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GOSPEL

He will sit upon his glorious throne, and he will separate them one from another.

From the Gospel according to Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus said to his disciples: “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 the 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 eternal life.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Represents Christ.

When facing an exam, oh, how much I would have liked to have had access to the questions in advance! Right?

Well, Jesus loves us so much that He gives us the questions for the most important final exam we will ever face. I will be examined on love, and Jesus wants me to pass in order to enter eternal life with Him in His kingdom.

For me, as a spouse, this Gospel shows me how to live out my marital vocation well because, everything I do to my spouse, I do to Christ. In my eyes, my spouse represents Christ on Earth.

Applied to married life:

Mery: Joseph, I thank you for saying yes to the Lord; thanks to that, my life is fuller. We have been praying together for years, getting to know each other and deepeing our knowledge of God.

(Thirsty) Joseph: Mery, thanks to you because, I was thirsty for your love and didn’t know it. I wanted to see you happy and didn’t know how to make it happen. You knew how to help me delve into the truth. You knew how to wait for me patiently. You gave my soul what it needed.

(Stranger) Mery: Joseph, thank you for helping me integrate into your family of origin. How difficult it is for some wives when the families of their husbands treat them like strangers, intruders who are unnecessary and not considered friends or family. In contrast, you took care to speak well of me to your parents, giving me a preferential place and always having all kinds of details to make sure I don’t feel alone and to make me feel you by my side.

(Naked) Joseph: Mery, I realize that you have the most positive view of me among all the people around me. You always excuse me, always convey hope when I go astray. I always find in you a support, a hand to hold onto when everyone else has withdrawn theirs. I can bare my soul to you, without fear of being harshly judged.

(Sick) Mery: I greatly value how you are always by my side in sickness, taking care of me, while I have seen other husbands abandon their wives fed up with having to endure their health problems. Blessed are you, because every time you did it for me, you did it to Christ.

(In prison) Joseph: Blessed are you, because every time you saw me imprisoned by my sin, you didn’t criticize me, you didn’t underestimate me, you didn’t beat me down thinking about the harm I was doing, but you thought of me and helped me to free myself. Every time you did it for me, you did it to Christ.

Mother,

Pray for us so that each day we may love one another, drawing us closer to Christ, living the love of communion to which we are called from the beginning, when we were created. There is no better destiny for us. The Lord loves us deeply. Praise be to the Lord.