Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Jesus in the breadline & The Last Supper

Fritz Eichenberg was a German born artist who moved to the United States in the 1930s. While still in Germany he started drawing politically poignant artwork making fun of Hitler and quickly realized he better split for the U.S. Two of his drawings have moved me deeply (he was an artist featured in many editions of the Catholic Worker newspaper and we have seen these woodcarvings throughout the country).

Jesus in the Breadline

The Last Supper

Both of these woodcarvings speak to the fact that Jesus walked with the "least of these", men and women who most of society thought were outcasts, worthless. As the title clearly points out, in Jesus in the Breadline Eichenberg portrays Jesus as a homeless man, and when you think about it, if Jesus came during the era of breadlines, He probably would have been standing in one. This type of imagery speaks to me, portraying Jesus as someone walking among us. Mother Teresa thought of each and every person she came in contact with as if they were Christ. If we can train our mind to regard everyone as Christ, Matthew 25:31-46 is within our grasp of understanding.

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put 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; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

I can only hope that each day, as we give water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, and clothes to the cold people of our nations cities, we can see Christ in the eyes of these men and women standing in the breadlines.

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