The Least Ones

Isn't it true that parents can be so invested in and in love with their children that to praise their child is praise them and to ignore of hurt their child is to ignore or hurt them? The same can be said in the case in loving relationships between husbands and wives or between close friends.

If you have observed or, better yet, experienced the above personally, then you may have a living insight into the meaning and impact of Jesus' words in today’s Gospel (Matthew 25:31-46) when he says:

Jesus so clearly identifies with and loves his people that what is done for them is done for Him and what is not done for them is not done for Him. Jesus takes the treatment of his beloved (including you and me) personally.

The passage from Matthew emphasizes his special concern for the "least ones." As a parent will give extra time and energy to a child when he is sick, suffering, or in trouble, so the Lord asks that we pay special attention to the most burdened among us. In light of what Jesus calls us to in the Gospel parable, how would you rate your personal investment in the lives of the more burdened members of the human family? Are you attending to them knowing that to do so is to attend to Christ himself?

Take to heart this Sunday's gospel passage and consciously look to encounter the Lord himself in the person of those you serve. And determine not to let any of God's children go without knowing God's profound love. May your love reflect Christ's love for them and may you meet in them the person of Christ himself.

Fr. John Klein, Pastor