The Stranger within My Gate

A Reflection on the Gospel of John 7 1-30 - 15 March 2024

     Have you ever stopped to consider the blessings that you enjoy? I live a comfortable life, fairly free from fear, without significant health disabilities, and with a certain expectation that this will continue. Yet, much of what I enjoy is nothing that I have earned. I was born into a middle-class family, with parents that came from equally relatively prosperous and educated families, who lived in comfortable houses, in good neighborhoods, in one of the most prosperous and free countries on the earth. Though I have worked hard to take care of my family, much of what I built upon was based on something I never earned but was given me by virtue of where I am from.

     It could have been much different. Imagine that you were born in extreme poverty or a disadvantaged family. You were born in a place ravaged by crime and insecurity, or into a country that is at war, or in a constant state of conflict. Maybe the color of your skin or the shape of your eyes is something that is different than everyone else. Does that change the advantages that can be built upon? Does that change how far you can get in life? Does where you are “from,” matter? Perhaps you are a stranger within your own gates.

     I have a good friend who is blind. Because he is blind, people make certain assumptions about what he can or cannot do and are initially uncomfortable around him because they don’t know how to engage him. They limit him, treat him as “other,” without ever speaking to him. They have a preconceived set of ideas about his capabilities. They limit him without ever speaking a word to him. He is a stranger to them within their own gates. They haven’t a clue. That is exactly what is going on with Jesus in today’s Gospel.

     We hear the people of Jerusalem in the Gospel,

"Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from."

     You can almost hear the whispering and gossip: “Why would the authorities want to kill him unless he is a criminal? How brazen he is! He could be the Christ but no, we know where he is from and because we know this, we discount him. Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46 NABRE)

      As Jesus hears the murmuring around Him, St John records,

" Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, "You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me."

     Jesus “cried out,” interrupting his teaching in the Temple. You can almost hear the building frustration and sorrow at the judgement all around Him. Jesus situated His origin, His point of departure, not in a place, but in God the Father, in perfect love. That is what is most important and should be the starting point for any notion about the other, the stranger. Do we know his or her soul?

     Jesus tells us that God will judge us on how we treat the stranger. In Mathew 25 we hear,

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me… Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:35–36, 40 NABRE)

     Jesus’ admonition to the people in Jerusalem, is also a caution for us. How often do we judge people based on their place of origin, their life circumstances, rather than their identity as a child of God? The Church calls us to practice charity in Lent. Charity is to “love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.” (CCC 1822) Our neighbor includes the nameless person whom we write off, because we think we know where they are from, the stranger within my gates.

      How often have we heard the admonition, “Stranger Danger?” Christ calls us to love, not fear. Do we know the soul of the stranger in front of us? Perhaps he or she is a brother or sister in Christ. Perhaps he or she is Christ Himself. St Agustine writes, “But who is it who does not judge according to appearances? It is the one who loves [all] equally.” (Elowsky)

     As we enter the last weeks of Lent, intentionally practice true charity, especially toward the stranger. Treat them as you would our Lord, not judging them for their life’s circumstances, but because of who they are, a beloved child of God. “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.” (Hebrews 13:1–2 NABRE)

The Stranger within my gate,
He may be true or kind,
But he does not talk my talk--
I cannot feel his mind.
I see the face and the eyes and the mouth,
But not the soul behind.

(Rudyard Kipling, The Stranger)

End Notes

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). 2nd Ed. Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000. Print.

Elowsky, Joel C., ed. John 1–10. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Print. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.

Kuroski, J. (2018, August 10). 44 poignant Ellis Island photos that illustrate the hope and hardship of coming to America. All That’s Interesting. https://allthatsinteresting.com/ellis-island-immigrants#3

New American Bible. Revised Edition (NABRE). Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011. Print.