Recalling last Sunday’s Gospel

The plight of refugee families presents us with an opportunity to delve into the heart of Matthew 25. In Syria, South Sudan, Central African Republic and other places around the world where we encounter hunger, thirst, poverty and insecurity, the Gospel calls us to serve.

We also have an opportunity to delve into what the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops considers the two feet of love in action: charity and justice. In charity, we satisfy the immediate needs of those we encounter. In justice, we ask, why are people hungry, thirsty, naked and homeless?

When it comes to addressing hunger, stepping in with both feet-charity and justice-is essential. Our neighbors in the global community need to eat today and tomorrow. At CRS, we often reflect on the old adage of teaching a man to fish. Give him a fish, and he’ll eat for a day; teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime. We want the community to fish so that people can feed themselves-but we at CRS are constantly working to ensure that they have adequate access to the river.

Matthew 25 is a call to conversion-a call to leap forward with both feet, with charity and justice. We give of ourselves instinctually because we now see, with the eyes of Christ, those places where injustice prevails-and we commit ourselves to act.