My salvation is in the needy: Why I joined GK

MANILA, Philippines – I use the word “needy” because I think “poor” is inappropriate. The needy are poor only materially but are rich in character and other virtues that seem to evade many of those who have more.

I have no intention of maligning or belittling anyone, any position or any class or group of people.

I am a Catholic and I will die one because according to my observation, it is the most open and its teachings are the most selfless. I make this statement without any prejudice to the many non-Catholic Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists I have met whose lives have enriched mine.

This is a personal realization and I do not wish to impose it on anyone.

Hardly anyone talks about salvation nowadays. Yet, underneath all our desires, each of us wants to be saved.

I have discovered my salvation. Let me share it with you.

It is in the Gospel – the book we consider as the Word of God.

And I discovered it in the words of Jesus who has promised to prepare a place for me in His Father’s mansion.

The way to my salvation is an open secret. Jesus illustrated it already in the Gospel of Matthew.

When I finally meet Him, He will not ask me if I was a good and active member of any Catholic ecclesial movement or if I was in a position in charge of watching over souls and spirit.

He will not ask me if I was a priest, or a bishop, or Cardinal or lay.

He will not ask me how often I went to Mass.

In fact, He will not ask me if I was Catholic or not.

He will ask me if I gave Him food when He was hungry; if I gave Him something to drink when He was thirsty; if I received Him in my house when He was a stranger; if I clothed Him when He was naked; if I cared for Him when He was sick; if I visited Him while He was in prison. How can we do this?

I would like to refer you to Matthew, the evangelist.

The Final Judgment

“When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne, and the people of all nations will be gathered before him. Then he will divide them into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the righteous people at his right and the others at his left. Then the King will say to the people on his right, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world. I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me. The righteous will then answer him. ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me!’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Away from me, you that are under God’s curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels! I was hungry but you would not feed me, thirsty but you would not give me a drink; I was a stranger but you would not welcome me in your homes, naked but you would not clothe me; I was sick and in prison but you would not take care of me.’

“Then they will answer him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we would not help you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.’ These, then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life.” (TEV Matthew 25: 31-46)

In this account, the King does not stop at rewarding the righteous. He condemns those on the left by calling them Devil and sending them to “eternal punishment.”

Also in this chapter according to Matthew, there is no caution of overdoing it. Although, given the obtaining situation in the Philippines, the caution for Filipino Catholics would be that we are doing very little of it – or not doing it at all. Perhaps that is why the needy continually increase in number and in the intensity of insufficiency.

The only caution in the New Testament I can remember is in the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians. If we are going to help the needy, let us do it out of sincere and genuine love. Otherwise, like a noisy gong or a clanging bell, it is worth nothing.

Now, where would I rather be? To the left, or to the right of the King?

I choose to be on the side of the least who constantly and desperately need food, drink, hospitality, clothes, care, visits. And while there is still time, God sent me to discover Gawad Kalinga.

I have neglected Jesus for too long by hiding behind “providing for the family.”

A recent experience proved to me that when I look after Jesus in the least, he will look after me and my family.

(The author is the head of Focolare Communications.)