want me.” Whether we are at work, at home, or at play, we have the opportunity to show our love for Jesus by loving the person right before us.  

Once I was called to a home to give Last Rites to a dying man. When I arrived at the home, he was in bed and looked like a homeless person--gaunt and rough in appearance. The woman standing next to him explained that the man was her ex-husband who left her and their marriage many years ago. He lived a life of dissipation and alcohol in the streets for many years. When she heard that he was dying of cancer, she brought him home and had been taking care of him. Her love and faith in Jesus was evident in the way she took care of him despite the pain that he caused her in the past. By her sacrificial love, her ex-husband was able to encounter Jesus whose light of love was shining through her, much like the light that shines through stained glass windows of saints in a church. 

We may wonder who is qualified to go to Heaven, much like the person who asked Jesus, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" Are only the church going parishioners, those who pray regularly, and those who give to charities going to Heaven? Jesus challenges us with this answer, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” Jesus explained that some who claimed to be in his followers were going to be barred from His Kingdom. This should be a disturbing message to all of us sitting here, including myself. Is it not enough that we be a Catholic, a Christian, a good person, or a priest or a nun to be saved? Jesus’ answer, “some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last," challenges us not to be complacent and neglect our primary duty to love God with all our mind and heart by loving our neighbor. 

Early Spring this year, a volunteer at the soup kitchen at St. Vincent de Paul in downtown shared this story. The soup kitchen welcomes everyone, regardless of the appearance of the person. Unfortunately, this volunteer knew other volunteers who had stopped volunteering because they saw people with smartphones or arriving in SUVs. The volunteers were upset that people who appeared to be able to work were coming for free meals. On this particular day an 8 yr. old boy appeared in the food line. A volunteer asked the little boy, “Son, where are your shoes and socks? Where is your jacket? It’s 40 degrees outside!” It turned out that the boy’s neighbor dropped the little boy off at the soup kitchen after learning that the boy was hungry and cold. Seeing the plight of the little boy, volunteers and staff scrambled to find clothes, socks, and shoes for the little boy. How could a little boy living in materially rich America go hungry and cold? It reminded the volunteers that they cannot take for granted the privilege of food, housing, and education. There is no adequate explanation for why some are born poor, but if we neglect the poor, we will have some explaining to do when Jesus asks us at the end of our life whether we fed, clothed, visited, and took care of him disguised in the poor.

Mother Teresa said, “You can find Calcutta (India) anywhere in the world. You only need two eyes to see. Everywhere in the world there are people that are not loved, people that are not wanted nor desired, people that no one will help, people that are pushed away or forgotten… Our poor people are great people, a very lovable people, They don't need our pity and sympathy. They need our understanding love and they need our respect. We need to tell the poor that they are somebody to us that they, too, have been created, by the same loving hand of God, to love and be loved.” 

As part of a universal church, we have the privilege to worship in magnificent churches all around the world, including here in Baton Rouge. It’s wonderful that we are studying God’s Word more deeply in bible study classes, prayer groups, and social justice ministries. Unless our deeper study, prayer, and volunteer work change our hearts deep within to not judge our neighbor, then we will find ourselves among those struggling to enter the narrow gate. We need the humility to ask Jesus to change us. All of us, regardless of our creed, race, and background have been called to Heaven. Our preoccupation should not be whether I’m saved. Jesus calls us to help each other enter heaven. Will we one day be those saints in a church stain glass window where the light of Christ’s love shines through?

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