| Matthew 25: 31-46The Judgement of the Nations.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
32and 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. 33He will place the sheep on his right, and the goats on his left.
34Then 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.
35For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger, and you welcomed me,
36naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will
answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? 38When did we see you
a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ 40And the King shall say to them in reply,
‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry, and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43a 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.’
44Then 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?’ 45He 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.’ 46And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
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Residents Encounter Christ is aninterdenominational Christian ministry to prisoners. It is a variation of Cursillo,modified for the prison environment.Although Roman Catholic in its roots, REC is ecumenical in itsscope. Faithful Citizenship is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’call to responsible citizenship. Faithful Citizenship reminds usthat responsible citizenship is a virtue, and that participation in the politicalprocess is a moral obligation.We are called to protect human life, promote family life,pursue social justice, and practice global solidarity. |
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JustFaith is an intensive faith formation process that emphasizes the Gospel message of peace and justice,
Catholic social teaching and the intersection of spirituality and action. The aim of JustFaith is to enable participants to develop a passion for
justice and to express this passion in concrete acts of social ministry.
A Place At The Table is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pastoral reflection. It is a Catholic recommitment to overcome poverty and to respect the dignity of all God’s children. |
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Could I be mistaken for Jesus?
A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night’s dinner.
In their rush, with tickets and briefcases in hand, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding. All but one.
He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.
He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did.
The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.
When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?”
She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, “I hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.” As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, “Mister…..” He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, “Are you Jesus?”
He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: “Are you Jesus?”
Do people mistake you for Jesus? That’s our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world (shopping, working, reacting to others that are serving us) that is blind to His love, life and grace.
If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as he would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It’s actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.
You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.
Let us live like we are worth the price he paid.
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“This is Jesus…
This is His Gospel…
This is His Church at her best…
This is the Eucharist.”
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