as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so will he do with them, placing the
sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left. The king will say to those on his right,
‘Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the
beginning of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me
something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me into your home. I was naked,
and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to
see me.’ Then the righteous will ask him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and give you
food; thirsty, and give you something to drink; or a stranger, and welcome you; or naked,
and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and go to see you?’ The king will
answer, ‘Truly I say to you: just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters
of mine, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Go, cursed people, out of my
sight, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the evil and his angels! For I was
hungry, and you did not give me anything to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to
drink; I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me into your house; I was naked,
and you did not clothe me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.’ They, too,
will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison,
and did not help you?’ The king will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you: just as you did not
do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ And these will go into eternal
punishment; but the just, to eternal life.”
Reflect
“Loving the other.” We strive letting go of our negative attitudes because our true nature
is characterized by goodness. Moreover, our nature bears witness to a reality bigger than
ourselves, either in the here and now or in the life hereafter. Lent invites us to become more
sensitive to such reality. Loving the other as conveyed by the first reading (cf. Lev. 19:18)
is part of the bigger reality we refer to. Loving the other is a great challenge to every
Christian. Today’s Gospel passage is part of the so-called eschatological discourse in
Matthew. Jesus describes that in the end time there will be a separation between those
who have shown love to the disadvantaged other and those who have despised the
disadvantageous. Jesus uses the imagery of the separation between the sheep and
the goats. It is interesting to reflect on the nature of the sheep as disadvantageous
animals compared to the goats. The disadvantageous then are the ones who can
challenge us to see beyond the self. By implication, they are also the ones to tell who
shall be on God’s right side in the eschatological age.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2024