Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (25: 31-46) in which Jesus, through a parable, says’ whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you it did to me’. Today we hear the last of Matthew’s great parables. Basically, the world is finally divided into the ‘goodies’ and the ‘baddies’ and the great dramatic scene that is played out in this Gospel is something each of us will face at the time when we die. This experience will be far more awesome than any words can express.

Fr Paul notes, two important points are stressed in this parable. Firstly, when that time comes, we will be judged on the way we treat others who are in any kind of need. We will be judged on our respect for others and what they need and for what we gave. Secondly, the parable stresses and gives us the answer to the first point, that is, that Jesus Christ is in each person.

Therefore, the reason for the Gospel and the parable we’ve heard today is the simple lesson that what we do to others, we do to Christ. So mindful of the message in the Gospel today, as our Lenten Journey continues, Fr Paul invites us to ask ourselves, do we recognise the needs of others and what do we do about it?