For One of These Least

For One of These Least

Monday of the First Week of Lent

"You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove him, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  Leviticus 19:17-18

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.’  Matthew 25:37-40

Piety

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life. Psalm 19:8

Study

What are you going to do about it?

With today’s reading from Matthew 25, once again, I can hear the story echo in homilies and reflections.  You have heard it before, as well. Maybe even a priest of deacon preached it yesterday. The angry person looks at the world and says to God, “How do you allow (fill in the suffering) to happen?” The tornado in Alabama.  The plane crash in Ethiopia.  The death of an aspiring young actor or Olympian.

God responds: “That’s why I created you.”  Or “How do you?”

Action

We are living high, but are we giving high?  Matthew 25 prompts us to ponder, “What are you going to do about it?”  Will be with the sheep or will we be with the goats?

In what areas of your life are you “goat-ish?” Lent is the time that the Lord loans to us to refocus our own lives toward God-with-us. Awareness helps us curb “goat-ish” behaviors and replace them with sheep-ish behavior, or more appropriately shepherd-like behavior. 

Keep in your heart the words of today’s Psalm: “Your words, Lord are Spirit and Life.”  Choose to be a sheep and choose to see and treat others as Christ’s sheep, too.