The other day my wife said, “I think I sleep better when our bedroom is picked up. You know, nice and tidy and clean.”
This mystified me. I honestly can’t understand this at all. When I am laying down with the lights out and my eyes closed, I don’t see the mess at all. Even if I open my eyes, I have to lean over the side of the bed to see the pile of clothes or books or whatever.
Having said that, I totally believe her. I have no doubt she does sleep better when things are picked up. My wife has always been able to see things I can’t. Whether it is a mess, dust, or the winter hat that no one else can find, my wife has super vision for certain things.
In the gospel this Sunday, Jesus explains that at the end those who help the least and most vulnerable will be saved. Those who don’t help, will not. The funny thing is that neither those who helped and were saved, nor those who didn’t help and were damned saw Jesus in the poorest of the poor. They both lacked vision.
When I sat down to reflect on this scripture, I thought I was going to write about how we must be able to see Jesus in the poor and marginalized. We have to be able to see Jesus in unexpected places in the same way my wife sees messes. We have to have super powered vision.
But that isn’t what this gospel says. No, instead of super vision, we just have to have super willingness. We don’t have to perfectly see Jesus in every homeless person we meet. No, we just have to be willing to help. We don’t have to see Jesus in the hardened criminal in prison, we just have to be willing to visit him. We don’t have to see Jesus in the lonely dementia patient, we just have to be willing to call them. We don’t have to see Jesus in any of the people who have been pushed to the side and how are impoverished, we just have to be willing to love them.
You don’t have to have super powers to love Jesus well. You don’t have to have super vision to see Jesus in unexpected people. You just have to do it.
Loving Jesus isn’t a matter of ability. It all comes down to willingness. Are you willing to love the poor and vulnerable? Are you willing to love even when it is difficult? Are willing to love people who don’t deserve it? No matter what your answer is, talk to Jesus about it.
LIVE IT: Are you willing, but don’t know how? Find a food shelf and bring an extra bag of groceries to them. I guarantee it will help someone. At HNOJ you can support IOCP (and find out more about IOCP) by clicking here.
we ignore or process involuntarily most of it. We are inundated with information about our immediate environment. Through our devices, we take in more information about our world than ever before. We know so much.
HNOJ Good Word 