Least of My Brothers

A man died and was standing in line at the pearly gates.  He overheard Saint Peter as the man ahead of him, “When did I see you give to the least of our brothers?”  Not listening to the man’s response as he prepared his own answer.  It was his turn, he walked up to Saint Peter with a huge grin.  There he stood, looking Saint Peter in the eyes, Peter asked, “So when did I see you do for the least of our brothers?” 

With a bit of a cocky attitude, the man responded with, “Well, every year I made a donation to whatever fund came across my desk and then at Christmas, my wife would get a couple of angels off of the angel tree.”  He was so proud of his answer that he missed the expression of Saint Peter’s face.

 There was a long pause, finally Peter cleared his throat and asked, “Okay, so twice a year, when it was convenient and in line with social status, you gave to whom you don’t know?  Anything else?  Concern for an elderly neighbor, a sick relative, kind words to a strange, anything?”   

The cocky smile left his face and he cleared his throat as yes scurried for something, anything to say, “Well, you see, Saint Peter, I was a pretty important man on earth.  I ran a Fortune 500 company and I didn’t have much time to concern myself with things that didn’t directly effect myself or my company.  I gave when the time came so that has to count for something, right?”

It was with a sad heart that Saint Peter replied, “No”, and motioned to the left of the pearly gates for the man to go.  

The man went but not without words, “But I gave, I did.  Every year I gave, I don’t understand! I gave!”

Peter turned to Jesus and said, with a very heavy heart, “That is the 10th one today, when will they learn?”

Jesus smiled, shook His head, and smiled yet it’s sad eyes.  “I am not sure, My friend, I am not sure.  Being human it difficult, I know but I left specific instruction, I modeled each point; yet I also made it clear that it is not the letter but rather the spirit of the law by which action should be taken.  What has one done for the least of My brothers; what has one done when no one was looking?  I know the social inclination to give comes but once a year but what about the rest of the year, are their people not in need?  In need of a smile, a listening ear, food, shelter, companionship, clothing?  Why has giving turn into once a year?  I just do not understand.”

“So with this being number ten today and only twelve having come through and the total for the week in the thousands, do we need to change our rubric of letting people through the pearly gates?  I mean, if we lessen our definition of giving, we will be able to accept more people, what do you think?”  

With tears Jesus responded, “Absolutely not!  Morals are morals and will not be lowered to the standards by which a majority have deemed enough. The will to give is innate, it comes from the heart, from My voice within the soul seeing the world through the eyes of each human.  Unwrapped faith come complete with the fruits and gifts of the Spirit as it does with the Greatest Commandment, the Beatitudes, and the Works of Mercy.  Every human being has a choice to serve faith or serve the ego; too many are choosing the latter but that does not mean we are to lower our standards to accommodate mediocracy.  No, it is with a heavy heart that we will send 70% away from eternal love.  But we must not forget to welcome, with loving hearts and genuine joy, those who have chosen the path of faith.”  

With that, Jesus walked away and embraced those who walked through the pearly gates.  Saint Peter turned back to his line and asked the next person, “So, what have you done for the least of our brothers?”...