Luke 9:50: "For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest." Job 1:21-22: "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!"
We would say that the person who endures such deprivation is truly to be sanctified. The circumstances that weigh up many today throughout the world are providing them with the same avenues that led Job and many other great saints and blesseds to their greatness, recognized nor not.
Many laymen, laywomen and even children today are living lives of need and misery through no fault of their own. Hardworking mothers and fathers have great difficulty sleeping because they have had to face painful poverty. Many careful and precise business owners have had to give many pink slips or completely close their businesses thus terminating incomes to families. These are truly the modern candidates for sanctity.
The words of Job truly relate to the sacrifices being made by so many. Nakedness is embarrassing, Yet it is a genuine sign to other of a person's complete dependence on others.
As we hear or read these words of scripture today, do they have an impacting significance in the thinking, in the prayer and in the actions of those who have the potential of assistance? In the course of one day, what do we ask of God for the faceless who are suffering so much? Have these good people just become gutter clutter, interference in society's day-to-day business?
There is a question that each of us needs to answer not just today but every day of our lives. The question is this: When I retire each evening, do I say to God "I am grateful for your care for me. But I do ask your graces, your blessings for those suffering great need. Is there a way that I could have helped someone today and ignored that urge?"
That "gutter clutter," those "clinging to the sides of buildings in downtown areas," those with the outstretched hand, nailed to the cross of misery and need, did I help them with any kind of love? These are my sisters and brothers!
The Son of Man came to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
(Mark 10:45)
