ETERNAL PUNISHMENT…

Leviticus 19:1-2,11-18

1 And the LORD said to Moses,
2 “Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel, You shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy.11 “You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.
12 And you shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.13 “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
14 You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
15 “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
16 You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand forth against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him.18 You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

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 his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
33 and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.
34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?
38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? 39 And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’
41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”  

MEDITATION

THE FIRST READING ennumerate a list of ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ commandments that is ordered to establish and form a; just, caring and loving community who act in an unselfish way towards their brother, sister, neighbor or stranger. It is rather obvious that these commandments sought to form the moral conscience of the individual in the sense of raising mans awareness of the needs of ones neighbor and the stranger. 

THE GOSPEL READING: Sheep and goats are two kinds of animals that can be said to have apposing ‘personalities’ in the sense that sheep are docile, non violent, submissive, obedient care free creatures, whereas the temperament of goats are the exact opposite. They are stubborn, combative, protective, defensive and self-suffiscient. Sheep unlike goats require a shepherd to lead them to greener pastures and watch over them day and night. 

If the truth be told we humans exude the characterists of goats in the sense that we do not take kindly to instructions or orders that is purposed to reform and transform us into the image of Christ Jesus. To put it another way, Christ is calling us to be shepherds for our neighbor, the stranger, the afflicted and the lonely, whilst we have the inner spirit of a sheep who is totally dependent on the mercy and grace of our heavenly Father. Our stubborness and refusal to not be reformed and conformed to Christ Jesus’ teaching to continuously care for the least amongst us in a charitable loving way, shall surely leed to our eternal punishment! 

LET US PRAY: Psalms 19:8-10
8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Commentary. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.