Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

“For I was hungry and you gave me food.”

 

Gospel Reading: 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."

 

In today’s Gospel reading we hear the story about the final judgment of the world. Jesus tells his disciples how they will be judged in the end.  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, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited 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. Salvation lies in our ability to give completely of ourselves for the benefit of our neighbors.  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, “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.” Where do you want to spend eternity?

 

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