Friday, July 11, 2025
Feast of Saint Benedict
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
Welcome to week twenty-eight of BMW, Be My Witnesses. This week, we continue on mission, on being witnesses. Let us focus on the corporal work of mercy: clothing the naked. And since we have been spending a good amount of time in the past few weeks, we want to help clothe others with the Holy Spirit.
Witness: Clothe the Naked
In the garden of Eden, after sin entered the world, God sought out those two misbehaving humans, but they had hidden themselves. Why? As Adam said, “I heard you in the garden, but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid” (Genesis 3:10). Obviously, we all have to bear the fruits of our sinfulness, but God continues to seek what is for our good and so we are also told, “The Lord God made for the man and his wife garments of skin, with which he clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). God wants to clothe us. That, my sisters and brothers, should be our desire for each other.
In our age of rampant pornography, we have often lost the sense of how human dignity is respected by proper clothing and how it is violated by the opposite. Voyeurism of any kind is a real violation of human dignity and an exploitation of our sisters and brothers. As you can see, clothing the naked can be taken in many ways, but it is always a demonstration of respect for the dignity of the other.
Jesus himself was quite strong about this, as he proclaimed in his Sermon on the Mount: “I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away” (Matthew 5:28-29). Now I am not advising such drastic behavior. Rather, let us clothe the naked, either literally or make sure that we are not violating the dignity of another human being by our leering eyes.
It is most likely that Jesus himself was subject to the indignity of a crucifixion in which he was stripped of all his garments. It would have been part of the Roman practice to degrade completely any criminal. We must counter such behaviors and be willing to give the shirt off our backs.
To be clothed with the Holy Spirit by God himself, of course, is the highest form of being covered with love. We ourselves who have been filled with the Holy Spirit for mission need to see that all our actions are a fulfillment of what has already been done for us. As we have been clothed, so let us do unto others.
The Challenge
Sisters and brothers, our challenge for this week is to talk with a friend or with our small group about ways in which we, in any way, strip off the dignity of other human beings, either personally or as a society. Perhaps, pray before a Crucifix together before entering such a conversation. Should such a conversation result in some resolution, all the better.
Until next week, may God Bless you.
+ Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing
P.S. Here is a video version of this week's Be My Witnesses. Please do share with friends and family. Thank you.