Reflection for MONDAY, 1st Week of Lent.  Gospel Reading 

By

Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar

Matthew 25:31-46    

I was naked and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.

‘Then the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

‘Next he will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink; I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.”

  ‘And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’

 Reflection on the readings

It is often assumed that what seems simple may be easy to do.

After all, if it is simple, then there should be real difficulty in getting it done.

But the reality is that what is simple may seem so ordinary that we don’t really pay much attention to it.

So, simple things like getting enough of exercise and enough of sleep should seem achievable, but we keep putting it off as we think it is not that high a priority.

In the 1st reading, God told Moses to teach the people about the basic and fundamental laws of life.

Those laws are simple enough to adhere to, yet along the way, those laws were repeatedly broken.

As for what Jesus taught in the gospel, again it is actually not that difficult.

Those are ordinary acts of love but it has a consequence on our eternity.

God looks at how we are faithful to the simple and the ordinary.

What is simple and ordinary may sound easy, but it may determine our eternity.


      GOD BLESS YOU

Good morning. Have a nice day.