You Did It to Me: Showing the Mercy of Jesus to Others

We have these saint stories on CD called “Glory Stories.” Even though they're made for kids, I get drawn into the stories as much as the kids do.  They're really inspiring!  We listen to them in the car often so I know most of them by heart now. There's one on Mother Teresa and it starts out with her mother giving her a short religion lesson when she's a little girl. She tells her that she can say the gospel on just five fingers: You. Did. It. To. Me.

This is referring to Matthew25:31-46 when Jesus tells his disciples about the judgment of the nations. He talks about how He was treated by the righteous and accursed when He was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, ill, and in prison. He says, “Whatever you did (or did not do) for one of these least brothers of mine, you did (or did not do) for me.”

These are very similar to the Corporal Works of Mercy: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and prisoners, give alms to the poor, and bury the dead

As we approach Holy Week and begin the Divine Mercy novena on Good Friday, I wanted to share some things that a priest recently taught in a class about this reading and some of my reflections as it's so relevant to the Divine Mercy devotion and how we are to show mercy to others.

In this reading, there are two groups of people: the righteous (blessed) and the accursed. Neither group of people recognized Christ in the poor, and Jesus didn't judge them on whether they did or not. What they were judged on was how they treated them. The righteous fed and gave drink to the hungry and thirsty, they welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the ill and visited the imprisoned. The accursed did not. Both groups of people were surprised when Jesus told them that how they treated “these least brothers” was how they treated Him.

When we see the poor, lonely, lost, marginalized, or forgotten people around us, do we recognize Christ in them? Probably not. Many times I've driven past a person holding a sign up on the side of the road and said a prayer for them and went merrily on my way forgetting all about them within the minute.

I used to work in downtown Minneapolis where I encountered many people begging for money on the street. Most people would walk right on by (myself included). There's this feeling of justice when you think to yourself, “Why should I give some of the money I'm working for to this person? Who knows what they're going to use it for. They're not even trying to find a job to provide for themselves. They don't deserve my hard-earned money.”

Whenever we encounter the poor do we look them in the eyes and even acknowledge their presence or are they invisible to us? What would happen if all Christians took Jesus' words to heart? How would we think about and treat the strung out drug addict, the drunk homeless man, the single welfare mom with 4 kids running around while she's talking on her new iPhone, or the prostitute on the side of the road if we saw Christ in them?

The thing is, it's hard to do and nearly impossible if we don't recognize that when we encounter the people who are the most hard to love, we not only encounter Christ, but we encounter ourselves! For one, we are just as poor and needy as they are. We are hungry for love. We're thirsty for acceptance. We're a stranger feeling unwelcomed and rejected. We are naked and vulnerable in our failures. We're sick in sin. We're imprisoned by habitual sin. And it is Christ who looks upon us in our own misery with mercy and compassion and ministers to our most basic human needs of love and acceptance.

We also encounter ourselves in the poor when we consider Christ's command to love our neighbor as ourselves. How often do we really do that? When you see someone else do you ever think about loving them as you would want to be loved? Imagine you're the begger on the street. How would you want to be treated? Would you want people to look at you with contempt? Would you want people to pass you by pretending you're not even there? Would you want people passing judgment on your life circumstances and the decisions you've made? If we loved our neighbors as ourselves, how could we ever justify these thoughts and actions, not only to the poor, but to all people?

Jesus doesn't turn a blind eye to us and say to Himself, “Why should I help this poor sinner? Look at him! What good will it do? Who knows if he'll ever really love Me in return. He gives Me lip service but his actions are not those of My disciples. He doesn't deserve my mercy and forgiveness.”

Even if He did think those things to Himself, would He be wrong? Do we really love Him (through others) in deed and truth, not just in word or speech (1 John 3:18)? When He is explicit in telling us how we should treat “these least brothers” do we ever stop to think that our passing judgments against them or indifference toward them are actually our thoughts and actions directed toward Christ Himself? They are immortal souls, after all, created in the image and likeness of God just as we are. Do any of us deserve Christ's mercy and forgiveness more than they do? 

Thanks be to God He doesn't treat us the way we treat others!

This Holy Week, I'll be reflecting more on how Christ has loved and treated me in my poverty and sinfulness. There's nothing I have ever done or could ever do to deserve His unfathomable mercy and forgiveness, yet He bestows it on me every day, and not begrudgingly but with joy. 

Jesus, may I show this same mercy and compassion to others in my words and actions and constantly remind myself of the gospel in 5 fingers: You. Did. It. To. Me.

~Tami

“Bless the Lord, my soul; do not forget all the gifts of God,

Who pardons all your sins, heals all your ills,

Delivers your life from the pit,

surrounds you with love and compassion,

Fills your days with good things...

[God] has not dealt with us as our sins merit,

nor requited us as our deeds deserve...

As far as the east is from the west,

so far have our sins been removed from us.”

Psalm 103:2-5, 10, 12

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?  Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,' but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead." 

James 2:14-17