“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Mt 25:40)
Word of Life – November 1984 This sentence of Jesus is embedded like a pearl in the well-known passage on the final judgment written by the evangelist St. Matthew. It represents the whole message of the Gospel in summary form, reinforcing all that is affirmed in it regarding the human person and what is expected of him or her. Jesus, the one long-awaited "by all peoples," came and saved humanity which had fallen into sin. He himself bore the price of such an immense purification. He will return at the end of time under his rightful title as King and Judge and will gather together all peoples of every time and place in order to judge each individual according to their deeds. The result will be either eternal reward or eternal punishment. However, according to the description of the final judgment that Jesus gave to his disciples, the divine judge will, at that time, say something very surprising: "I was hungry and you gave me food." When, though, did we ever