杏MAP导航 at Angelus: We will be judged on love
In his Angelus address on Sunday, 杏MAP导航 Francis reflected on the last judgement, the subject of the day鈥檚 Gospel reading.
He noted that this is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, the day on which the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. Christ鈥檚 kingship, he said, is one 鈥渙f guidance and service, but it is also a kingship that at the end of time will be asserted in judgment.鈥� The vision of the second coming of Christ, presented in the Gospel, introduces the Final Judgment, when all of humanity will appear before Him, and Jesus, exercising His authority, will separate one from another, 鈥渁s the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.鈥�
杏MAP导航 Francis recalled the criteria that Jesus says will be the foundation of His judgment: 鈥淲hat you did for the least of my brothers, that you did on to me.鈥� This sentence, the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥渘ever fails to strike us, because it reveals to us鈥� the end to which God is willing to go on account of His love for us. God goes so far as to identify Himself with us, not when we are 鈥渉appy and healthy, but when we are in need.鈥� Thus, the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥淛esus reveals the decisive criteria of His judgment, that is, the concrete love for our neighbour in difficulty.鈥�
Likewise, those who cursed, in the Gospel account, are judged for failing to aid their brothers and sisters in their need. 杏MAP导航 Francis repeated, 鈥淎t the end of our life we will be judged on love, that is, on our concrete commitment to love and to serve Jesus in our smallest and most needy brothers.鈥�
The Holy Father reminds us that Jesus will come at the end of time to judge all nations; but He also 鈥渃omes to us every day, in so many ways, and asks us to welcome Him.鈥� The 杏MAP导航 concluded his reflection with the prayer that 鈥渢he Virgin Mary might help us to encounter Him and to receive Him in His Word and in the Eucharist, and at the same time in our brothers and in our sisters who suffer hunger, illness, oppression, injustice. May our hearts be able to welcome Him in the 鈥榯oday鈥� of our life, so that we might be welcomed by Him into the eternity of His Kingdom of light and of peace.鈥�
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