Matthew 25:31-40
The Sheep and the Goats
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put 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; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
The Gospel of the Lord……
The Mass intentions is for Jean & Shay D’s Intentions
Commentary
Jesus identifies himself so closely with those who are suffering in anyway, whether destitute or in prison, sick or abandoned, that what we do or don’t do for them, we do or don’t do to him.
As Pope Francis writes in his latest encyclical, Fratelli Tutti ( 85 )
They compel us to recognize Christ himself in each of our abandoned or excluded brothers and sisters (cf. Mt 25:40.45). Faith has untold power to inspire and sustain our respect for others, for believers come to know that God loves every man and woman with infinite love and “thereby confers infinite dignity” upon all humanity.[61] We likewise believe that Christ shed his blood for each of us and that no one is beyond the scope of his universal love.
Pope Francis also once told young people:
Love means having the ability to hold a dirty hand and the ability to look into the eyes of those who are in a situation of degredation and say ”For me you are Jesus”
Behind all these situations … there is a history of pain, of sufferings, that we cannot ignore. In Argentina I once visited a prison and greeted a person who had killed more than 50 people.
And I stayed there thinking, and “But you are Jesus”, because he had said if you come to see me in prison , I am there, in that man.
And this is the folly of faith.
St Martin of Tours was born about 315 AD of pagan parents in what is now Hungary. He became a soldier and was interested enough in the faith to become a catechumen. At Amiens one day he cut his cloak in half to share with a freezing beggar. Later he had a vision of Christ wearing the cloak. This revelation that the Lord himself had been the beggar to whom he had showed kindness led him to commit himself totally to his service. He later founded the first monastic community in Gaul and became Bishop there, devoting his life to spreading the faith. After his death, many miracles took place at his tomb, which became a great pilgrimage centre.
Prayer
Lord, we thank you for coming to us in all we meet. Give us open minds and open hearts to recognise you, especially in those in any kind of need. May we respond to them with love and mercy which you shower so freely on us every day, who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.
