Here I am, Lord. - John Michael Talbot, SFO

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

The Poor and Sick are a Mirror through which we can See Christ and Mary suffering.


The spiritual man looks at EVERYTHING from a spiritual perspective. God made everything so all things have their origin in God - a Spirit. He made these things to accomplish His will so we must try to learn the spiritual and eternal purpose God has for all things. We must also learn our purpose so that we can fulfill the will of God in our own lives.

Jesus asks us to give all we are and all we have to Him. He said that "Unless you hate father and mother, brother and sister, wife and children and even your own life, you cannot be My disciple". What Jesus meant was that our love for God should be so great that, in comparison, our love for others should seem like hate. Jesus made it clear it was all or nothing. He said, "The first and greatest commandment is this; You must Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. The second is similar to it: you must love your neighbor as you love yourself".

Francis believed everything that Jesus said. Jesus said we had to give up everything so Francis turned his back on all things. He chose the Love of God above the love of family and friends. Francis was a spiritual man - a man who made the spiritual life his priority. He learned to see EVERYTHING in light of God's purpose.

Francis said: "When you see a poor man, brother, a mirror of the Lord and His poor Mother is held up to you! In like manner consider in the sick the infirmities He took upon Himself."

A mirror reflects back whatever is in front of it, and for Francis, 'a poor man (is) a mirror of the Lord and His poor Mother'. This spiritual 'mirror' reflects back the image of Jesus and His dear mother Mary in poverty. Though we aren't literally looking at Jesus and Mary, Francis encourages us to see them, spiritually, in the poor. Francis saw them in the poor and so loved the poor intensely. Being around the poor made him feel close to Jesus and Mary.

Most of us have little idea of what it is like to be poor. Poor people live with hunger. Their only clothes are the ones on their backs, often worn out and falling apart. No one wants a poor person as a friend so, when trouble comes, who can they turn to for help?! They are ignored, despised and rejected because they have nothing to offer. Loving Jesus and Mary means we understand them enough to feel their needs - the needs of those who are poor. Showing we love them first requires being able to look into this mirror of poverty and feel their pain.

A mirror can also reflect back the image of the person standing in front of it. When we stand in front of the mirror of poverty do we (with spiritual eyes) see the person who stands there - ourselves in spiritual poverty? Actual material poverty is a mirror of spiritual poverty - our desperate need for God. This reflection will compel us to cry out to Him for help. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!" The poor in spirit are blessed because their poverty brings upon them the blessings of our heavenly Father.

Those who don't spend significant time in front of this 'mirror' are doomed to think that all is well with their soul. They will continue to rely on their own righteousness (wisdom, power and goodness) which the prophet Isaiah described as being 'like filthy rags' (menstrual rags) - so filthy that it disgusts God. God is ready to meet our need - clothing us in His righteousness - if we would only acknowledge our need and turn to Him.

Francis goes on to encourage us to "consider in the sick the infirmities He took upon Himself". He tells us that those who are ill, diseased or disabled are also mirrors of Jesus for us. The prophet Isaiah said "He Himself bore our sickness and infirmities and it is through the lashes inflicted upon Him that we are healed". St. Paul put it like this, "Feel the need of the sick for you also are in a body". Thus, Francis loved to be around sick, disabled and suffering people because it reminded him of Jesus who, for love of us, suffered these things.

Francis exhorts us to take advantage of the opportunity the sight of those who suffer need provide us to draw close to our suffering Savior. Jesus once said, "You will not always have Me" and "You will long for one day with Me . . .". Through the poor and sick we have Him and can be with Him. Also, ministering to the needs of the poor provides a way to show Jesus our love for Him. Jesus said, "When you did this to the least of these my brothers, you did it for Me".

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