Many times Jesus uses natural things in his parables to describe supernatural realities. Christ often describes himself as the Good Shepherd and us as the sheep, pointing to the reality that he is our master and that we must rely on him for guidance and direction.
In Matthew 25, we find Christ describing the separation of the sheep and goats in the judgment, which makes us reflect: When we meet the Lord, what will we discover? How much of our lives conformed to Christ? Did we radiate his goodness?
In that same passage from Matthew, Christ gives us some very practical examples of what that goodness looks like: “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” (Mt 25:35-36).
You and I are baptized in Christ to be Christ to the prisoners, to be Christ to the poor, to be Christ to those without housing and food, to the vulnerable and to the aged, or those who struggle with special needs.
This is our commissioning and at times it can be challenging to live the Gospel in its fullness. It can be challenging for us because of our human weaknesses. But God always gives the grace to help people, even if we ourselves don’t feel equipped to do so.
As you reflect on this Scripture reading, what are the ways the Lord has been stirring your heart to help others? There are many, many ways to care for our brothers and sisters, regardless of their circumstances in life and regardless of our own circumstances.
It’s an encouragement for us today to know that despite our own humanity and our own weaknesses, God still provides. There have been too many examples in the history of humanity, including my own imperfections and all of us who’ve been baptized, where we have not provided what we had the opportunity to provide, to love and serve somebody else in need.
The goal and call through all of our lives is that we become more and more conformed to Christ who humbled himself to become the gentle, humble servant of the servants of God. To do this, we need to receive more of God’s grace, to let him keep working on our hearts where we may feel hesitant to share the Gospel with others, to share our clothing with others, our food, help those who are in need, to help protect the unborn, to help care for the elderly who are vulnerable and limited.
While this call can be daunting, we ought not be discouraged, but rather it should encourage us to say, “Lord, I just need more of you.” That’s when we need to start asking God for the grace to have more of Christ within us, that our hearts, our lives, will be evermore radically open as followers of the pathway of goodness laid out by our shepherd, rejecting the pathway of evil or waywardness.
