Love and Serve

Gospel Reflection for February 19, 2024

“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.” (Mt. 25:31-46 NABRE)

Today’s Gospel is powerful and convicting. It causes us to ask ourselves, “do I care for those in need?” And further, “do I care for those in need as though I were caring for Jesus?”

It can be easy to get so swallowed up in our own schedules, priorities, and busyness that we often overlook the needs of others. We’re so focused on our own lives and what we have to get done that we become blinded to the lives of those around us.

Let’s imagine for a moment:

You wake up with a busy day ahead full of appointments, work, chores, and various other to-dos. Right as you’re in the middle of trying to accomplish one of your many tasks, you’re asked, “can you help me with (fill in the blank)?” You turn, expecting to see your spouse, sibling, child, parent, friend, neighbor, a stranger, etc. and you’re ready to tell them that you’re busy and maybe you can help them later. But as you look to respond, you realize it’s Jesus Who’s asked you for help. Your Lord is in need, and you know that nothing could be more important than serving Him, so you immediately stop what you’re doing to serve Him.

How often do we brush off those in need because we have, so-called, more important things to do?

Jesus teaches us in today’s Gospel that whatever we fail to do for others, we fail to do for Him. We must strive to see the Lord in everyone, and remember that serving others is how we can serve Jesus.

Of course we have our own things to accomplish in our everyday lives, but we must remember that in the big scheme of things, what matters most is loving and serving the Lord. So, the next time someone is in need, may we put the Lord before ourselves by serving His children with love, kindness, patience, generosity, and compassion.