The Least

Yesterday was Good Friday. While driving, I noticed the car washes had more than their usual number of Friday cars. I then remembered that it would be Easter Sunday tomorrow, and maybe a lot of people were getting their cars ready to go to church.

I remember growing up, always wearing my best clothes to Easter Sunday mass. Sometimes I would even buy a special “Easter” suit, with a jacket and slacks and sometimes even a vest, an ensemble that I had just bought specifically for that occasion. I remember wearing my best tie, my best shoes, my best, most expensive watch.

I remember seeing other people also wearing what seemed to me their best clothes on Easter Sunday. I remember seeing others who weren’t dressed as nicely, and wondering to myself, “What’s wrong with them? Why didn’t they come prepared?”

It’s been a while since I wore a suit to Easter Sunday mass. It’s been a while since I wore a tie, or a watch, or a brand new pair of shoes. I find myself dressing comfortably and wearing brown.

Yesterday, my friend and I watched Diane Sawyer’s ABC News Special that examined prostitutes. The program mentioned that probably 75-90% of prostitutes were sexually abused as children. The overwhelming majority of them grew up with little to no education, little to no financial support, little to no real family, and are, in a word, stuck. Almost all of them said that if they knew of a way out, they would take it in a heartbeat.

During the commercials, my friend and I talked about others in the world–how many, if not most, of the homeless people in America have some sort of mental disease. How 25% of the homeless are veterans of war, a good number of them also with mental disease. How the current recession and lack of jobs will probably drive even more women to become prostitutes.

The program showed how prostitution is most commonly found in poor neighborhoods, or on the outskirts of casino towns. How the men who solicit prostitutes have their own problems, a lot of whom are in a desperate state of mind. Some of the women who have escaped their old way of life mentioned the importance of self-esteem. Some of the men who were caught soliciting prostitutes said the same thing about themselves.

At the end of the program, Diane Sawyer specifically mentioned that yes, the show is being televised on Good Friday. She mentioned that Jesus was known to have walked and talked with prostitutes, as well as thieves and beggars, and anyone else who were, in a word, stuck.

Since last night, I’ve been thinking about a passage from a song that I’ve heard many times at church:

“Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me.”