Lent 6: Monday of the first week

The Church gives us the magnificent scene from today’s Gospel early in Lent to guide us through these 40 days.

This parable is unique to Matthew, the only one Jesus ever gave on judgment. But read it closely. The word judgment never appears. Jesus as the Son of Man simply reminds his listeners what they did or didn’t do in their lifetime and separates them accordingly.

Another thing to notice is the great turnaround. We will find God in the least of the brothers and sisters, the hungry and the thirsty, the stranger and the imprisoned.

Jesus is repeating what he told us in the Beatitudes, another time when he turned everything upside down: “Blessed are you who are poor” (Matthew 5:3), etc. In the Old Testament, poverty was seen as a curse from God.

The Beatitudes and today’s scene of the End Times form bookends to the public ministry of Jesus. He begins his great sermon with the Beatitudes and ends his public ministry with the parable of the assembly of the nations.

Read Matthew 25 throughout Lent as a reminder of what’s truly important.

Father John Murray, C.Ss.R.
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Scripture readings for today: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18; Psalm 19; Matthew 25:31-46