Matthew 25

I went to a vigil at the GEO / ICE Detention Center in Aurora last night. The US government pays GEO Corp. $130/day/detainee out of our tax dollars to hold immigrants without papers while they wait, often for many months, for their case to be resolved.  Crossing the border without documentation is not a criminal offense, it is a civil offense, so it makes no sense that undocumented persons are made to serve prison time. Currently there are over 500 persons in the detention center, and they exist in painful separation from their families while they wait for a sentence or deportation. Many are not assigned a defense lawyer and due to this lack of representation and a language barrier they are at the whims of a broken immigration system.

Matthew 25:35-36 tells us that Jesus spoke of the stranger and the imprisoned: "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." When the crowd asked when they had seen him in such states he answered them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." I feel the imperative in this story just as I felt the energy of the 60 people gathered. at the vigil last night - all ages, many different races, languages, and faith traditions.

As I come out of this long period of illness and uncertainty, I often wonder what to do next. As I wrestle with demons like the need to achieve, the need to make a mark, to compete, I feel more and more a pull to this verse in Matthew. What if my mission is to follow this guide? To find Jesus in the stranger, the hungry and thirsty, the sick, and the imprisoned? We are promised eternal life, and while I cannot begin to understand what is meant by this, I understand it to be superior to eternal punishment. We are all members of the same family, and the hurt and inhumane treatment of some members requires action on the part of others.