What have you done for the least of us?

The Church's liturgical year ended last month with the feast of Christ the King and a reading from Matthew's Gospel about God's sorting the sheep from the goats at the Last Judgment. The Gospel left me with one overwhelming thought: "I am going to hell."

You may recall the story: Neither those who are saved nor those who are condemned knew they had seen Jesus hungry or thirsty, naked or ill. To those who are saved, He says, "Whatever you did for the least one of mine, you did for me." To the condemned, He says, "What you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me."

There, in a nutshell, is a Christian precursor of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," in which Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley, who tells Scrooge what fate awaits him if he does not mend his ways.

As Catholics, we do not take one story from the Bible and base our actions on it. Rather, we look at the Bible as a whole, and that gives us hope. Such was the case a week later, when I prayed the Liturgy of the Hours and was comforted by the following passage from the Book of Wisdom: "But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent."

Just as Scrooge had time to make amends, I have time to make up for what I have not done or to do those things I had promised to do.

Like many who are reading these words today, I have felt overwhelmed in the past year with the need to help those less fortunate than myself, starting with the victims of the tsunami in December 2004 through the ravages of Hurricanes Katerina, Rita and Wilma, as well as the continual requests for help from my parish, the charities to which I donate each year, and the neighborhood appeals to support the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Little League, Pee Wee football, and the many other worthy organizations that rely on community support for their existence.

This year, more than in many years of the recent past, the need for help is staggering. Indeed, many of us have seen our own needs increase this year as a result of rising fuel costs and the impact that has had on other areas of the economy.

Nevertheless, we still are called to remember the words of Jesus: "What you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me."

Those of us who have done nothing now have an opportunity to do something; those who have done something have an opportunity to do more.

This Advent, let us remember that Christmas is not about how much we can buy or spend. Rather, Advent offers us the opportunity to make a renewed or deeper commitment to living as Jesus did. It is a time for what some have called an "alternative" Christmas, but it is really the true Christmas: the sharing of our gifts with the least of God's people.

That may involve spending less on gifts for family and friends so that we can donate something to worthy charities. It may involve hosting a less lavish Christmas party so that more money can be used for charitable donations. It may mean forgoing new ornaments because that money is better spent helping others who need assistance with a heating bill.

I recommend donating to an Emergency Assistance Fund that Catholic Charities has for helping people whose utilities have been or are about to be shut off. Donations can be sent to Catholic Charities, 40 N. Main Ave., Albany, NY 12203-1481.

(Mr. Ayres is chair of the Albany Diocese's Commission on Peace and Justice.)

(12/8/05) [[In-content Ad]]