Gospel

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 as 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 the 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’. Matthew 25: 31-46

Reflection

This gospel passage allows us to ask ourselves whether we are followers of Jesus. We are if we practise justice and acts of mercy, starting by contributing to the provision of the most basic needs of our poorer brothers and sisters, which include hunger, thirst, homelessness, insufficient clothing, and prison conditions.

We are followers of Jesus if we commit ourselves to distributive justice, because Jesus, the Son of Man, is present precisely in those who are most in need. The final verdict on our commitment or lack of commitment to justice is dictated by whether we have been merciful to those in need or not.

Our Christian commitment to justice, in keeping with the teachings of Jesus, is directly related to creating peace, since it is the basic needs of disadvantaged people that have resulted in social movements demanding change in many contexts, something that has led to repression and persecution by those in power. It appears at the end of Jesus’ teachings, and near the end of his life, when he was confronted with the scribes and pharisees. The possibility of salvation, of keeping the inheritance of the reign of God, depends on the practice of distributive justice, on the practice of mercy with those who suffer from some need. He describes it using the metaphor of the final judgement and a short parable. In it, the world is divided into two large groups, some on the right and others on the left, as the goats are separated from the sheep: those who have lived according to God, and those who have not. The language is direct and forceful and does not give rise to ambiguous interpretations, because it is a trial in which the judge pronounces a sentence and the group being tried barely has the opportunity to ask about the facts for which they are being punished or rewarded.

Jesus, the Son of Man, is presented as King and Judge, to administer justice for the entire universe. In the midst of this transcendent scenario, the reasons for the trial are material and concrete, and have to do with the satisfaction of the basic needs that his followers are obligated to provide. Meeting these needs saves both those who suffered from them, as well as those who act to satisfy the needs of the people affected. The criterion he judges by is distributive justice, the capacity to distribute goods, but also the possibility of using our time to attend to the needs of others, regardless of the resources available:

Faced with the hunger suffered by the little ones, the solution is to feed them.
Faced with the thirst that the thirsty person suffers, the solution is to give them a drink.
Faced with the lack of protection of the naked, the solution is to clothe them.
Faced with lack of shelter, the solution is to receive them.
Faced with the loneliness of a person in prison, the solution is to keep them company.
Faced with disease, the solution is to accompany those who suffer from it.

To sow the seed of the legitimate demand to satisfy those needs so present in the gospel, which are human rights, it is necessary to appeal to the deep Christian tradition of nonviolent action, but also to religious and humanist traditions which call on the force of truth and of conscience to build conditions that guarantee food, housing, and the health of each and every one of God’s children, so that a different, nonviolent way emerges for those needs to be met.

Julie Leonard Religious Education Leader/Wellbeing Leader