When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 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.'

Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to

Commentary

Consider the question, “Where do we find Jesus Christ?” If your answer is that we find Jesus in the Eucharist, the Gospel, the Sacraments, where two or three are gathered in His name, you would be correct. But that is not the only place where we find Jesus Christ. Where did Jesus say that we find Him? Well, from the Gospel passage just read, it seems quite clear. Jesus said that we find Him in the poor, the broken, the sick, the lonely, the naked, the imprisoned…in other words, we find Jesus in the people and things that the world considers the least significant.

Consider the Eucharist. To the casual observer, it is a worthless, insignificant piece of bread. In fact, it is so small and thin, that it can hardly be considered bread. But to us of the Catholic faith, we have been given the fullness of Truth. We know that what appears to be a worthless, insignificant piece of bread is where Jesus Himself chooses to dwell. It is not a symbol of Jesus. It is Jesus…body, blood, soul, and divinity. In this gospel passage, Jesus is telling us where to find Him, and He reminds us of this by placing Himself in a tiny piece of bread.

Now, that is where WE find Jesus Christ. The next question to consider, is do people see Jesus when they encounter us? This gospel passage cuts both ways. Not only do we need to look for Jesus in the poor and broken, but our response to them must also show the world that Jesus lives in us and through us.

Listen to this story…During World War II, an American soldier was being held prisoner in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. In the cell with him, was a Japanese man who had been accused of treason. The American was treated okay by his captors, but the Japanese man was beaten and tortured everyday, because he was viewed as a traitor to his country. Everyday, the guards would take the Japanese man out of the cell, and they would beat and torture him. They also denied him any food or water. Every night, after the guards would return the Japanese man to the cell, the American would minister to his needs. He would clean his wounds, and he would feed him with his own food and water that he had hidden away.

This pattern went on for several weeks…everyday, the Japanese man would be tortured and beaten, and every night, the American would care for him.

One day, the Japanese man was beaten so badly, that the American knew that he was going to die. The American thought to himself, “What else can I do for him?” He had cleaned his wounds and fed him everyday. Then he realized that he had not shared with the Japanese man, the reality of Jesus Christ. The American was a Catholic. So for the next few hours, the American sat with the Japanese man and told him everything he could about Jesus.

When he had finished, the American said to the Japanese man, “You know, you are probably going to die tonight. But you don’t have to be afraid, because when you die, Jesus will come here, and He will take you home.” The Japanese man looked up at his American friend and said in reply, “If Jesus Christ is anything like you, I can’t wait to meet him.” (Pause)

If Jesus Christ is anything like you, I can’t wait to meet him. (Pause)

…and now one last question…Can people say that about us?

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