Today’s Gospel Text: "When the Son of man comes
in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious
throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all
the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates
the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will place the sheep at
his right hand, but the goats at the left. 34 Then the King will say to those
at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave
me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed
me, 36 I was naked and you
clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
37 Then the righteous will
answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and
give thee drink? 38 And when did we see thee a
stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? 39 And when did we see thee sick
or in prison and visit thee?' 40 And the King will answer them,
'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren,
you did it to me.' 41 Then he will say to those at
his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for
the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave
me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did
not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did
not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer,
'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or
in prison, and did not minister to thee?' 45 Then he will answer them,
'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did
it not to me.' 46 And they will go away into
eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Matt 25:31-46
Reflection: This
is one of the most interesting parable and so widely interpreted that some have
even read meaning into it which are not contained therein.
Indeed
ours is the age of such Isogesis, when we read into a parable or scripture text
what we want to read; a self deception which we tend to be least aware of and
yet cannot be free from blame because we, even otherwise, have chosen a
lifestyle of insincerity and dishonesty in order to achieve our worldly gain
and power.
Reflecting
on the parable we have the sheep and the goats and if one understands the power
politics of the kingdom then from the positions of the goats and sheep we know
which are on the way to destruction and which not.
The
goats are going to meet a fate of destruction and into eternal punishment.
If
you thought that the goats and sheep are the only category of people then you
are wrong. They could be other categories of people too.
“Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and
fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices
falsehood.” Rev 22:15
Hence
wolves’ dogs and Swine’s are the other categories of people and they are
outside the church and may make attempts to be a part of the church of God. (cfr. Mt.
7:15; Acts 20: 29; Mt. 7:6; Ps. 22:15; Ps. 59:6, 14)
The
fascinating aspect of the goats and sheep is that they can be reared together
and they seem to be quite comfortable and adapt to each other.
The
Matthean community in which this parable is situated is only concerned with sheep’s
and goats, living as one community. They are alike in every way and have
similar patterns of existence.
We
are called to be like sheep, living a life of willful obedience to the voice of
the Shepherd who is with us to lead us and care for our fellow Christians as desired by the chief Shepherd.
Prayer: O save thy people, and bless thy heritage; be thou their shepherd,
and carry them for ever. Ps 28:9
DD = Dedicated
Discipleship: Come grow
in the Lord with us
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