Dearest Goddaughter (LTR-59) - The sheep and the goats

Dearest Goddaughter,

I was listening to Relevant Radio and a caller called into the The Patrick Madrid Show asking about hell. In response, Patrick Madrid read from today's Gospel passage from Matthew on The Judgment of the Nations. In particular, he pointed her to verse 41: "Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Hell is the eternal fire where God casted Lucifer (who was supposed to be the light but became the prince of darkness because of his rebellion against God) and the fallen angels.

Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfill. Christ summarized the commandments into his Great Commandment - to love God and to love our neighbors - and his teachings on the Judgment of the Nations gives us a roadmap on how we ought to live our lives in obedience to his Commandments: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the ill, and visit the imprisoned. These are the corporal works of mercy of the Church, and our mission as the baptized of Christ.

Saint Gregory of Nazianzen, bishop, reminds us that God "has given abundantly to all the basic needs of life, not as a private possession, not restricted by law, not divided by boundaries, but as common to all, amply and in rich measure. His gifts are not deficient in any way, because he wanted to give equality of blessing to equality of worth, and to show the abundance of his generosity."

For those of us at Saint Albert the Great Catholic Church, the Servants of Hope at Saint Albert ATX ministry is a way for us to carry out the corporal works of mercy in our local parish community. Therefore, let us put into practice the Lenten observance of almsgiving by (re)committing to take part in the noble mission of the Church, the mission that our Lord Jesus Christ entrusted to us. 

Love,

Bỏ Phúc

P.S. These are the readings for the day: Lv 19:1-2, 11-18 and Mt 25:31-46 (below).

. . .

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 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.”