By Father Marco Rangel
Special to The Texas Catholic
This Lent, God calls upon us to once again grow in our prayer, fasting, and charity.
It is a privileged time to examine our hearts and open ourselves to the love of Christ — that love that asks us to accept our neighbor and help him, even if he is not part of our circle.
“I give you a new commandment: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. For this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples and to us to this day. These words continue to challenge every follower of Christ, since they call us to seek the good of our neighbor, no matter who he may be.
St. Paul the Apostle teaches us that even when we were enemies, Christ loved us to the point of death. He loves us, not because we deserve it, but because we need it.
Christ teaches us that love is offered not because we like someone or because they are part of our friends or because they are the most comfortable for us.
On the contrary, love calls us to think of the needs of all our neighbors, such as the poor, the homeless, the immigrant, and the refugee.
The love of Christ calls us to think of the needs of others, not only our own or those of our family and friends.
Look, for example at the good samaritan, the father of the prodigal son; but especially look at when Christ describes what will happen at the end of time when He returns in Glory, to judge the living and the dead and separate the nations as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Then He will say to those who did His will: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to visit me…I assure you that as you did it to one of the least of these brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:34-40).
Likewise, Christ warns: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not welcome me; I was naked and you did not clothe me; I was sick and you did not visit me…I assure you that as you did not do it to one of the least of these brothers, you did not do it to me. These will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:41-45).
Lent calls us to be open to see the needs of others and to take up the challenge of loving them as we can.
We are not going to solve all the needs of the world alone, but if we all do what we can, by the grace of God, we will see the triumph of true love in action and as faithful disciples of Christ.
Father Marco Rangel is the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Grand Prairie.
Cutline for featured image: A woman walks down the aisle of Holy Family of Nazareth Catholic Church in Irving after receiving ashes at the parish on Ash Wednesday, March 5. (AMY WHITE/The Texas Catholic)
