Faith Daily | 7 March 2022

PRAYER of the DAY - APBA p 482

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: Leanne Hallas (from her hospital bed)

This reading in Matthew tells us very clearly that what we do while we are on Earth will allow our Saviour to decide if we are to enter "heaven" and enjoy eternal life with our Father.

Jesus sees our actions towards others around us relate completely to our relationship with Him. There are quite clearly the goats and the sheep. The sheep will enter heaven and the goats will not.

It is therefore vital that we use our time on Earth to be kind, generous and empathetic towards others no matter what colour or creed. We need to give of ourselves to care for the needy, the weak and the ill.

What we do for our fellow man will decide whether we enter God's Kingdom.

At present we are clearly faced with the opportunity to be truly Christians with all the people suffering from the flood situation and the war torn people of the Ukraine.

Jesus doesn't consider it is good enough for us to just say we are Christians we have to live the way He taught us.

The old movie line says: You can't just talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk.

So it is with Christ.

FINAL PRAYER: APBA p605

God of power and love,

who raised your Son Jesus from death to life,

resplendent in glory to rule over all creation:

free the world to rejoice in his peace,

to glory in his justice, and to live in his love.

Unite the human race in Jesus Christ your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.