Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 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 these 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.”

What you do to your brother you do onto God

1) They will be assembled. Along the path of life, we must strive for unity; we mustn’t be divided. During this time, we will have the temptation to separate and divide. Just look around you, you’ll see how they quarrel at the parish council meeting while deciding how to organize Holy Week celebrations. Today Jesus reminds us that He will reunite us, because in life we have to come together, find the need of others, and learn not to hurt our brothers and sistrs.

2) Faith with actions. A key aspect to Lent is that we must act, to demonstrate our faith through helping others. What good is it to fast, only to serve the purpose of losing weight, while you are angry at your brothers, and you become unbearable? What’s the good of praying and praying, if you become insufferable at home? It’s true, you will get your family to pray, but they will be praying for Lent to be over soon so that you may go back to being who you were! Penance is a personal act; don´t be a penance for others.

3) “Come, you who are blessed by my Father”. Jesus invites you today to return to him during Lent and live for others and help them, but before you do that, you must learn to live in him, because you cannot give what you do not have. You have a lot to give, and faith helps you give the best of yourself. You are the hero of your life story, and you must lead by example. Come on! Don’t give up! Always remember that something good is on the way!  

God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit