Welcoming & Embracing the Stranger: Lenten Reflections with the Artwork of James Tissot

March 24, 2026 - Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

If you have ever been called out or confronted with anything, you know that it is uncomfortable. Jesus forewarns the Pharisees that if they do not believe, they will die (Jn 8:24). This is not simply a bodily death, which is the fate of everyone, but a spiritual death, which separates us from God. “As he spoke thus, many believed in him” (Jn 8:30).

Not only did Jesus call the Pharisees out in front of everyone, but many of them believed in him and took his side. Imagine getting called out for something that you were doing wrong, and many people who witnessed it agreed. How uncomfortable would you feel? 

We are going to encounter many situations with a similar experience, where we are confronted with discomfort. The easy way out is to run to comfort. We can do this many times every day. Oftentimes, the temptation to flee towards comfort comes when another is involved. Oftentimes, it is when the other is in need, but we may not want to take the energy to go out of our way, we may not want to stand out, we may want to blend into the crowd, we may not want to be noticed, we may be afraid of making a mistake, or we may not want to be rejected.

As Pope Benedict XVI urged us in his encyclical letter Spe Salvi, “man was created for greatness – for God himself; he was created to be filled by God. But his heart is too small for the greatness for which it is destined. It must be stretched…”  

To be great, you must fail. Failure in the attempt to do the good is progress towards a greater capacity to love. If you avoid this, you avoid love. To neglect a homeless man and not look in his direction, to pretend you do not see the person alone at a party in the corner, to keep your head down when you pass someone you have only met a few times. Looking at Christ lifted high on the cross, we are reminded that we must go out of our way to love and welcome the stranger. 

To recall Jesus’ warning to the Pharisees about their spiritual death: when Lazarus died a bodily death, Jesus wept (Jn 11:35). Imagine how he would weep for one of his children to die spiritually.

Grant us, we pray, O Lord, perseverance in obeying your will, that in our days the people dedicated to your service may grow in both merit and number. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. (Roman Missal)

Dylan LaNoue, FOCUS Team Leader

While not directly employed by Seton Hall University, our missionaries serve as an integral part of our Discipleship Team. FOCUS and St. Paul's Outreach (SPO) missionaries live and serve with us here at Seton Hall. 

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