Gospel: Mt. 25:31-46
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 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.”
Homily
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Not only are the baptized accredited agents of Christ, Christ also assumes our flesh. In all our relations we encounter God, even when the person we encounter can do nothing for us because the power to do these things is absent, though poverty or illness or prison.
In the Gospel passage under review St. Matthew uses the word brothers, which in St. Matthew always means disciples, indicating that the life situation in which this passage was spoken by Jesus would therefore have been when he was sending his disciples out on a mission. We remember that this mission was in the time of Jesus to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel”. The situations described by Jesus, the hunger, thirst etc. symbolize the sufferings that the disciples undergo for the sake of the kingdom, sufferings which Jesus himself will experience. These sufferings and situations often make of the disciples the most powerless and the temptation is therefore to ignore them because they can do nothing for us. Their sufferings do not change the fact however that even in their suffering and powerlessness they are still accredited agents of Christ, King of the Universe. The help given to the disciples or the refusal to help them symbolizes the acceptance or rejection of these disciples and since they are accredited agents of Jesus this help or lack thereof also symbolizes the acceptance or rejection of Jesus himself. This Gospel passage is in fact a passage which deals with relations within the Christian community but especially among those who actively work for the sake of the kingdom.
The context in which we as Church live in Trinidad and Tobago is the third priority of the Synod which calls for the moral and ethical regeneration of our land. There is no doubt that most of our countries are in need of a moral regeneration. This moral regeneration must begin with us. The interpretation of the Gospel passage thus poses a very significant question: Is my lifestyle the lifestyle of an accredited agent of the Master, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe? Does my life advance the moral regeneration needed in this land of ours? In other words does my life proclaim the values which Jesus Christ, the King desires that the world embrace? The second question flows from the first and deals with the way in which I, a Christian believer accepts or rejects those who keep alive the message of Jesus. The message of Jesus may come from persons or groups which I do not like or persons or groups of which I do not approve. We must be able as accredited agents of Christ the King to separate the message from the messenger. The message must not be accepted or rejected because of personal likes or dislikes; it must be accepted because it is the truth which the Master wants us to live. The message of Jesus Christ however can be extremely disturbing especially if one has adopted the individualistic and materialistic culture in which we now live. The true message of Jesus can be very disturbing to those who have adopted the erroneous prosperity Gospel. Perhaps the condemnation of the King of those who reject the accredited agents of the King comes about precisely because those condemned know the values which the King wants in his kingdom and reject those values and the messengers. For us, rejection of the messengers who bring the authentic message and the values of Jesus, not only signifies the rejection of Jesus himself but also the refusal to engage ourselves and others in the task of moral regeneration which our countries so badly need.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, through baptism and confirmation we have become accredited agents, ambassadors of your Son, Jesus Christ. But to be true ambassadors we must know the message. Give to us your people, the spirit of wisdom so that we may know your message and the way to impart it. Help us to accept and listen to those who bring your message to us because in so doing we accept You. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our mother and your Son Jesus. Amen
