In April 2011, I examined Rev Jim Wallis and Sojourners magazine’s  controversial campaign to protect our social safety net – with the tag line “What would Jesus Cut?” Wallis and his colleagues completed a Lenten fast for hunger and poverty demonstrating their commitment through an organized collection of religious, political and personal activities. Given last week’s House of Representatives vote and the current state of the budget/debt ceiling debates in Congress, it seems appropriate now to revise (although disturbing how little has changed since 2011) and offer once again my fundamental question….Would you deny Jesus food stamps?

Today, as in 2011, many are attempting to set up a false dichotomy between the future of the US economy and the social safety net for the poor.  The economy is a means to an end, not an end in itself. As Pope Benedict XVI highlighted in Caritas in Veritate and recently reiterated by the Holy See at the United Nations – economic development must be people-centered.

If humans in their full humanity are not viewed as the ultimate goal of development…we fear that humans will be seen by many as the primary barrier to development and we can be certain which humans these will be: the poor; the marginalized; the inconvenient; those yet to be born and those who due to age, disability or illness cannot defend themselves.

Recourse to both “render unto Caesar” and setting up a false choice between economic stability and protecting the poor must be rejected. Christian discipleship does not allow viewing our role as Christians and citizens in this way.   In their introduction to the 1986 Economic Pastoral, Economic Justice for All, the United States Catholic Bishops make this clear, as does Pope Francis through his many public sermons and speeches.

As a Catholic moral theologian, I admire and support the Circle of Protection and the efforts of the USCCB, Wallis and others. However, I do not think they go quite far enough. Looking more carefully at Matthew 25, the question isn’t “what would Jesus cut?”  but “are you prepared to take away food stamps FROM Jesus?”

In Matthew 25’s Parable of the Last Judgment, Christians are told exactly the criteria by which we will be judged.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations ¹⁵ will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. 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 drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’

Then the righteous ¹⁶ will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’  And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

In his book, Being Consumed, William Cavanaugh argues,

What is truly radical about this passage is not that God rewards those who help the poor; what is truly radical is that Jesus identifies himself with the poor. The pain of the hungry person is the pain of Christ, and it is thus also the pain of anyone who is a member of the body of Christ. If we are identified with Christ, who identifies himself with the suffering of all, then what is called for is more than just charity. The very distinction between what is mine and yours breaks down in the body of Christ.

In her reflection on Matthew 16:15 “Who do you say that I am?” Mother Teresa offers a powerful answer, beginning with the standard theological statements from the creed (You are the Second person of the Blessed Trinity, etc) and concludes:

Jesus is the Hungry – to be fed.
Jesus is the Thirsty – to be satiated.
Jesus is the Homeless – to be taken in
Jesus is the Sick – to be healed.
Jesus is the lonely – to be loved.
Jesus is the Unwanted – to be wanted.

Jesus is not like the poor. Jesus is the poor. Jesus is not like the unemployed father who cannot find work and for whom food stamps are the only thing preventing his children from going to bed hungry. Christ is not like the single mother working two low-paying part time jobs surviving only through access to housing and child care subsidies. Jesus Christ is that father. Jesus Christ is that mother.

Mother Teresa understood this radical identification – and if one looks closely at her actions, they cannot be reduced to mere individual instances of charity. Blessed Mother Teresa organized; she built a system of coordinated and institutional support to attend to the needs of the poor and vulnerable.   Christian ethics is not individualistic – we are called to be members of the body of Christ and the Communion of Saints.

The Parable of the Last Judgment and the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself require a preferential option for the poor, vulnerable, marginalized – those without a voice. As the US Bishops clearly stated, the measure of justice in a society is how we treat the least among us. The United States Federal Budget is not only a moral document; it is a statement of our national priorities. Are we a society that prioritizes justice? Or do we prioritize self-interest?  If the budget is a statement of our priorities, what are the criteria the Christian should use to evaluate this moral document? There are three, as detailed by Fr. David Hollenbach, SJ:

“The needs of the poor take priority over the wants of the rich. The freedom of the dominated takes priority over the liberty of the powerful. The participation of marginalized groups takes priority over the preservation of an order which excludes them.”

And so we come back once again to Matthew 25 – the fundamental question of Christian discipleship is how we treat the least among us. For it is in the encounter with the poor, the unemployed, the sick, the undocumented, the homeless, that we meet Christ. This is both an individual call and a call to the community.

And so, when Matthew 25 concludes:

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’  Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’

As Christians, will we be prepared to answer? Or, will we be caught off guard when Jesus holds us accountable not only for our individual “acts of charity” but also our denial of social support for food banks, food stamps, Medicaid, and programs to fight homelessness?