You Who Are Blessed!

Monday, March 10, 2025

Lev 19: 1-2, 11-18; Mt 25:31-46

Today’s Gospel on the Final Judgement has twofold implications for Christian life. 

1.Change in Moral Perspective

Generally, we understand morality in two ways: do good and avoid evil. Avoiding evil is easy because all we need to do is to disengage from those evil thoughts that lead us to commit evil actions. For instance, if we avoid having grudges or hatred toward our enemies, we will not think of harming them. Whereas doing good requires going out of one’s way. For instance, if we need to feed someone hungry, then we should become capacious enough to spot those who are hungry, make efforts to know what they need, and finally fulfill it in action. In addition, we are obligated to solve the person’s hunger not just temporarily but permanently. It is because doing good requires an attitude of being bothered about our neighbor’s plight, we find it more comfortable to stick to avoidance of evil than to strive to do good. In today’s Gospel, those found on the left side of the Lord are judged not for what they did but for what they failed to do. They are judged for their ‘sins of omission’ (as against ‘sins of commission’). Christian moral life is not minimalistic in orientation. It is maximalist, meaning that we are called both to ‘do good’ and ‘avoid evil’ without ever bisecting the two. Jesus wants our moral lives to be enriched by this change of perspective.

2. Finding Jesus in Little Ones: 

Jesus gets very inventive in his preaching when he invites us to find him in the needy humanity. When he says, ‘Whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me,’ Jesus disguises himself as someone in need. In effect, when we are indifferent toward our needy neighbor, we may well have overlooked Jesus himself. Besides, I have come across a powerful thought in this regard: ‘Beggars sell moral merits.’ When we help the needy, we are helping ourselves just as we are helping them. Hence, finding Jesus in the least is also about growing virtuous, just as God has intended. 

Let us pray that we may become the good people that God wants us to be!

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar