What Did You Do?

I was watching a short video the other day by Michael Himes, a priest on the faculty of Boston College, and he was talking about Matthew 25, the last judgment. He began by pointing out that the great medieval cathedrals of Europe almost all have the same depiction above their doors. It is not the nativity, nor the crucifixion, nor the resurrection, nor Jesus teaching, nor any of those pericopes we remember so vividly from scripture, but Matthew 25, the description of the last judgment. Everyone had to pass under that depiction before entering the churches. At the time of the last judgment, according to Matthew 25, Jesus will not ask us how much theology we studied, or how many religious books we read, or how many church services we attended; we will simply be asked one question: how did you treat the least of your brethren? This is the criterion for salvation – what did we do with what we knew. Did our study of scripture or the hours on our knees lead to anything beyond ourselves? -because if not, we have mistaken the message. What did you do for the least of your brethren? How did you reach beyond yourself today to hurting humanity? Do you live a practical piety? It is a deceptively simple criterion, one which makes no distinctions between the most learned and most humble, and yet it is everything. What did you do…what did you do…what did you do for those most in need?
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THIS BLOG ARE MINE ALONE AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF MY EMPLOYER.