Our gospel today gives us a description of what are called, in Catholic tradition, the corporal works of mercy. These are a list of good works, especially to the poor and needy, which Catholics are called on to practice in their lives. As I said in my last two homilies, acts of mercy and kindness form part of the “oil” that we should have plenty of always in our “lamps”. In the gospel parable from two weeks ago, the five wise bridesmaids had plenty of this type of oil, the foolish ones didn’t. As a result, these latter were denied, in the parable, entrance into the marriage feast, which I said represented life in heaven.
In the gospel parable, from last week, Jesus warns that those who have gifts or talents are required to exercise them for others’ sake, and not hide them away. Again, Jesus does not mince words and says that those who bury their gifts, will be dispatched to hell for all eternity, whereas those who are regularly exercising their talents on behalf of others, will get to enter into the kingdom of heaven, described in the gospel last week, as “the joy of the master”.
Now we come, in our gospel today, with the coup de resistance, the crowning glory of all Jesus’ moral teaching. To put these lessons into parables, as Jesus is so wont to do, rather than strict doctrinal teachings, allows us to explore what Jesus is getting at, and allows our sanctified imagination to look at what Jesus is saying more freely and deeply. To begin with, is this teaching just for Jesus’ disciples, and doesn’t concern anyone else? Although the parable in our text is directed to the disciples, this is an added “gloss” and is not found in the Bible text per se. There again, the description in this parable is said to explicitly be directed to “all the nations”. It describes the general judgement at the end of time, when the Son of Man, a title for Jesus, is seated on the throne and determines the ultimate direction for those before him: Heaven or Hell.
Those who claim to not be Christians, believers in Christ, usually say that this parable is not addressed to them, since they are atheists or humanists, and don’t believe in any type of general judgement, or Heaven and Hell. The Church, however, does not accept that excuse, one of the reasons why she closes their year with the feast of Christ the Universal King. Indeed St Paul, in our second reading, declares that, at the end of time, “all things will be subjected to him”. Those who seek to be under the lordship of various rulers and authorities and powers”, will find they have nowhere else to go, because their “gods”, which are not gods at all, but “spiritual powers of evil”, in other words, demonic spirits who will, as St Paul says, be destroyed and put under Christ’s feet at the end of time.
But hold hard for a minute. The parable in our gospel today, mentions, as I said earlier, that our judgement will depend on whether or not we spend our lives practicing the “corporal works of mercy. Those who are a bit shaky on Catholic tradition need to know that these acts of mercy, are called “corporal” because they are directed to ministering to others’ physical needs. The list of such acts of mercy are the following: “feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead”. But in this parable, no mention is made of faith in Christ. Indeed, one way of reading this parable is to say that Jesus never mentions faith in himself here at all, only good works. Indeed, the worthy folk invited into the kingdom of heaven, because of their acts of mercy, claim that they didn’t know who Jesus was, let alone believed in him, and that they were doing these acts of kindness because it was, they judged, the right thing to do. And Jesus says, in his reply to them: “just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me”.
Many evangelical Christians, and fundamentalist Catholics tend to be scandalized by this concept, having absorbed the lesson that only those who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior can be saved, regardless of how many good works they have done. In fact, I have had heated conversations with such Christians, who argued strenuously that even as good a person as Mother Teresa cannot be saved if she did not say the “magic words.” I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior.” Well, whatever they claim, it is clear that the Catholic Church does not accept that argument, having formally canonized Mother Teresa several years ago – the same thing would go for Brother Andre, Pope St John Paul II, and tons of others, and, of course, Jesus’ own Mother.
What I see in this parable is a precious hope held out for those members of our families who have given up on their Christian faith. Is Jesus hinting to us, that, if these atheists, humanists, agnostics etc., in spite of not believing explicitly in Jesus, do perform works of mercy, that there is hope for them to enter eternal life? I am simply asking the question, because the parable seems to offer such hope. Having said that, I do believe that a lived-out faith in Jesus is an important part of salvation, but it is not the only part. Before I pass on, I find it interesting to note that the main world religions all have the requirement that, in order to be fully members of that religion, some kind of acts of kindness are regarded as a normal part of their faith. Is there deep down, DNA’d into a person’s moral identity, an imperative “nudge” to the realization that it is absolutely right and just , our duty and our salvation that we use our money, possessions, and talents to help others, especially the poor and needy. Jews and Christians certainly acknowledge the voice of “conscience” here, and, it appears, so do Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus, as well as those who profess no faith at all, but willingly give themselves to acts of kindness.
So, brothers and sisters, I invite you to plunge into the waters of this parable and explore its depths and your response to its message. As Pope Francis, the Pope of Mercy, once wrote: “A bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just”.