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This past Sunday was a special day the Church reserves on our way toward Great Lent when we are met again with Christ’s teaching of the separation of the sheep and the goats. Where last week’s Gospel reading (The Parable of the Prodigal Son) highlighted God’s boundless love for His children, this week turns our focus on the fact that God is also our righteous Judge, Who recompenses to each according to his or her deeds.
In Matthew 25, Christ tells us on the Day of Judgment the “goats” will go away into everlasting punishment, but to the “sheep” He will have a different message: “Come, you blessed of 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; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”
The criteria on which we will be judged is simple: did we or did we not use the time we have been given to love those around us, to recognize Christ in them?
The Gospel reading of Judgment Sunday is the foundation for what we do at OCPM. By visiting those in prison and training others to do the same, in whatever capacity matches his or her unique calling, we respond to Christ’s commandment. We encounter Christ in prison.
If you are looking for a simple way to follow Christ’s commandment alongside us this Lent, we invite you to say a prayer for those in prison daily.
Another simple way to be involved is to join our community of monthly donors named after this Gospel reading. Many donors give $25.36 per month in honor of this Scripture.
Whatever you might be able to offer those in prison, I promise you this: your impact reaches wider than you know. There is power and providence in doing what Christ asks us to do.
