Why I am a Mennonite

Sarah Fuller, PMC congregant and a member of a Catholic Worker community in Los Angeles, continued our series "Why I am a Mennonite," basing her thoughts in Matthew 25:31-46.
It is a passage from which we get the traditional list of the “Works of Mercy”: Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead.
This care of practical needs of others as a spiritual practice is a central part of both Mennonite and Catholic Worker spirituality.
The connections between angels, heavenly thrones, ultimate spiritual destinations and a gifted t-shirt, sandwich or pair of tennis shoes found in Matthew 25 are not surprising. Spirituality and the physical world, and the physical experiences and needs of ourselves and others, are inherently linked. And yet, this link can sound surprising whenever we forget the incarnational earthiness of the gospel.