Monday, First Week of Lent

At the beginning of today’s gospel reading we are given a vision of Jesus as the glorious Son of Man, escorted by all the angels and seated on a throne of glory with all the nations assembled before him. It is a very regal image of Jesus in all his power and glory. Yet, it is this same glorious Son of Man who goes on to say, ‘I was hungry… I was thirsty… I was a stranger… naked… sick… imprisoned’. The Lord of heaven and earth, the King of the nations, comes to us in and through the most vulnerable among us. The beginning of John’s gospel says that the Word who was God became flesh. Today’s gospel reading from Matthew spells out what the Word becoming flesh looks like. Both those who cared for the needy and those who failed to do so ask the Son of Man the same question, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry…?’ Neither group recognized the Lord of heaven and earth in the needy who crossed their path in life. The Lord’s presence was hidden from them; it wasn’t clear and obvious. The Lord didn’t scream out, ‘Look, it is me’. The Lord doesn’t shout out his presence to us. He is there among us in ways that don’t proclaim his presence aloud. Yet, in today’s gospel reading, he assures us that it is he who calls out to us through those who need our support, who need our strength in their weakness, our companionship in their isolation, our accepting love in their rejection, our material resources in their poverty. There is a very real presence of the Lord all around us if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. Today’s first reading from the Book of Leviticus calls on us to love our neighbour as ourselves. The gospel reading calls on us to love our neighbour, especially our broken neighbour, as the Lord.