Many times we’ve sung the lyrics to the song, “We Are Called,” in which the refrain begins with the verse, “We are called to act with justice.” Or perhaps you’ve watched the television show What Would You Do? with John Quinones and questioned what your own actions would be in a particular circumstance of injustice. When it comes to responding to injustice, as followers of Jesus, we are reminded of the Gospel message in Matthew 25:40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'” Jesus describes the “least of these” as the hungry, thirsty, homeless, naked, sick and imprisoned. We might describe the “least of these” as the marginalized who society does not want anything to do with or with whom we do not want to relate. Many of us may retort that “they” should be able to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Continue reading →