Lenten Day V [Eve]

Eve of Lenten Day V [Monday]

Collect of the Day [Rite I]

Almighty and everlasting God, mercifully increase in us thy gifts of holy discipline, in almsgiving, prayer, and fasting; that our lives may be directed to the fulfilling of thy most gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Assigned Gospel

Matthew 25:31–46 [ESV]

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'  And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'  "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'  Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'  Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

http://bible.com/59/mat.25.31-46.ESV

Lenten Reflection

Lent isn't just about ourselves.  This is a time for self-examiniation, but it is also a time to recommit to acts of mercy and the giving of alms for those in need.

This pagssage from the Gospel reminds us of the significance of these acts.  Jesus tells us in the sharing of this parable that when we show mercy towards the least among us, we do these acts of mercy not only to these lowly ones but to our Lord also.  But there is a flip side to that coin.  He also says to us that when we ignore the least, the lowest and marginalized ones in our midst whom we would rather not see, we are also ignoring our Lord.

This Lent we need to hear both sides of that coin.  It is even more pressing for us who are Christians living in America than in the past.  Our culture has sadly become one in so many look at the least and the lowest among us who are huddled on the margins of American culture with scorn and contempt.  The powerful and the mighty try to convince the rest of us that these lowly ones deserve what they have, or rather what they have not.  They also try to drive us by fear to believe this to be so by convincing us that if these lowly ones attain more of will be at our cost and comfort.

Can you imagine how different our response to these lowly ones would be if we truly believed Jesus' words?  Right now we are debating a national health care plan.  Many in elected office are telling us how the current program is horrible and indeed a failure.  And yet they miss the fact that a good number of people have health care accessibility under this plan that didn't prior to it and likely wouldn't without it.  They speak nothing of these ones.  The lowly and marginalized enter not into their thoughts on health care.  They have no vision of bandaging the wounds of the ill, curing the sick, comforting the afflicted, clothing the naked, embracing the dying.  Their agenda has no place for actual needy people.

Only these are not lowly strangers in our midst.  They are made in the image of God, as are we.  They are the beloved of Christ Jesus, along with us.  They have a Father in Heaven who watches over them and desires to shelter them, protect them, and bring them to the fullness of life.  They as children of that Father are nothing other than our brothers and sisters.

Long ago a brother asked the Father: "Am I my brother's keeper?"  And what was the divine response?  God made clear then in times of old and in the incarnation of the Word of God also that we are our brother's and our sister's keeper.  For some of them, it will be easy to extend a hand of mercy.  For others there is a challenge.  But in each case we have no option, for Jesus has made it clear that what we do or fail to do for others, we do or fail to do for him, whom we call our first and greatest love.