Everyone as Christ
Today's Reflection
IN VIRTUALLY EVERY Benedictine community, we see the affirmation, “Treat everyone as Christ.” This statement illuminates the heart of the Benedictine ethic and the hospitality for which many know it. Benedictine hospitality stems from the belief that Christ is present as guest and host in every encounter. Jesus proclaims a divine-human synergy, as recorded in Matthew 25. ...
We reveal our love for God in our love for one another. Christ feels the pain of those who are marginalized and neglected, who experience injustice on city streets, long waits in line for social services, and exclusion of voting rights. God rejoices in children welcomed in church in all their chaotic creativity, in families receiving shelter, and in foreigners provided safe asylum. In ways beyond our imagining, God feels our pain and celebrates our joy. Everything we do touches God.
—Bruce G. Epperly, The Mystic in You: Discovering a God-Filled World (Upper Room Books, 2018)
Today's Question
When have you seen Jesus hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or in prison?
Today's Scripture
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.... Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
—Matthew 25:35-36, 40 (NRSV)
Prayer for the Week
Peace Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
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Something More
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Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
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