Mar 2, 2025 Written by 

Judgment and sentences

(Mt 25:31-46)

 

The famous Judgment passage presents the ‘coming’ Risen (v.31) as the «Son of man», that is, the authentic and complete development of the divine plan for humanity: his kind of "verdict" follows.

God embraces the limited condition of his creatures, so the behavior that realizes our life doesn’t concern the religious attitude itself, but what we have had towards our fellow men.

 

In all ancient beliefs, the soul of the deceased was weighed on a notarial basis and judged according to the positive or negative balance.

In the opinion of the rabbis, Divine Mercy intervened in favor only when the good and bad works were balanced.

Jesus doesn’t speak of a Court that proclaims immutable negative sentences on the whole person, but of his humanizing traits.

«Life of the Eternal» (v.46 Greek text) alludes to a kind of life that’s not biological but relational and full of being, which we can already experience.

These are episodes in which our genuine DNA emerged, the Gold that inhabits us: when we knew how to respond to the needs not of God, but of life itself and of our brothers.

These are the moments in which we have been profound listeners to the nature, hope and vocation of all - sensitive to the needs of others. Opportunities that have allowed us to bring the human condition closer to the heavenly one.

Comparing the ‘works’ declared "paradigm" with those of the lists of other religions - even in ancient Egypt - we note the difference in v.36: «I was in prison and you came to me» (vv.39.43).

The difference is remarkable precisely under the criterion of divine Justice: it overlooks forensic considerations, because it creates justice where there is none.

The Father gives life in every case, because he isn’t “good” [as is believed in all devout persuasions] but exclusively good.

The ‘righteous’ - then - didn’t even realize that they had done who knows what: they spontaneously corresponded to their nature as sons (v.39).

They have had sympathy for our ‘flesh’ in its reality - considering it familiar. They have loved with and like Jesus, in Him.

The others, all taken up by formalisms of no interest to God, are surprised that the Father isn’t all there where they had imagined him - locked in the sentences of ordinary justice: «When we saw you [...] in prison and didn't we serve you?» (v. 44).

The vocation to meet leads us spontaneously to transgress divisions: legalistic, of retribution, or prejudice and kind of cult.

This is the eminent Salvation - which nestles in the direct and genuine aspect, not so much in the organized purposes; nor does it have any consistency on the basis of opinions.

We fulfill ourselves in responding to the instinctive Call that arises from our own essential (altruistic) imprint, even the slightest, ill-considered, or eccentric and shaky - not extraordinary.

Without too external conditions, it recognizes itself disseminated in the soul and in the beneficial divinizing fullness of the «Son of man».

Jesus' ultimate Teaching: eminent, global and all-human Judgement; not verdict by concept and account.

Here the Jesus’ identification with the little ones: his Person has a central meaning, which surpasses the ‘distinction’ between friends and outlaws.

The Person is now a different Subject, far richer - solid in itself, but expanding into the divine and human You, even destitute.

 

 

[Monday 1st wk. in Lent, March 10, 2025]

641 Last modified on Monday, 10 March 2025 12:08
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

We see that the disciples are still closed in their thinking […] How does Jesus answer? He answers by broadening their horizons […] and he confers upon them the task of bearing witness to him all over the world, transcending the cultural and religious confines within which they were accustomed to think and live (Pope Benedict)
Vediamo che i discepoli sono ancora chiusi nella loro visione […] E come risponde Gesù? Risponde aprendo i loro orizzonti […] e conferisce loro l’incarico di testimoniarlo in tutto il mondo oltrepassando i confini culturali e religiosi entro cui erano abituati a pensare e a vivere (Papa Benedetto)
The Fathers made a very significant commentary on this singular task. This is what they say: for a fish, created for water, it is fatal to be taken out of the sea, to be removed from its vital element to serve as human food. But in the mission of a fisher of men, the reverse is true. We are living in alienation, in the salt waters of suffering and death; in a sea of darkness without light. The net of the Gospel pulls us out of the waters of death and brings us into the splendour of God’s light, into true life (Pope Benedict)
I Padri […] dicono così: per il pesce, creato per l’acqua, è mortale essere tirato fuori dal mare. Esso viene sottratto al suo elemento vitale per servire di nutrimento all’uomo. Ma nella missione del pescatore di uomini avviene il contrario. Noi uomini viviamo alienati, nelle acque salate della sofferenza e della morte; in un mare di oscurità senza luce. La rete del Vangelo ci tira fuori dalle acque della morte e ci porta nello splendore della luce di Dio, nella vera vita (Papa Benedetto)
We may ask ourselves: who is a witness? A witness is a person who has seen, who recalls and tells. See, recall and tell: these are three verbs which describe the identity and mission (Pope Francis, Regina Coeli April 19, 2015)
Possiamo domandarci: ma chi è il testimone? Il testimone è uno che ha visto, che ricorda e racconta. Vedere, ricordare e raccontare sono i tre verbi che ne descrivono l’identità e la missione (Papa Francesco, Regina Coeli 19 aprile 2015)
There is the path of those who, like those two on the outbound journey, allow themselves to be paralysed by life’s disappointments and proceed sadly; and there is the path of those who do not put themselves and their problems first, but rather Jesus who visits us, and the brothers who await his visit (Pope Francis)
C’è la via di chi, come quei due all’andata, si lascia paralizzare dalle delusioni della vita e va avanti triste; e c’è la via di chi non mette al primo posto se stesso e i suoi problemi, ma Gesù che ci visita, e i fratelli che attendono la sua visita (Papa Francesco)
So that Christians may properly carry out this mandate entrusted to them, it is indispensable that they have a personal encounter with Christ, crucified and risen, and let the power of his love transform them. When this happens, sadness changes to joy and fear gives way to missionary enthusiasm (John Paul II)
Perché i cristiani possano compiere appieno questo mandato loro affidato, è indispensabile che incontrino personalmente il Crocifisso risorto, e si lascino trasformare dalla potenza del suo amore. Quando questo avviene, la tristezza si muta in gioia, il timore cede il passo all’ardore missionario (Giovanni Paolo II)
This is the message that Christians are called to spread to the very ends of the earth. The Christian faith, as we know, is not born from the acceptance of a doctrine but from an encounter with a Person (Pope Benedict))

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