Friday of the Third Week of Lent

Readings of the Day

“I am the Lord your God; hear my voice.”

This verse from today’s Responsorial Psalm is an imperative, a command, an exhortation. From the perspective of our Catholic Charities ministries, we can also understand it as an invitation to respond to the “Lord our God.”

With ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts that are open, we can hear the Lord’s voice each day in the cry of the poor, in whatever form that poverty may take. Mother Teresa (St. Teresa of Kolkata) often said that she sees Jesus “in the distressing disguise of the poor.” St. Luigi Guanella, the founder of my religious institute, would say that he sees the face of Jesus in those who are poor. Both took their inspiration from Jesus, when he said: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” The “least” among us is the very presence of the Lord our God with us and speaking to us. Our ministries are our response to the voice of the Lord.

In today’s Gospel Jesus affirmed the two great commandments: the first, present in the Jewish shema, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” and the second, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” I have been blessed and privileged, for over 30 years, to serve among persons with intellectual disabilities and “partner in mission” with many. I’ve witnessed a love among those entrusted to our care that approaches the fulfillment of these two great commandments, in their ways of unconditional love, more than I can expect in my life. And I have observed among my “partners in mission,” with hearts inspired and moved, a love that reflects a level of care, commitment and compassion so essential in the support of this vulnerable group. It seems to me that both “are not far from the kingdom of God.”

May we, with the grace of God, approach that kingdom each day in loving God and each other and in hearing the voice of the Lord our God.

Fr. Dennis M. Weber, Sdc, is a priest of the Servants of Charity and Director of Ministry and Mission, Developmental Programs Division, for Catholic Social Services, Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

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