Please read St. Matthew 23:31-46. In this passage, Jesus tells us that we will be judged by how well we care for our neighbors and those in need of assistance. We are told many times that we need to visit the imprisoned, clothe the naked, and feed the hungry. Have you ever thought about why the corporal works of mercy are so important? They are important because if a person’s physical needs are not being met, he or she will not be very concerned with spiritual needs.
The psychologist Abraham Maslow devised a pyramid to explain the growth of the human psyche from their basic needs through their need for what he called "self-actualization." Maslow theorized that in order to grow as a person, to reach self-actualization (i.e. fulfilling the promise of the person you could be), certain criteria had to be met. The most basic needs are physiological (i.e. corporal): people need water, food, clothing, and shelter. After the need for food, people need to feel safe. Once they feel safe, the next need is for love, in its variety of forms: familial, fraternal, and/or romantic. If they are fed and clothed, warm, safe, and loved, they can work on esteem, both self esteem as well as recognition for their hard work and talents. They also can then develop a true spirituality and not just a rote list of dos and don’ts they learned as a child. Only after all those needs have been met can a person have the hope of reaching self-actualization. (Franciscans embracing voluntary poverty and fasting are doing so out of choice, so I think that they can achieve self-actualization even when hungry and cold.)
How can we expect a man who is hungry to understand a God who says ‘ask and it shall be given to you?’ How can we expect a woman who feels unsafe in her own house because of drive by shooters to feel secure in God’s protection? How can we expect a child who is regularly beaten and humiliated to believe in a God who cherishes His children?
One of the latest trends in Christian outreach (based on the number of emails and web pages I see) seems to be boycotting those people and business that don’t live up to Christian ideals. Now, I certainly have participated in a couple of boycotts. I STILL buy fancy albacore tune and look at the "dolphin safe" label as being little more than a meaningless label. However, what, really, do boycotts accomplish? They not only take Christians out of the sphere of having some influence on a person or business, they also make us feel like we’re doing something noble when we are doing absolutely nothing.
Ministries are not clean and uninvolved. Ministering to people’s corporal needs as God wants us to minister to them means you have to be brave and step beyond your comfort level. It means visiting the death row inmates and asserting their humanity even in the face of ridicule like Sr. Helen Prejean does. It means feeding and caring for the poorest of the poor, the lowest caste of people, even in the face of overwhelming odds like Mother Teresa did. It means embracing and tenderly washing the rotting flesh of lepers like St. Francis did.
It’s easy to argue against the need to participate in hands-on ministries, especially for unpopular causes. We have, for example, an ingrained belief system in America that "God helps those who help themselves," so poor people are often seen as lazy, good-for-nothing sinners because, obviously, if God loved them, they would be rich. We have such a self-righteous abhorrence for sinners, without remembering that we are ALL sinners, that if we are faced with criminals or alcoholics or drug addicts or prostitutes, we look down on them instead of seeing them as people God loves just as much as he loves you or me. Calling them sinners and assigning to them the burden of their own souls, releases us (in our minds, not God’s) from our obligation to care for them.
In addition to fighting our own inner prejudices, we have to fight the prejudices of others. I remember discussing the death penalty with a man who is a very dedicated Christian. I had asked him, out of curiosity, how he could consider himself to be pro-life since he supports the death penalty. He told me that the death penalty was the law of the land and he was just obeying the law. ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘but legalized abortion is the law of the land, too, and you don’t support that.’ Legalized abortion, he told me, is an unjust law. Well, the Catholic Church says that the death penalty is also an unjust law and, while I agree that it is easier to argue for the life of an innocent child than for a convicted criminal, it doesn’t release us from our moral obligation to protect both lives.
The corporal works of mercy are the absolute basis for any ministry. St. James asked what good it was for one person, who had food and clothing, to tell another person who had nothing to have a good day, to eat well, and to keep warm. (James 2:14-18.) James makes no distinction about the "goodness" of the person without food; he just says to feed him or your faith is dead. If we want to build a better world, if we want to bring true Christianity to our neighbors, we have to become true Christians, roll up our sleeves, and take care of people’s real needs.
