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There can be no end without means; and God furnishes no means that exempt us from the task and duty of joining our own best endeavors. The original stock, or wild olive tree, of our natural powers, was not given to us to be burnt or blighted, but to be grafted on.
… Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
(As Thomas Aquinas put it, “grace builds on nature.” Resolve to use your human powers in the service of good this day.)
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Lenten Webinar Series Four Conversions and Spiritual
Freedom by Carla Mae Streeter, OP March 6, 13, 20, 27, 2018 Free-will donation for registration and information.
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LV 19:1-2, 11-18; PS 19:8, 9, 10, 15
MT 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 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 eternal life."
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed
You?" —Matthew 25:37
When Jesus comes in glory on Judgment Day, He will judge us on whether we fed Him by feeding the least of His and our brothers and sisters (Mt 25:35, 42). Jesus is so concerned with feeding us that, when Peter told Jesus that he loved Him, Jesus said: "Feed My lambs" and "Feed My sheep" (Jn 21:15, 17). To feed us, Jesus even went to the unimaginable extreme of
making Himself the Bread of Life (Jn 6:35) and feeding us with His own body and blood (Jn 6:55).
Therefore, we must:
- be the best stewards possible in
tithing and giving alms to feed those starving physically,
- be nourished daily by the Church's teachings, especially in the Bible, and by the Eucharist,
- invite others to be spiritually nourished daily by God's Word and the Eucharist, and
- pray for
Christians who might be caught up in the culture of death or suffering from some form of spiritual anorexia.
Jesus died to feed His sheep. We must receive Him, become like Him, and die with Him to feed the sheep. When Jesus returns, He wants to say to each of us: "Come. You have My Father's blessing! Inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food" (Mt 25:34-35).
Prayer: Abba, "give us today our daily bread" (Mt 6:11).
Promise: "Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." —Lv
19:18
Presentation Ministries
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What is Christian Love? - Reprinted from Freedom from Codependency, by Philip St. Romain - Dysfunctional Beliefs About Love - part 5 of 5
• "Do not be angry."
Codependents interpret this teaching of Christ to mean feeling angry is wrong, bad, and sinful. Codependents are angry and resentful on the inside. Since they believe it is bad to be angry, they repress these feelings and try hard to be nice. This facade of niceness keeps codependents out of touch
with their anger. Anger is a feeling, and feelings are neither bad nor good. It is what we do with our feelings that is bad or good. Jesus is talking about harboring resentment and vindictiveness. These are choices about how to deal with anger — bad choices!
• "We should not expect
happiness in this life."
I have heard this said in therapy groups by codependents who had resigned themselves to being trapped for the rest of their earthly days in an unhealthy relationship. The truth is that we can begin to experience something of heaven even in this life. Distorted beliefs such as this are really about being a victim and martyr.
• "To forgive means to forget."
While you may never forget what has happened, you can let go of resentment, a kind of emotional forgetting. Codependents mistakenly believe that when you forgive, you even forget what has happened. This
is a distortion of the meaning of this value. All these beliefs described during the previous lessons give a distorted picture of the meaning of Christian love. Each of them contains a kernel of truth, but taken out of context, they lose their force. When taught by codependents who are active in ministry, they become one of the means by which the Church contributes to the spread of codependency.
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