You Did It to Me

 Matthew 25: 31-46

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² 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. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “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. ³⁵ 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, ³⁶ 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.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “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.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

This popular passage never ceases to challenge us to put words into actions and is especially relevant in these early days of Lent.  Yes, we are going to pray and reflect more, give us some of our favorite comforts, but can we also put "love your neighbor as yourself" into the concrete actions Jesus describes? With high prices for food hurting people, with the challenges of winter cold and snow, with the homeless multiplying daily, Jesus reminds us the HE is among those in desperate need.  "You did it to me!"  How can we refuse to serve him? What would our Lent become if we put this parable into practice today?

Bro. Rene

Lord of love, suffering abounds in our world. Give us true, merciful, and compassionate hearts that do not ignore the poor, sick, and ignorant, nor view them as the enemy. Give us your grace to live the commandment of love: to love our neighbor as ourselves, for what we do to them we do to Christ your Son. Amen.

Rev. Terry Ehrman, C.S.C.