Pater Noster Fraternity at 5419 North 114th Street, Omaha, NE 68164 US - SEEING CHRIST IN THE POOR

Dick Weithoner, SFO, Justice & Peace Commissioner

One of the basic tenets of our faith is that we are all born in the image and likeness of God. “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27) There is no reference to faith or creed! All men, male and female, were created in his image. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John, 14:9) Therefore we are all in the image and likeness of Christ! The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order, #5, states that “Secular Franciscans, therefore, should seek to encounter the living and active person of Christ in their brothers and sisters…” We are called to see Christ in all of humanity. In some cases this is so very easy. Consider John Paul II. Who could NOT see Christ in this man? We could see Christ in his (John Paul’s) love for peace, reconciliation, his particular love for youth and on and on. There are many other examples. Think of a priest or other religious that you fondly recall for the true love they showed for all things. Think of lay people that you know or knew. The ones that you see going to church every morning. The ones that believe like Father Flanagan did that there is no such thing as a bad boy! They just need love! It is easy to see Christ in them. In these people we see the Christ giving the Sermon on the Mount. We see the Christ of the Beatitudes. We see Christ the gentle teacher instructing with parables. We see the Christ who said, “Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them. The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Matthew, 19:14) We see the Jesus who said, “My commandment is this, love one another, just as I love you.” (John 15:12) That is the Christ that we tend to look for in people! Now, let’s look at the other side of the coin. Remember being downtown in a large city? Remember the dirty, unshaven homeless guy approaching you? Remember how his eyes zeroed in on you even though you tried to avoid eye contact? Remember how he asked you for money? Remember walking on? I am not judging here. One must be prudent and exercise good judgment when giving alms! I do not judge but I challenge you with this! Did you see Christ in that man? Did you try? It can be difficult, can’t it? I must confess that I had great difficulty with that in the past and still do to some degree. We must recall the story of St Francis and the leper and how the sight of the leper filled him with fear and horror. Knowing that if he was to become more Christ like he must overcome these things and he kissed the leper. Consider the author Nathaniel Hawthorne who was repulsed by the sight of a disfigured little girl in a Liverpool workhouse until he took the girl in his arms. What Christ do we find in these people? The undesired? The oppressed? Could it be Jesus betrayed? Jesus at the Last Supper when he tells Judas, “Be quick about what you are to do.” (John, 13:27) How about Jesus in his Agony in the Garden? When he asked the three apostles to stay awake with him and after praying he returned and found them asleep and said “Could you not stay awake one hour with me?” (Mark 14:37) Peter? James? John? Could it be Jesus before the Sanhedrin when he hears the cock crow and knows that Peter had just denied him the third time? I am merely suggesting ways to find Christ in our fellow man. Once again, I am not judging actions, just trying to point a way to finding Christ in all of our brothers and sisters, particularly the poor and marginalized. It is as Blessed Frederic Ozanam, one of the founders of the St Vincent de Paul Society said, “It esteems the poor man when we treat him with respect, not only as an equal, but as a superior, since he is suffering what perhaps we are incapable of suffering. After all, he is God’s messenger to us, sent to prove our justice and our charity, and, to save us by our works.”

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