For I was hungry, and you gave Me something



Matthew 25:35-40  

‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 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, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?  And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?  ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

This is the fragment of the Scripture that has been challenging me for a long time.  I have been a priest for seven years.  And only in the last year I started to interact with the people who live on the streets.  I just didn’t want to deal with them.  It was never a priority.  When I became more interested in the Franciscan theology I learned about St. Bonaventure.  He was a great scholar: philosopher and theologian and he chose to live and interact with the poor of his time.  His style of life has challenged me and I had to do something about it. 

Last year I started to volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity.  I hope this is just the beginning of my new journey of learning about the world, people and me. There is still a need of great improvement of how I live Matthew 25:35-36.    

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