”YOU DID IT TO ME”

During the Advent Season, which to me is very special time of year….At Holy Mass, the readings we hear are always from the Prophet Isaiah……Before we go into what Isaiah had to say today….Let’s look at briefly what a prophet is because Isaiah was consider one of the greatest of the Old Testament Prophets - I believe there are some misconceptions surrounding what exactly a prophet is…A prophet is simply someone who speaks the Truth…..Easy enough right? - Wrong!…….Each and every baptized Catholic is called to be a prophet in this world…Our "job" is to - Know the Truth….Speak the Truth….Live the Truth…And now for the tough one - Suffer for the Truth…..How do we do that because clearly when we “look around” that is not happening the way it should be - Let’s be honest here….We can only live this way by and through God’s grace….This is a subject I hammer home constantly in these reflections - Why?…Because our modern world “thinks” it can self manufacture grace - Wrong!….Grace is a gift from God…Grace elevates our flawed human nature - We all need it and without it we stumble and fall….With that said, now let’s look at what Isaiah had to say today……………”On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see”……..Is Isaiah talking about when Jesus returns or is he talking about now?……Clearly, when Christ returns in his glory, we all will “see” but when that happens - Its too late…..We need to “see” and “hear” NOW….......We need to greet Christ in his return properly.....…How do we do that?…..Before we all make plans on how we are going to “change”….....We first need to encounter the Lord - I mean really encounter him….How do we do that?…..Let’s explore one way that can happen……In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus tells us something VERY important - This is on “the final exam”, so pay attention here…..Jesus tells us….”What you do to the least of these - You do to ME!”….....Notice the word ME…..When we help the poor - Not by writing a check - That is too easy - I am talking about helping them with our own two hands - Getting to know them as people…......When we do that, even if we are not practicing Catholics living in the state of grace - Something happens!…......We encounter the living God……And that encounter “opens a door” to Sacramental living……Mother Teresa would teach her sisters….”The entire Gospel can be summarized and taught in five words….”YOU DID IT TO ME”……If during this Advent Season we extend “a hand” to the helpless - Something will happen inside of you….A “door” will open…A “light” will “go on”…..That is the first step….And all good things start with one forthright step forward

“Behold, our Lord shall come with power; he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.”

Jesus tells us in Scripture……”The poor you will always have with you”…….Why did Christ focus in on this statement?…..Well? - Have you ever thought that “if” circumstances were even slightly different in your life - You could have easily been no different than those people we see on streets today…Would if your parents died when you were young?…….Would if you had an accident that affected your mind or body?……Would if a horrific event was to happen in America: a war, a plague, a natural disaster? (Read the news - this happens all the time around the world)….If those events were to happen - Where would you be today?….We have to understand, which most don’t…That everything we have is a gift - And all gifts given to us are to be used…Also, if we as Catholics claim to love God - We MUST love our neighbor…And to do that, we must "see" God in our neighbor……This requires a clean heart to “see” in this way……………Over the six years that I would travel to India during the Advent Season, “word got out” that this “Crazy American” (That Crazy American was me - If you have not figured that out already) was traveling to Kolkata each December and as a result strangers would reach out to me…Some would give me money, which I gave to Mother Teresa’s sisters…And some, believe it or not, would ask if they could travel along with me - I of course agreed and took them along…One year this very rich woman reached out to me…Her name was Jude....Jude was in her mid-thirties, and her mother just died….She “somehow” heard about me and asked if she could come along…Jude was not exactly the kind of person one would think would be interested in such a trip….She was a very “corporate person”…......She made tons of money in the Insurance Business…..And was not even a practicing Catholic…But because of the death of her mother, she felt she needed to “do something”….....So she came along with me to Kolkata to serve the poor…..I will be honest, when I first met Jude, I had my doubts she was going to be able to “cut it” in one of the poorest cities in India…..But after a few days of “adjusting”, Jude fit right in……….After two weeks serving the poor, Jude flew home back to New York City, a few days earlier then I did…I remember the big smile on her face the day she left for the airport……Jude did not have that same smile the day we arrived in Kolkata - She was still mourning the loss of her mother…..Now for the question to all the readers of this reflection - What caused this change in Jude?…It clearly was not the “luxury hotel” Jude stayed in during her stay in Kolkata - What happened to her?…I will tell you what happened - Jude experienced, in a small way God, through her service of the poorest of the poor…....Remember these words I noted above in this reflection…….”YOU DID IT TO ME”……..God will never be outdone in generosity…....When we give God an “inch” - He gives us back a “yard”!

“And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.”

Today we hear from the great prophet Isaiah…He tells us that the Lord’s people will be “woken up”…..But how?…What will spark this awakening?…..As we say in New Jersey - “There are many ways to skin a cat”…..We need to have an authentic encounter with the Lord….Until that happens - God is simply just a word and our religion will be reduced to mere habit…..The words of the Gospel must come alive for us - But how?……Serving the material poor is one of those ways…..Something “happens” to us when we extend a hand to those who can never repay us…..Its a powerful life changing encounter…..From this encounter, we just may realize that God is real - He is not just a word……..This is the key - We must come to understand that God is real - Why? - Because he is!…From that point, we grow confident…And from that confidence, we even will grow bold….All from that one simple encounter……”What you do to the least, you do to me” - Jesus was not kidding when he said that - Just as Christ is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament - He is present in the material poor…......We encounter the living God when we encounter the poor……………….”YOU DID IT TO ME”…………..JMJ

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