Today’s readings deal with the way we ought to behave towards each other. The First Reading (Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18) tells us the kinds of things we ought not to do, while the Gospel (Matthew 25:31-46) emphasizes what we should do.
The general theme of the Book of Leviticus is in today’s opening sentence: “… Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” Today’s reading comes from a section dealing with moral and religious regulations related to daily life, with obvious links to the Ten Commandments. In today’s reading the call is clear: the measure of our holiness is that of God himself. While that is not something to be remotely achieved in our lifetime, it is an ideal that we can constantly work towards. Are there any measures by which we can measure our progress in something so abstract as holiness?
Very simply, today’s reading says that it consists in the way we interact with those around us. It is perhaps worth observing that everything here is expressed in the negative, the things we ought not to do towards our brothers and sisters:
No stealing
No fraud.
No irreverent use of God’s name.
No abuse of others through exploitation or robbery.
No failure to pay just wages at the proper time.
No abuse or neglect of the disabled.
No forms of prejudice, either towards the weak or the powerful.
No passing of judgement on others beyond the bounds of justice and fairness.
No criticisms out of hatred, but only out of a desire to help.
No vengeance.
No grudges.
The reading concludes that in addition to these admonitions, we should take one further step further: to love our neighbors as ourselves. Some of the Pharisees interpreted ‘loving your neighbor’ as implying that one should ‘hate your enemy’. But others came closer to Jesus’ injunction that love for neighbor should even extend to those who would want to harm us. For instance, Rabbi Nahmanides said: “One should place no limitations upon the love for the neighbor, but instead a person should love to do an abundance of good for his fellow being as he does for himself.”
It is clear from this, and the later teaching of Jesus, that the ‘neighbor’ includes everyone and not just those close to us by place, nationality, race, religion, class, tribe, or gender, even those who would want to harm us. And, as today’s Gospel makes clear, the neighbor is particularly to be identified with any person who is in need of any kind. Jesus would later push the command even further when he told us to love each other, not just as much as we love ourselves, but to the degree that He loves us – by ‘emptying’ himself and giving his life for us all.
The Gospel today (Matthew 25:31-46) is the great scene of the Last Judgment when we all will face God. There we will be divided into sheep (animals totally dependent on their shepherd) and goats (animals that prefer to go out on their own, to do things their own way), that is, those who are with Jesus and those who are not. The criteria on which we will be judged are interesting. Nothing about the Ten Commandments (normally the matter of our confessions). Nothing about the things mentioned in the First Reading, which, more or less, also reflect the contents of the Ten Commandments. There is nothing about what we normally call ‘religious obligations’ (like going to Mass on Sundays and holy days), or penitence (like fasting and abstaining from meat on designated days).
The test will be very simple. Did we love all our brothers and sisters, or not? There is some discussion as to the identity of who these brothers and sisters are. Does it refer to all who are hungry, thirsty, in need of clothes, in need of medical care or in jail? Yes. But we have traditionally extended the passage to include all who suffer in any way because of our neglect, because we recognize Jesus as being present in these people in a special way.
The things we are supposed to do are simple: welcome the stranger who is Jesus; and give food to hungry Jesus; and give drink to thirsty Jesus; and give clothes to naked Jesus; and visit the sick Jesus and the Jesus in jail. We will ask God, like the sheep and goats ask in today’s gospel, “when did we see you a stranger and not welcome you; hungry and not feed you; thirsty and not give you drink; or naked and not clothe you; or sick or in prison and not visit you.” And the Judge, God, will answer: “Insofar as you did these things to one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it to me. And insofar as you did not do this to one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did not do it to me.” If you go to the Order’s website (sjp2.org), you will find that today’s gospel is the reason that we do what we do. Take a look at: https://sjp2.org/index.php/about. Scroll down to “Why we do what we do.”
Jesus identifies himself with, and is present in, the person in need. Every time we neglect to help a brother or sister in need, we neglect to help Jesus himself. Our worst sins, our most dangerous sins, will be our sins of omission. We can keep the Ten Commandments perfectly and still fail. The next time we examine our consciences, let us think about that.
As I reflect on these passages during Lent, I ask: Where do I stand in my relationships with my friends, my ‘enemies’, or the needy in my community? Whether we realize it or not, every time we spontaneously take care of a brother or sister in need, it is Jesus himself we are serving.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!