This saying of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew is not talking about what a Christian should do, although Christians certainly should be attentive to the needs of fellow Christians. Jesus goes beyond that in this saying. Look at the words of Jesus. ANYONE who gives you a cup of cold water will surely not lose his reward.
Jesus is making a statement about those who treat Christians with kindness. If someone gives a Christian something good, that person will receive a reward from God. Christ blesses that person, no matter who that person is. Jesus does not say that only those who treat the apostles with kindness will be rewarded. He is talking about treating any Christian with kindness because he or she is a Christian. People who do that will receive a reward from God.
We call people who help us benefactors. They are do-gooders. God greatly blesses do-gooders. St. Francis put himself at the disposal of those who would do him good. He gave people an opportunity to do good to him and to be blessed by the Lord. Living in poverty was good for Francis because it got him closer to God and helped him become more holy and reach heaven. But it also gave others the opportunity to do Francis good and so be rewarded by the Lord as well.
We should show extreme gratefulness to those who do good to us, for all they have done for us. And thankfulness does not mean just saying thank you. We should take our benefactors into our hearts and plead before the Lord on their behalf. We can offer penances for them. This is how we are truly grateful for them. I need to be thankful for them not only with my mouth but in my heart. A grateful heart is a happy heart. This sounds like a bumper sticker but it is true. When I recognize the good gifts that have been given to me, and not dwell on how bad things are or on my past or if I am worthy, then I am blessed and happy.
Yes, I am a sinner and I don't deserve anything. Yet if I start with the positive, if I see the good about me, I will be happy. On the other hand, if I think that nothing good is going to happen to me, if I always look at my miserable lot, if I see the cloud and the rain, I will not have a grateful heart. A grateful heart will recognize the good in the rain, in the clouds, and will enter into the joy of that time because God is using the rain and the clouds to bring forth new life. Self pity comes from a lack of gratefulness.
How can we recognize good in the midst of suffering? Francis saw that his sufferings were good because they drew him into the sufferings of Christ. We can be thankful that we are allowed to suffer something for Jesus. St. Francis told brother Leo a story about perfect joy. Perfect joy was not converting all of the infidels or knowing all the knowledge of the world or being able to have visions. Perfect joy was Francis coming to his own friary and having the Friars reject him, beat him, throw him into the snow, and tell him that he was a stupid idiot. Why was this perfect joy? Because it gave Francis an opportunity to feel the rejection that Christ felt from his own. If this actually would have happened to Francis, Christ would be giving Francis an opportunity to identify with Him in His sufferings.
St. Paul rejoiced in his sufferings. Did this mean that he did not enjoy good things? Of course not. But he was able to be grateful for his sufferings because now he had something to give back to the good God. St. Francis saw God as good and wrote a prayer in praise of God, extolling God for all His many good qualities. Francis recognized that God can make us holy through physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional illness and suffering.
Christians have suffered for the past 2000 years, and when the government that has been persecuting the Christians falls, then the Christians rise up again and flower because they have grown under suffering. Christ is present to those who suffer. Christ is in prison today. Somewhere Christ is being beheaded today. Pray for our fellow Christians who are suffering, whose blood is staining the earth and becoming the seed of conversion for others.
Franciscan gratefulness is finding the good in all things, and accepting that good from the good God, even if it doesn't seem good to us in any way. In the midst of suffering, turn toward God and ask him to show you the good that comes from union with Christ in that suffering. When we have a bad day, if we realize that there is good in it, we can pull the good out of that day. If we have a grateful heart, then we will never have a bad day. There is no such thing as a bad day for someone with a grateful heart. If I am falsely accused, so was Jesus; if I am hurting physically, so did Jesus hurt. If I am suffering the loss of loved ones, so did Jesus suffer this loss; if I am abused by others, Jesus suffered abuse. My sufferings unite me with Him. This is good.
Yes, we work for justice and we try to alleviate suffering. But in all of this, in our fallen world, we look for the presence of God and we have grateful hearts and true joy. Ask God to make you conscious of His presence at every moment, and then every moment will show you the joy that is in it. We get caught up in our own affairs and thoughts and forget to be conscious of God's presence. Lord, help us to grow in consciousness of the good that is around us and to turn our consciousness into gratefulness.
--Transcribed as well as possible from a homily by Father David Engo, FBM
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