1st week in Lent, Monday – 07th March 2022 — Gospel: Mt 25,31-46
Welcome Criteria
Today’s Gospel is about the final judgment. The focus of our being judged will not be based on how many times we went to the church, or how much we contributed, or how long we chanted prayers, or how many times we committed certain sins. The criteria for our being welcomed into the kingdom of heaven is how we treated the less fortunate and the needy. It is in our caring for, and serving of, others that we show our care and love for the almighty God. Jesus does not ‘need’ our love, yet it is our obligation to do so. God will continue to be God even without us loving Him.
However, those who are in need (the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the strangers, the sick, the imprisoned) do need us to care for them. They may only come to know that God loves them by our ministering to them in their time of difficulty. If we truly love God, we will love those whom God loves, especially those experiencing rough times. We manifest our unconditional love for God by unconditionally loving those who cannot pay us back. If we fail to care for those who need our attention, then we are being selfish. The selfish and self-centred are not invited into the kingdom of heaven. And not only are we being selfish, rather we are depriving others of an experience of the God who loves them.
