"Lord, when we saw you hungry ...?" (Matteo 25: 31-46)

Biblical reflections by Mauro Leonardi*, priest and writer

In this reading we see two different aspects of our faith. Jesus calls us to holiness and salvation in a community situation. The Lord does not use his glory as a weapon of lonely power, but as an instrument of sharing and love with his angels. Even the souls judged are judged as a group and the good ones are "the blessed of the father"; Instead, exclusive and individual love is the caress given to "one of these little brothers of mine".

From the Gospel according to Matthew 25: 31-46

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:

«When the Son of man will come in his glory, and all the angels with him will sit on the throne of his glory. In front of him all peoples will be gathered. He will separate from each other, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and will put the sheep on his right and the goats to the left.

Then the king will tell those who will be on his right: “Come, blessed of my Father, you inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world, because I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and me You gave a drink, I was a foreigner and welcomed me, naked and dressed me, sick and visited me, I was in prison and you came to see me. "

Then the righteous will answer him: “Lord, when we saw you hungry and have given you to eat, or thirsty and gave you a drink? When we ever saw you a foreigner and we welcomed you, or naked and we dressed you? When we ever saw you sick or in prison and we came to visit you? ". And the king will reply to them: "In truth I tell you: everything you have done only one of these younger brothers of mine, you did it to me".

Then he will also tell those who will be on the left: “away, away from me, cursed, in the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and for his angels, because I was hungry and you did not give me to eat, I was thirsty and not You gave me a drink, I was a foreigner and you didn't welcome me, naked and you didn't dress me, sick and in prison and you have not visited me ".

They too will then reply: "Lord, when we saw you hungry or thirsty or foreign or naked or sick or in prison, and have we not served you?". Then he will reply to them: "In truth I tell you: everything you haven't done only one of these little ones, you didn't do it to me".

And they will go away: these to eternal torture, the righteous instead of eternal life ».

* Mauro Leonardi (Como 1959) has been a priest since 29 May 1988 and has lived in Rome since then. He spends many hours of his day as a priest and prefers building bridges rather than raising walls. For years he has been writing stories, articles, essays and books that revolve around the relationship between man and God. Author of the blogLike Jesus. Abelis (Lindau) is his latest novel. The volunteers of the Gionata Project thank him for wanting to share these reflections on the Word with us.