85. For Christians, the words of Jesus have an even deeper meaning. They compel us to recognize Christ himself in each of our abandoned or excluded brothers and sisters (cf. Mt 25:40.45).
The first of three important aspects of the Christian life: recognizing Christ in our world. Specifically, in human beings who are needy. We honor our Lord also in the recognition of human dignity, according to the last pope of the twentieth century:
Faith has untold power to inspire and sustain our respect for others, for believers come to know that God loves every man and woman with infinite love and “thereby confers infinite dignity” upon all humanity.[St John Paul II, Message to the Handicapped, Angelusin Osnabrück, Germany (16 November 1980): Insegnamenti III, 2 (1980), 1232]
Third, our acknowledgement of Christ’s self-sacrifice:
We likewise believe that Christ shed his blood for each of us and that no one is beyond the scope of his universal love. If we go to the ultimate source of that love which is the very life of the triune God, we encounter in the community of the three divine Persons the origin and perfect model of all life in society. Theology continues to be enriched by its reflection on this great truth.
We cannot grasp the entirety of Jesus. Therefore, we should expect to continue to be surprised by him, in our personal encounters, and in our academic exploits.
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