This is a wake up call for those of us who have grown complacent about our faith. We come to Mass every weekend and judge ourselves to be faithful followers of Jesus yet are we being faithful to his message when we leave here and venture into the world out there?
At the end of Mass we are instructed to go forth and live the gospel, but do we? As we heard in the gospel, Jesus divided all the nations into two camps: the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. He welcomed the sheep to inherit the kingdom for having lived what we traditionally call the corporal works of mercy. “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.”
The sheep were surprised. When did we do that? They asked and Jesus replied, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.” They were compassionate but not for the purpose of earning a reward. They acted because cared about others, living their lives in imitation of the good shepherd.
The goats were reprimanded. “Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…” Clearly upset by their inaction, the king pleaded, “How could you not have seen me or cared enough to help?”
They too were surprised by the king’s reaction, for many most likely judged themselves as being faithful but that wasn’t enough to be invited by the king to stay in his presence for they had failed to see the good shepherd among the weak and vulnerable in their midst.
Ezekiel voices the same outcome. “The sleek and the strong I will destroy,” the Lord cautions. I think of these adjectives as describing those who see themselves as being utterly self-sufficient. Meanwhile, Ezekiel tells us, God will reach out to the needy. Obviously not directly but through the caring compassion of those who carry out the corporal works of mercy. By our actions, God knows who is sincerely following his example and who isn’t.
Some scripture scholars contend that the judgment Jesus speaks of isn’t between believers and non-believers or Christians and non-Christians or church attendees and the non-church goers since all the nations will be assembled before God. The outcome of a person’s judgment depends on whether that person has responded humanely and compassionately to the nameless, the marginalized, the homeless, the imprisoned, the home bound, or the stranger in our midst.
The image of Jesus saying, “Depart from me you accursed!” is a picture of Jesus we would prefer not to think of unless he is saying that to someone we greatly dislike. When we think of Jesus in relation to ourselves, we would rather picture him as being kind, loving, and forgiving. But does he find us being kind, loving and forgiving?
The way we live will someday catch up with us. The good we have done, the good we haven’t done, and the evil we have done will judge us, not Jesus. Now is the time to start over, that is, to change our hearts before its too late.
When we stand before Jesus, it will be the love that is in us for God and for others that will determine whether our eternity will be an eternity of peace and joy or an eternity full of regret for having thrown away the many opportunities God gave us to know him, love him, and serve him.
Every time we come to church here at St. Hubert we are given an opportunity to show compassion to someone in need. Think of the basics of life you take for granted that others can’t afford unless they go to Good Cheer. Basics you could donate like a toothbrush, shaving cream, toilet paper, canned tuna or even beans. We implemented the three p’s program to supply Good Cheer with items that are always needed year round by the poor in our community.
I commend everyone who comes to Mass with even one item for every item you donate to the 3 P’s makes a difference to someone who isn’t sleek and strong, but dependent on others who care.
Every time we leave this church, we are visually reminded by our stained glass windows to go forth and uplift the dignity of those whom we might encounter: the imprisoned, the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, or the stranger.
With the image of sheep and goats, Jesus cautions that those who are strong on doctrine but short on compassion will be in for a surprise if they didn’t learn what really matters in life. C.S. Lewis observed, “When you get to heaven, there will be three surprises. First, we will be surprised by the people we find there, many of whom we surely had not expected to see. The second surprise is that we will be surprised by the people who are absent—the ones we expected to see but who are not there. The third surprise, of course, will be that we’re there.” If we do our homework, we shouldn’t be surprised, for love, faith and compassion will provide us with a passing grade on the most important final exam we will ever take.