Recently here on the front porch of the Catholic Worker House once again I spoke with a certain homeless woman. I've talked with her countless times. Here I'll call her "Marianne."
Marianne is one of the happiest people I have ever met. She smiles a lot. Marianne is very cheerful. It's not unusual to see her break into song and dance.
Marianne is very thin. You could certainly say that she is lean.
If she suffers from hunger, she doesn't show it. She is happy like a little child. She is playful and seems joyful.
In addition to being happy, she is also respectful. Recently she politely asked a Catholic Worker here for food. She meekly requested the food. She was happy to be given some food.
Pleased to be receiving whatever she was given, she was grateful for what she was given. She was thankful for what she got since she relies on the love of others.
Depending on the love of others, we depend on the love of God. We rely on God to love us through our neighbor.
A child of God relies on what God gives her, like a child looking to his or her parents to supply all his or her needs. In completely depending on God, one becomes great in His sight. Jesus tells us so when we hear that
The disciples approached Jesus and said,
"Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"
He called a child over, placed it in their midst,
and said, "Amen, I say to you,
unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."*
When we humble ourselves, we become great. We find greatness in simplicity. We find greatness in having nothing. When we have nothing, we must turn to God to supply our needs.
Who is modeling this exemplary behavior for me? I see this total trust in God in the discarded, forgotten, spurned homeless woman on my front stoop. We find our exemplar of utter trust in God through Jesus, who completely trusted in His Heavenly Father. And Jesus is in those who are least among us,** those among us who fully depend on God to meet all their needs.
Jesus, in the homeless woman who shows up at my front door, demonstrates to me how to follow His teachings. Who am I, that my Lord and my God should come unto me?
Jesus shows up in our lives. He stands right in front of us. He comes to continue instructing us about the Word of God, how to love God by totally relying on God. By being present to us in our neighbor, he helps us to love each other.
Jesus is always with us.*** Jesus is greeting us as we meet Him in the impoverished individual in front of us. Jesus is with us, teaching us through our neighbor, gently guiding us on our spiritual journeys. In the poor person before us, Jesus is asking us to open our hearts to Him.
Jesus is bidding us to open our hearts to Him. He is calling us to listen to Him. Jesus is telling us to rely on Him. We are to let go of our delusions that we can do anything good without God.
Jesus is calling us to deconstruct our misconceptions of ourselves. We are to see that we are nothing without God. We are called to realize that we must depend totally on God if we wish to become great. We can insist on being prideful, but then we would forfeit greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus invites us to become more than we have been. Paradoxically, to become more than we have been, we must become less than we have been. To become great, we must become little. So that we may become great in the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus is beckoning us to become like little children.
* Matthew 18:1-4
** Matthew 25:40
*** Matthew 28:20
Marianne is one of the happiest people I have ever met. She smiles a lot. Marianne is very cheerful. It's not unusual to see her break into song and dance.
Marianne is very thin. You could certainly say that she is lean.
If she suffers from hunger, she doesn't show it. She is happy like a little child. She is playful and seems joyful.
In addition to being happy, she is also respectful. Recently she politely asked a Catholic Worker here for food. She meekly requested the food. She was happy to be given some food.
Pleased to be receiving whatever she was given, she was grateful for what she was given. She was thankful for what she got since she relies on the love of others.
Depending on the love of others, we depend on the love of God. We rely on God to love us through our neighbor.
A child of God relies on what God gives her, like a child looking to his or her parents to supply all his or her needs. In completely depending on God, one becomes great in His sight. Jesus tells us so when we hear that
The disciples approached Jesus and said,
"Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"
He called a child over, placed it in their midst,
and said, "Amen, I say to you,
unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."*
When we humble ourselves, we become great. We find greatness in simplicity. We find greatness in having nothing. When we have nothing, we must turn to God to supply our needs.
Who is modeling this exemplary behavior for me? I see this total trust in God in the discarded, forgotten, spurned homeless woman on my front stoop. We find our exemplar of utter trust in God through Jesus, who completely trusted in His Heavenly Father. And Jesus is in those who are least among us,** those among us who fully depend on God to meet all their needs.
Jesus, in the homeless woman who shows up at my front door, demonstrates to me how to follow His teachings. Who am I, that my Lord and my God should come unto me?
Jesus shows up in our lives. He stands right in front of us. He comes to continue instructing us about the Word of God, how to love God by totally relying on God. By being present to us in our neighbor, he helps us to love each other.
Jesus is always with us.*** Jesus is greeting us as we meet Him in the impoverished individual in front of us. Jesus is with us, teaching us through our neighbor, gently guiding us on our spiritual journeys. In the poor person before us, Jesus is asking us to open our hearts to Him.
Jesus is bidding us to open our hearts to Him. He is calling us to listen to Him. Jesus is telling us to rely on Him. We are to let go of our delusions that we can do anything good without God.
Jesus is calling us to deconstruct our misconceptions of ourselves. We are to see that we are nothing without God. We are called to realize that we must depend totally on God if we wish to become great. We can insist on being prideful, but then we would forfeit greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus invites us to become more than we have been. Paradoxically, to become more than we have been, we must become less than we have been. To become great, we must become little. So that we may become great in the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus is beckoning us to become like little children.
* Matthew 18:1-4
** Matthew 25:40
*** Matthew 28:20
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