Matthew 25

Today I learned the meaning of Matthew 25. We were eating lunch at a gas station with a lunch mart kind of place. Mr. Porfil, our Haitian guide for the day at St. Claire’s and the man who is responsible for the feeding program, was with us along with Daniel, our friend and interpreter and Jocelyn, our driver. As we were eating there was a homeless boy that was looking in the window, begging. Natalie said how hungry he looked. I didn’t know what to do since going out and giving him money could have brought out a whole lot of people expecting to get money, so I told Natalie about that. I have seen that be pretty ugly in Haiti.

Within a short period of time I saw that the young boy was in the restaurant and that Porvil was giving him all of his food. The boy was famished and grateful and began eating the warm beans and rice and fish or something. Natalie and I decided that we should share our food with Porvil since we had plenty, still. We gave him the rest of our beans and rice for him to eat which he promptly added to the heaping plate of food for the homeless boy. Out of our group, Porfil clearly needed the food the most.

The other day I re-read Mathew 25 because I had heard that Visitation House in Haiti where we used to stay had been renamed Mathew 25 House. I wanted to refresh myself on what Mathew 25 says. Of course at the end of Mathew 25 it says, '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’.

Today, Mr. Porfil peeled away a layer of the onion or removed the scales from my eyes. I don’t think we hold back all the time out of greed but do so out of fear of the unknown and not wanting to do the wrong thing. There is a way. It doesn’t come from ones abundance that overflows or trickles down to these the least of these my brothers, it comes from seeing with the eyes of the heart. Porfil simply said, “I like children and I see that you do, too. I was humbled beyond belief and can only hope that someday I can see with the pure eyes of my heart like I saw Mr. Porvil do on this day.
- Paul Miller