From the responsorial psalm: “Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (25:31-46, today’s readings)
“‘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.'”
Jesus describes when he will come again in glory, accompanied by angels, in the final judgment. Separating people as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, Jesus will place the righteous on his right but the unrighteous on his left. Actions in this life matter now and in the second coming of Christ. More specifically, in performing corporal works of mercy in this life, what is held in the balance are life and death. Jesus says of the unrighteous “these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” To feed the hungry goes beyond simply providing physical sustenance. Jesus calls us to true mercy, which addresses the whole person. By contrast, to withhold food from “one of these least ones,” is to do the same to Jesus, to gravely wound the Body of Christ. As he speaks to the disciples, Jesus speaks to all of us, inviting us into the Spirit and life of compassion and service to others.
God, help me hear and respond to you. “The law of the LORD is perfect,” the psalmist writes. And you say through Moses, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” Give me the grace to recognize the corporal works of mercy as gifts first given by you to give away to others in need. Today I won’t likely clothe the naked or visit prisoners, but I am free to take your gift of mercy and bestow it on someone who feels vulnerable or ashamed. I can freely choose to receive your mercy and give it to others who are bound by circumstances they do not choose and can’t control. Let me remember, Lord, the final judgment. Let me be able to answer that whatever I did for one of these least brothers of mine, I did for you. Help me recognize my own dignity and worth in your eyes so that I can extend that same recognition to others.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.