Reflection for February 27, Monday of the First Week of Lent: Matthew 25:31-46

Gospel: 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 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."

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Reflection:

What do you feel when you sincerely help the needy, poor and in need? You will feel indescribable joy in your heart. Who give you this feeling of indescribable joyfulness? It’s Jesus none other than Jesus for the simple reason that what you do to them you do to Him as well.   

We have in our gospel two groups of people: The group on the right side and the one on the left side.  The group of people on the right side are those who helped the poor, in prison, needy and the like. Those on the left side are those who were insensitive to their needs.  Of course the Good Lord favored those at His right side, so the Lord gave them eternal life. And those who were on His left side, the Lord gave eternal punishment.  

This gospel invites us to reflect on how we relate with the poor and less fortunate. Let us be sensitive and look around. We may have relatives or neighbors who are not as affluent as we are. Many of us are carried away by the riches that we have that we tend to forget the less fortunate and the poor.  

This lent is a wake-up call for all of us. We must be concerned with their welfare, a concern that is real and not just for show. A concern that is given flesh by actually helping the less fortunate without any fanfare and publicity. Because the Lord knows everything anyway. – Marino J. Dasmarinas