Today we hear the Gospel from the Evangelist Matthew Chapter 25: 31-46 which is the reading for the Sunday of the Last Judgement.
This is the parable of the Last Judgement, when the Lord will assemble all the nations and like a shepherd, he will separate the sheep from the goats. Those that have cared for their fellow man and those who did not. This parable teaches us that heaven and hell have to do with the fulfillment of each other’s physical and spiritual needs. For as we seek to serve each other in His Name and by His Grace, or as we fail to do so, we experience degrees of true life or degrees of darkness – realities that become permanent beyond the grave. Christ has taught us both by example and teaching, that the main virtues of Christians are faithful obedience and loving service to God and to each other.
This brings us to the main theme of this Sunday, the Last Judgement. God does not cause judgement at any time. God is love and by His very nature He cannot do what is evil, hateful, or destructive to anyone. Judgement and hell are spiritual conditions of sin and darkness.
Judgement results when someone is separated from God who is the source of light and life. Judgement results when we willfully shut ourselves from God’s redeeming love. Yes Brothers and Sisters there is judgement but We judge ourselves, for God is always a loving Father and remains a loving Father for everyone – both the righteous and sinners. A life apart from God leads to an agony of darkness in which people torment themselves and each other. It is a spiritual hell created not by God but by our willful refusal to turn to God.
For as St. Paul writes, “Do not deceive yourselves…no one makes a fool of God… a person will reap exactly what he plants”. (Gal 6:7)
