This week's Gospel reading is a familiar one: Jesus tells the disciples a story about when the Son of Man comes into His glory and the nations are assembled before Him. At that time, Jesus says, the Son of Man will separate the sheep from the goats. Will separate the righteous from the wicked. Jesus goes on to define those two groups by whether they helped "the least" of His brothers when they encountered them in life. Those who helped the least of them go to Heaven. Those who did not go to Hell.
I have often focused on the idea of what the nations did during their lives. Did the feed the least? Did they clothe the least? Did they visit them in prison? And that is certainly critical. That's where the rubber meets the road.
But I realize that the step before the clothing and the feeding and the visiting "the least" is recognizing that they are themselves Jesus in disguise.
A few times I went with the Youth Group at St. Brigid's on the Midnight Run, bringing food and clothing and other necessities to the unhoused population of New York City. The gentleman who organized the effort, Vince, would pray with the kids before we left. He reminded them that perhaps the most important part of the night was to recognize the humanity of the unhoused, and to interact with them in a way that demonstrated that recognition. It wasn't just about distributing necessities.
One night, I saw a young woman on the trip just sitting with one of the unhoused men, talking with him. She got it. She understood. It came so naturally for her. I've always remembered that. She saw through Jesus' disguise. She recognized the humanity.
May God bless you at this moment, and may the spirit of Thanksgiving stay with you.
- The Older Brother
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