Monday, November 21, 2016

Welcoming The Stranger

Yesterday I attended Mass at 7:30 a.m. here in Redwood City.  When I was on my way home from the church, I witnessed an interaction which keeps recurring in my memory.  As I recall it, into my mind also has been echoing when Jesus said 

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit upon His glorious throne, 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.  He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.  

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.  For I was . . . a stranger and you welcomed Me[.]'  

Then the righteous will answer Him and say, 'Lord . . . When did we see You a stranger and welcome You?'  

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.'*  

These verses have been reverberating in my mind since I saw a particular interaction as I was on my way back from Mass.  Someone walked up to a middle-aged Hispanic woman who was rather plainly dressed in clothes which did not look new.  In a heavy accent, in few words, in incomplete sentences, she told him that she is not originally from the U.S.  He replied, "You are welcome here."  She responded, "Thank you."  

* Matthew 25:31-35, 37, 38, 40  

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