Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. Matthew 25:40.

Henri Nouwen, in The Wounded Healer, tells the story of a young fugitive who came to a village. The people were kind to him, and offered to hide him. But when the soldiers came and asked where the fugitive was everyone was frightened. The soldiers gave the villagers until dawn to produce the fugitive, or else the village would be destroyed and all the men killed.

The villagers went to their pastor and asked his counsel. The minister prayed and read his Bible all night, until his eyes fell on the words, ‘It is better that one dies, than that the people are lost.’ He told the soldiers where the boy was hidden, and they led him away to be executed.

There was a feast of joy in the village, but the pastor did not celebrate. That night he was visited by an angel, who asked ‘What have you done?’ He replied, ‘I have handed over a fugitive to the enemy.’ The angel responded, ‘But he was the Messiah!’ ‘How could I know?’ asked the distraught pastor. Then the angel said, ‘If, instead of reading your Bible you had visited this young man just once and looked into his eyes, you would have known.’

Jesus, you are still here, everywhere. Help me to recognize you. Amen.

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