During the Jubilee Year of Mercy each Catholic Christian is invited to look more closely at how we live our faith life in service of others through the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. It is a great and positive theme to continue the examination of how we are called to be true followers of Jesus Christ in the Judeo-Christian tradition the plumbs the depths of the One True God of all Creation.
Clothing the Naked: How do we live this work of mercy in our daily lives as Christians? The answer may seem quite easy in choosing to give and share the clothes that we have or to donate money to a charity whose mission it is to clothe those who lack adequate and proper clothing. It seems simple enough.
This is all well and good on the surface but the deeper question of our relationship with God and the person who is clothed becomes the measure of the true work of mercy in our lives. When I was an associate at Holy Spirit Parish in San Jose we began working with a missionary group in Nicaragua, Amigos for Christ. As we prepared for the mission one of the suggestions was that we return to the United States, after the mission, with an empty suitcase, in other words to leave our clothes behind to help clothe those whom we had been serving during the mission.
This sounded very wonderful and seemed to be a very easy thing to do until I began to pack for the mission. What I soon discovered was I liked much of the clothes that populated my closet and therefore the choosing what to put in my suitcase was difficult. Why? Because each time I placed an article of clothing in the pile to take on the mission to Nicaragua I began to experience the gnawing suspicion that I was only packing my second best and not the first fruits of my labor. I knew something needed to change so I got on my knees and prayed.
This is the moment of conversion. Conversion are the times and places when we are called by the whisper of the Holy Spirit to confront the challenge of sin in our lives. It is where we recognize that even in our “good works” we may not be giving our very best to God. It is the moment of choice: do I follow our Lord or do I turn away. This choice takes courage through prayer.
I wish I could say that my conversion in those hours of prayer and soul searching during my packing the suitcase was perfect: it wasn’t. I wish I could proudly proclaim that I packed only my very best: I didn’t. But did I take one, two or three steps forward in my relationship with Jesus Christ: I think I did. Do I continue to work at my conversion to grow in faith and seek to become a more perfect follower of Jesus: yes I do. The point is, we can often begin to follow the “easier” path and not asking the greater question, “What do you want of me Lord?” It is a temptation that we all share.
The only way to combat our struggle with the temptation, serving God and his holy people in the choosing of the second best is prayer. (I’ll bet no one saw that coming.) We know that prayer will not magically change us yet we do know that prayer does transform us. When we place ourselves before the Author of Truth then truth begins to fill us and we look outwards in how we serve one another. Prayer is the work of building the solid foundation for our spiritual houses so we may do the work of God standing on His Rock of Salvation, our Lord Jesus Christ.
How will you clothe the naked this week? Pray about it!
God Bless,
Fr. Mark