The Holy Gospel according to Matthew (25:31-46)
Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Reflection: Many times, we go through life and we can lose sight of our mission given to us by Jesus. Or we are so troubled about the past and anxious about the future that we lose contact with the present. I know it’s hard to live in the present, but I assure you that this is the place of comfort, harmony, and Love.
Jesus explains that at the time of judgment, the righteous will be astonished by the fact that caring for those who are hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, ill, or imprisoned was the same as showing love for God. Do not take this teaching lightly. He is abundantly clear and definitive.
I pray for the day when I can fulfill these requests from Jesus as a second nature and I wouldn’t think twice about it. Here are three real-life examples that can happen to any of us.
- I’ve told this story before and it still haunts me to this day. It’s the story of the gentleman at the gas station that need help “jumping” his car with jumper cables. He never got around to ask me but I knew what he wanted. I had jumper cables in my car but didn’t help him because it would’ve made me late to my meeting with the boss. Turns out that the boss was over 30 minutes late.
- Just recently I saw a video of dog saving a cat who was drowning in water. Yes … arch enemies but yet the dog sought compassion. The video shows the cat in distress but yet takes a couple of swipes at the dog. The dog continues to help anyway and jumps in the water so the cat can stand on his back and jump to safety. [Click here to see video]
- Just this past Thursday I met a young lady at Sizzler begging for money for food. I gave her the cash I had but there was that look of distress in her eyes. Unfortunately, I have seen that look to many times. That look she had is still in my heart and I worry for her daily.
In your life, who are these “least ones” of which Jesus is speaking? The hungry and thirsty are not the only brothers and sisters with physical needs but also those who have spiritual or mental yearnings that need to be satisfied. They are those lost or confused in life who need to be given direction. Call to mind the person who seems least deserving of your love and know that Jesus is living within them, waiting for you to love Him by loving them.
Action of the Day: Think of those in your life who seem most lost and most in need of your compassion. Those to whom we do not feel like reaching out are those who most often need our compassion and mercy.
Audio Reflection:
