Faith Daily | 27 February 2023

PRAYER of the DAY - APBA p482

O Lord, who for our sake fasted forty days and forty nights:

give us grace to use such abstinence,

that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit,

we may ever obey your godly will

in righteousness and true holiness;

to your honour and glory,

who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, world without end.

Amen.

GOSPEL for the Day: Matthew 25: 31-46

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘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.’ 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

GOSPEL REFLECTION: Peter Galbraith

Dear faithful friends,

Those of you who love poetry as I do will understand when I say that no words of mine could reflect the meaning of this Gospel passage as well as those of this poem by Edwin Markham. Blessings, Peter

How the Great Guest Came (Edwin Markham 1852 – 1940)

Before the cathedral in grandeur rose At Ingelburg where the Danube goes; Before its forest of silver spire Went airily up to the clouds and fires; Before the oak had ready a beam, While yet the arch was stone and dream -- There where the altar was later laid, Conrad the cobbler, plied his trade.

It happened one day at the year's white end -- Two neighbours called in on their old-time friend; And they found the shop, so meagre and mean, Made gay with a hundred boughs of green. Conrad was stitching with face ashine, But suddenly stopped as he twitched a twine: "Old friends, good news! At dawn today, As the cocks were scaring the night away, The Lord appeared in a dream to me, And said, `I am coming your Guest to be!'

So I've been busy with feet astir, Strewing the floor with branches of fir. The wall is washed and the shelf is shined, And over the rafter the holly twined. He comes today, and the table is spread With milk and honey and wheaten bread."

His friends went home; and his face grew still As he watched for the shadow across the sill. He lived all the moments o'er and o'er, When the Lord should enter the lowly door -- The knock, the call, the latch pulled up, The lighted face, the offered cup. He would wash the feet where the spikes had been, He would kiss the hands where the nails went in, And then at the last would sit with Him And break the bread as the day grew dim.

While the cobbler mused there passed his pane A beggar drenched by the driving rain. He called him in from the stony street And gave him shoes for his bruised feet. The beggar went and there came a crone, Her face with wrinkles of sorrow sown. A bundle of faggots bowed her back, And she was spent with the wrench and rack. He gave her his loaf and steadied her load As she took her way on the weary road.

Then to his door came a little child, Lost and afraid in the world so wild, In the big, dark world. Catching it up, He gave it the milk in the waiting cup, And led it home to its mother's arms, Out of the reach of the world's alarms.

The day went down in the crimson west And with it the hope of the blessed Guest, And Conrad sighed as the world turned gray: "Why is it, Lord, that your feet delay? Did you forget that this was the day?"

Then soft in the silence a Voice he heard: "Lift up your heart, for I have kept my word. Three times I came to your friendly door; Three times my shadow was on your floor. I was the beggar with the bruised feet; I was the woman you gave to eat; I was the child on the homeless street!"

Prayer

FINAL PRAYER

Lord, grant us the wisdom and understanding to recognise when it is YOU who is knocking on our door. Amen.