Gospel: March 10, 2025
March 10, 2025 (Monday)
1st Week of Lent
Psalter: Week 1 / (Violet)
Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 15
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
1st Reading: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46
When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be brought before him; and, 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 devil 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.”
Reflection:
“…You did it to me.”
One of the sayings of Saint John of the Cross is “In evening you will be examined in love.” In other words, at the end of our earthly life, God will judge how much we have loved. Do we put our faith into practice? Do we show our love of Christ through our love of neighbor? This is the message of today’s Gospel in which Jesus says, “just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it to me.” The state of our relationship with God is revealed by the way we treat other people, and the relationship we have with God will affect the way we deal with others, too. This is why the reading from Leviticus teaches us that we grow in holiness—we grow in our likeness to God and strengthen our union with him—through our acts of justice and love to our neighbor. We might be living pious or religious lives, but they won’t be holy if we don’t act with justice and charity. Let’s rid ourselves of our grudges and our criticisms of others and truly love our neighbor.
