Reflection On Mathew 25:31-46

In the Old Testament we are presented with a restatement of the commandments given by God. They explain the minimum expected of us as believers. Telling us what we should and should not do as we act and interact with God and others. Notice that the emphasis in the Ten Commandments is on the external and the tune is basically negative. By contrast, the Gospel of Mathew presents the works of mercy. These have become the new commandments for the followers of Jesus. The setting of this Gospel is the judgment scene at the end of time. Salvation is being determined here, not according to the way we have lived the Ten Commandments, but on how well we have observed the works of mercy. We may think of the sins we have committed and worry about how they’ve separated us from God. Yet it is very likely that the ones with which we are most concerned are not listened as the most serious on the Lord’s “worry list.” Salvation here is equated not to the Traditional Ten Commandments but to how well we have served the less fortune individuals in our midst. We may recite long litanies, practice the ancient or most modern devotions, meditate on the deepest biblical insights of the day, but Mathew says that the surest and most direct road to salvation is to be found in performing the works of mercy.
How? Everyone is aware of love. A Christian is not going to be examined merely on prayer, poverty, obedience or any of the other virtues; not because they are non-essential but because they are real in so far as we are wholly concerned with our neighbor. One cannot pray, obey or be truly poor unless he or she is wholly taken up with his or her neighbors’ needs.  It is the ‘least’ we must be concerned with. This implies and demands the absence of all self seeking. At the end of our life we shall be judged on love and love alone. This is the powerful message Jesus gives us today.
Questions to ponder:
What makes you think on the pretext of last judgment?
Does prayer help you seeking God’s help?
Does love alone the requirement of life?



Comments

Post a Comment

write your comments here!!

Popular posts from this blog

Reflection On Mark 8: 11-13

There is a proverb which states, “There are none so blind as those who won’t see.”  It means if your mind is set on one direction, it will be almost impossible to convince you of something different. Such is the frame of mind of the Pharisees concerning Jesus. When they approach Him and ask for a sign from heaven, their mind is already made up that Jesus is fake. Their intention is to expose Him as such and thus to undermine his authority and even hopefully, to completely discredit Him and have Him lose popular support. The Pharisees were the perennial negative critics of Jesus. They were the many little crosses He had to accept and carry every day prior to His big cross. Notice how they boldly stepped forward here and immediately started to argue with Jesus. They refused to take the Lord’s words at face value. They claimed a sign from the heavens would enable them to place their faith in the Lord, but Jesus knew that even the most spectacular signs would not convince them to a...
Read more

Reflection On Mark 1: 12-15

In the reading, we get two messages for today. Jesus’ forty days of wilderness and a call to repentance.  Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness paralleled Israel’s forty years in the wilderness. In both the instances, there is the apparent ‘absence of God.’ The presence of God emerges as a result of struggle and testing. Satan tests Jesus in the wilderness, whereas Israel tested God there. Our Lord’s suffering, hunger, loneliness and humiliation at the hands of His enemies were all for us. This very thought should make us feel gladly welcome the little bit of suffering and humiliation we are to take for ourselves in our routines. One may not be in strict fasting from food and drink, yet there are subtle ways of observing penance in our daily lives – a controlled temper, less uncharitable talks, a little help, etc. which will help to keep our unruly minds and bodies in cheek, while at the same time it will show that we are grateful to our loving Savior for all that He suffered for u...
Read more

Reflection On Luke 4: 24-30

Today’s readings speak to the subject of God’s broad mindedness in the person of Naaman. He was the Syrian army commander who became the recipient of God’s merciful healing. Jesus was totally aware of this man’s is having been cured of leprosy and, In turn, made comment on the meaning of this healing. Those legally loyal Jewish people became very angry with Jesus as they listened to the virtues of this foreigner being extolled over their own. We, too, can fall into this same sin of narrow-mindedness. Do we think, for example, that Catholics have a monopoly on the whole truth and nothing but the truth, while Protestants, Orthodox, Jewish and other people are all in unyielding error? If we truly feel that way, may God help us. Catholics don’t own God; either do the Protestants or the Jews or any other group. Not even the fundamentalists can claim exclusive rights to God. God is for all people. The Jews thought that the Messiah would be for the Jews only. Since Jesus did ...
Read more