Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” In today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 25:31-46) we hear the story about the final judgment of the world. Jesus tells his disciples how they will be judged in the end, “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.” This passage confirms three important truths about our faith. First, there will be a final judgment at the end of time; second, that Christ identified himself with everyone in need; and third, confirmation that the sinful will experience eternal damnation. The good news about this passage is that Jesus tells us what we need to do to sit at the right hand of our Father in heaven. He tells his disciples, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Jesus is quite clear that the path to heaven lies in our works and the things that we do to bring the kingdom of heaven to others. During Lent, we are called to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. We are called to open our hearts and our souls to the needs of others. Each of the criteria above are based in the three pillars of Lent. Through our prayers, our fasting and our almsgiving we can feed those without food or drink, we can be kind to those people we do not know, we can give to the poor so they have clothes and shelter and we can visit the sick and infirmed. These are all actions which express true compassionate love; the same type of love that Christ expressed on the cross. It is through our own unconditional love that we will be saved. Jesus told the disciples, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me and they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Do you want eternal life or eternal damnation?

A Simple Prayer Lord, you are all that is good. May I learn to help and care for others. May my charitable acts bring others to the kingdom of God.

Yours in Christ Michael Marcon