The Judgment of the Nations

Today's Reflections

The Judgment of the Nations 

Nov. 2 , 2012

http://graceandspace.org

Mt 25:31-46

[Jesus said to his disciples,] ³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, ³²and 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. ³³He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴Then 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. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ ⁴⁰And 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.’...  ⁴⁶And these will go off... to eternal life.”

Reflection

You did for me. The Gospel presents the “how” of the last judgment. The basis for judgment is how we respond in this life to the demands of basic human needs: food, shelter, and clothing. They need not be expensive luxurious clothing, not cozy shelter, not gourmet sumptuous meal. What is asked from us is to attend to the needs of people, to be sensitive to their situation, to be compassionate. We are called to be charitable, merciful, caring in action.

The people mentioned in the Gospel (the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, prisoner) are significant and ordinary people whom we could meet every day. They are all around us. There is no need for us to seek them out. They sometimes come to our doors. They represent Christ. To ignore them is to ignore Christ. To assist them is to do it to Christ.

How diligently do you fulfill the works of mercy?

Do you participate in parish programs

for the poor or in volunteer projects for the needy?