"As You Did to One of the Least"

What was the secret of Mother Teresa's extraordinary ability to touch the hearts of people of every nation, background, and religion? There are many organizations that serve the poor and countless individuals who devote themselves to the relief of human suffering. Why was this diminutive nun in a striped sari honored and loved with deep affection throughout the world?

Perhaps the answer may be found by looking at what Scripture teaches about works of mercy.

God's command to care for the needy is one of the most frequently repeated injunctions in the Bible. When the people of Israel were about to cross over into the Promised Land, God admonished them, "The poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, you shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor" (Dt 15:11). No Israelite should ever celebrate a feast without sharing his food with "the alien, the orphan and the widow" (Dt 16:14). No one harvesting his crops should ever reap all the way to the edge of the field, but should leave some to be gleaned by the poor (Dt 24:19-22).

Through Isaiah, God taught his people what kind of fasting pleases him: "Is not this the fast that I choose: . . . Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?" (Is 58:6-7).

But in the New Testament, the Lord reveals something new. Around the time of Passover, when it was customary to give alms, there was a memorable scene: a woman came and poured on Jesus a costly gift, an alabaster jar of precious ointment. Perhaps not surprisingly, the disciples were upset: "Why this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for a large sum, and given to the poor" (Mt 26:8-9). Her spontaneous generosity seemed to them a needless waste of what could have been used for poverty relief.

But Jesus responds by indicating that it is actually they who have failed to respond rightly. "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me" (Mt 26:10-11).

The disciples' advocacy for a more moderate response to Jesus was founded on worldly calculations that completely missed the significance of his identity and mission. The divine bridegroom was in their midst and was about to make an infinitely costly gift of himself on the cross. Could anything given to him be a waste?

Jesus' words in no way mean that his followers are dispensed from charity toward the poor. Rather, our gifts to the poor must be first and foremost gifts to him, the Lord who is infinitely worthy of our love and devotion. Only then do they have the purity of intention that makes them a manifestation of God's own love for the poor. Prior to any act of charity to the poor is charity toward Jesus himself, for he himself is present in the poor.

Without this motivation, a Christian ministry to the poor becomes merely another NGO. With it, it becomes a sign of the kingdom of heaven in our midst.

Mother Teresa understood this well, such that her every act of service was an act of love for Jesus himself "in the distressing disguise of the poor." No wonder we can hardly hear Jesus' words in Matthew 25just before the alabaster jar scene in Matthew 26without thinking of Mother Teresa: "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40).