Author: admin

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Gospel: Matthew 25: 31-46

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 the 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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Growing up, I absolutely hated math. I still do. Numbers and equations don’t flow logically from my mind the way words do. But there was one subject that made a little more sense to me than others: geometry.

Geometry deals with shapes and sizes. For example, in geometry, you learn how a square becomes a cube. How a circle becomes a sphere. How a triangle becomes a pyramid. It’s all about adding a third-dimension.

Little did I ever imagine these ideas would also provide an analogy for divine judgment and eternal life. 

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Consider eternal life the “third dimension,” where we become the perfect version of ourselves. Whatever you were in life, you are in death. 

For example, if you were a circle in life, then you become a sphere in eternity. 

If you were a square, then you become a cube.

A triangle, a pyramid.

If you are God’s imperfect friend in life, then you become God’s perfect friend in eternity. 

Heaven is the “third dimension.”

What, then, is the criterion for the final judgment? How can we determine what we’ll become?

Part of the answer is revealed in today’s Gospel.

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This is Jesus’ final sermon. Here he makes the standard clear: whatever we do to one another, we do to God himself. 

Perhaps no one understood this better in the 20^th century than Mother Teresa. Once in an interview, she was asked, “Mother Teresa, you freely choose to live among the poorest of the poor. You’re surrounded by constant hunger, thirst, and death. Why?”

She reached out, grabbed one of the reporter’s hands and on each of his five fingers repeated a word of Jesus:

You. Did. It. To. Me.

“We are not social workers,” she said. “Every day, we touch the body of Christ.”

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Saint Paul learned the same lesson.

Prior to his conversion, Paul persecuted Christians. He dragged them out of their homes, beat them, imprisoned them, and even killed them. 

One day while he was riding along the road to Damascus, the Lord appeared to him in a flash of light. Blinded by the brightness, Paul hears a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

Paul was not only mistreating other human beings; mysteriously, he was doing it to the Lord himself. Overcome by such a radical truth, Paul was forever changed. 

As he would later write, “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”

Consider how this applies to our own lives – and to our world – today. Think about the way we treat one another at home, at school, at work. Or the many conflicts raging around the world.

Whatever we do to one another – good, bad, or indifferent – mysteriously, we are doing to the Lord himself, setting the stage for our future.

As Paul reminds us elsewhere, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.”

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Is there anything this Gospel passage excludes from the final judgment? 

Aristotle defined wisdom as, “attention to the whole.” Meaning, we cannot read a single bible passage – even Christ’s final sermon, “The Judgment of the Nations” – and consider it as speaking for the whole; we must consider all things the Lord has said.

While charity is paramount, other things are also important, including: communal worship, private prayer, the study of scripture, self-discipline, and living a moral life. 

Yes, we care for others. But we also care for our own soul. 

Is there any aspect of the Christian life that I’m neglecting – not just in terms of charity, but also in terms of prayer, study, or worship?

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I was never much of a mathematician. But I did learn something in geometry. The perfection of a square is a cube. The perfection of a circle is a sphere.

The perfection of a Christian is becoming God’s friend for eternity. What we do now lays the foundation for our future.

What does that mean for me this week?

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Image credits: (1) First Baptist Church (2) Geeks for Geeks (3) Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef

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Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed. 
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. 
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine? 
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” 
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When the first pilgrims landed on the shores of America in November, 1620, they cried out in gratitude. As one pilgrim noted, “We fell upon our knees and blessed the God of heaven.”

They had just endured a harrowing two-month journey across the Atlantic. Some died on the open seas. Half of the remaining population died of tuberculosis and pneumonia that first winter. Then spring arrived and their condition started to improve.

This was the backdrop for the first Thanksgiving.

Trial and error. Success and failure. Famine, and that first Thanksgiving, feast.

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Today, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving by filling their tables with plenty, gathering with family and friends, and serving those who, like the first pilgrims in the winter of 1620, still go without.

Gratitude is the reason for the season.

But as Christians, we are invited to be grateful, not only in times of prosperity, but also in times of trial. As Saint Paul says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God.”

We give thanks for our faith. We give thanks for our nation, our family, our friends, and this parish. But what about in times of trial? During dryness in prayer? When suffering?

This is a deeper dimension of gratitude – being thankful for God’s presence in all things, at all times.

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It’s natural for human beings to try to make sense of their environment, even to control it. But faith adds a mysterious fourth dimension. Often enough, we don’t understand why things happen to us. 

Think about how those pilgrims felt that first winter. Why was it so cold? Why was the land so barren? 

Or think about how people in our own lives might feel today. Imagine sitting in a doctor’s office questioning, “Why me?”  

Having faith doesn’t mean life always makes sense in the present moment. It’s believing that God is present, working in all things.

What are a few things I can easily be grateful for? Conversely, is there an aspect of my life where I struggle to be grateful, where I struggle to find God?

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“We fell to our knees and blessed the God of heaven,” one of the first pilgrims to arrive in America recounted. Little did they know how harsh that first winter would be.

But when the spring rains came, everyone gave thanks.

So it is in the Christian life – no trial is forever. God alone remains. For Him we give thanks.

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Image credits: (1) The Science Academy STEM Magnet (2) Faith and History, WordPress (3) Kingdom Bloggers

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Gospel: Luke 19: 11-28

While people were listening to Jesus speak,
he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem
and they thought that the Kingdom of God
would appear there immediately.

So he said,
“A nobleman went off to a distant country
to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.
He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins
and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’
His fellow citizens, however, despised him
and sent a delegation after him to announce,
‘We do not want this man to be our king.’
But when he returned after obtaining the kingship,
he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money,
to learn what they had gained by trading.
The first came forward and said,
‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’
He replied, ‘Well done, good servant!
You have been faithful in this very small matter;
take charge of ten cities.’
Then the second came and reported,
‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’
And to this servant too he said,
‘You, take charge of five cities.’
Then the other servant came and said,
‘Sir, here is your gold coin;
I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man;
you take up what you did not lay down
and you harvest what you did not plant.’
He said to him,
‘With your own words I shall condemn you,
you wicked servant.
You knew I was a demanding man,
taking up what I did not lay down
and harvesting what I did not plant;
why did you not put my money in a bank?
Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’
And to those standing by he said,
‘Take the gold coin from him
and give it to the servant who has ten.’
But they said to him,
‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’
He replied, ‘I tell you,
to everyone who has, more will be given,
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king,
bring them here and slay them before me.’”

After he had said this,
he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s an old saying, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.”

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This is certainly true with language.

I spent ten years diligently studying Spanish until I became fluent. At one point, I was even reading Spanish newspapers, dreaming in Spanish, and singing along with Mexican rock bands like Mana.

But I haven’t spoken Spanish in well over a decade. Now I’d struggle to form a simple sentence. 

Instead of saying, “Hola!”, I’m sure I’d sound more like, “Whole-a!”

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“If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.”

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The same is true with faith. 

We must study it, test it, and practice it like a foreign language. The more we try, the holier – and happier – we become.

But if we don’t use it, we’ll lose it.

There’s no such thing as standing idly in the Christian faith. It either grows or shrinks as we journey through life.

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So, what is my spiritual life like? Does faith keep me grounded, humble, and strong? Or do I need to make it a bigger priority?

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“To everyone who has,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “more will be given. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Meaning, put your faith into practice. Pray. Study. Be charitable to those in need. “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.”

So, how might I put my faith into practice today?

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Image credits: (1) Waverly Pastoral Charge (2) Chris Yaw (3) Issues from the Heart