Who Are the Least of These?
Here is a part of today’s gospel reading (July 13/09);
Matthew 10: 40 - 42
40 “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. 41 He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”
Here is another famous passage in the same Gospel;
Matthew 25: 31 - 46
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 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. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 44 Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ 45 He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
This latter passage from Chapter 25 is one of the most-cited passages in the promotion of charity as our Christian obligation and in support of Catholic Social Doctrine as understood by most Catholics who pay attention to such things.
(I am writing this in advance of reading Caritatis in Veritas, the latest encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI, having just downloaded it. It may well have some bearing on this issue as well.
The reason for this post is something that I had noticed in the morning’s Mass readings and had previously noticed in Matthew 25. In particular, this made sense in light of Jesus teaching earlier in the reading that he was not here to bring peace but a sword.)
First of all, we should be clear. This is not to challenge the teaching of Christian charity per se. Loving our neighbour as ourself is categorical. Loving our enemy is categorical. However, I think here, in both passages Jesus is being much more specific about to whom we are to give a drink of water, to visit in prison, to give clothing and to feed.
In the Chapter 10 passage he is specifically talking about rightly honouring prophets and righteous men, and he adds that even these little ones should be honoured in his name. Why? Because even though they are not prophets and righteous men they come in the name of Jesus.
Again, in Chapter 25, the context is the same. He there speaks of the least brothers of mine and if we stop and reflect we understand that believers, disciples of Christ, the baptized, are in fact brothers of Christ by adoption. Sons of God by adoption.
I know there is a lot of mileage made from that passage in Matthew 25 particularly by Franciscans and those that follow a Franciscan spirituality. And, in the end they may be right about these passages. Certainly there are those who place Catholic social teaching as they see it, far above moral and spiritual doctrine, and I have known some who have leaned heavily on Matthew 25 for their support in this.
In fact, when you hear the expression that someone sees Christ in every beggar in the street, every drunk on the corner, every prositute in every alley, this is really where they pull together that thinking, from Matthew 25.
Are they wrong?
No, not to see the human dignity of someone made in the image and likeness of God regardless of their degradation or poverty.
No, not to realize that Jesus Christ loves them just as completely and thoroughly as he loves us.
No, not feel compassion for them as another human being, a brother or sister in the sense of their humanity.
No, not to treat them with kindness and assistance in the name of Jesus Christ, to the best of our ability and resources.
But to base the concept of Christ in those people on Matthew 25? I cannot see it. We are to be other Christs. We are to act, as Catholics, as believers, as Christ to them. We are to be Christ to them. I think if we can keep that subtle clarity we will run less chance of slipping into, or around the edges of, the heresy known as syncretism or perhaps a form of indifferentism, whereby, seeing Jesus in everyone else we are then less inclined to give them the Gospel with their hot cup of soup.