That distant look in the eyes of the homeless is an appeal for recognition even if at one level it may try to manipulate us. If I understand the parable of the Last Judgment (Mt 25), Jesus is saying that their looking into us is his own universal gaze, his invitation to love beyond what we feel is our capacity. Our response is also directly to him as well as to the individual we are looking at. “Anything you did for one of my brothers or sisters here, however humble, you did for me.” Helplessness opens us to reality. At some point we too become the marginalised who have no claim to “agency” or control against the oppressive power of injustice.
His own universal gaze
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