‘I tell all of you with certainty, since you did it for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me’ (Mt 25: 40). Jesus presents mutual and unconditional love as the identifying mark of his disciples. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13: 35). Through the mutual love and selfless service we are called to live this commandment.

Jesus makes it clear that on the final Day of Judgment, when we stand before the throne of the majesty of the Lord, we will be judged on account of the good things we have done and the good things that we purposefully failed to do (Mt 25). It was Jesus himself, who came before us as naked or poor or stranger. We should be able to Jesus in the poorest of the poor. Then we will be able to grow in spirituality.

One’s good deeds are the outward sign and the expression of one’s prayer life. God says to Abraham that I will bless you and thus you should be a blessing to the nations (Gen 21: 1-3). God has blessed us with a lot of gift s and virtues. And we are called to thank God for all these gift s through a virtuous life. A virtuous life is an outward expression and proclamation of our faith. It is a manifestation of our spiritual life.

Let us thank the Lord for all the gift s he has bestowed upon us. Our good deeds are our gratitude to the Lord for the gift s we have received. So let us live with the conviction that whatever I have in my life is a gracious gift of God and thus lead a virtuous life as thankfulness to God for all the gifts we have received.

Fr Joseph Mundolickal CST