Pray with the righteous

Lord, those who have come to the rescue
of all the wounded in existence,
all the scarred, the starving, the rejected,
those who, without knowing it,
rescued You, Yourself.
It was Yourself they drew
out of solitude and out of horror,
yes, You, in your universal incarnation,
in your immense and crucified body
whom they helped to bring back to life.
Thus, without their even suspecting it,
it was every man of “suffering”
who became for them the Man of sorrows,
like one of God’s sacraments.
As for those who ignored the others,
or even pushed them further into their distress,
haven’t they ever felt a spark of pity ?
Haven’t you taken them on as well ?

Olivier Clément, Orthodox theologian