First Sunday of Lent Gn 9:8-15 Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 1 Pt 3:18-22 Mk 1:12-15

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer Praying Lent The Daily Reflections

Jesus tells us today how the righteous and the wicked will be separated. Those who took care of the least on earth did the same for Jesus, and those who did not denied him in his time of need. But pay attention also to their responses; both the good and the bad did not even know what they were doing.

Those who took care of the sick and imprisoned did so because they wanted to. They saw that those people were unavoidably interlocked with themselves. They recognized that nobody can get through this world alone, and so they shared what they had.
The wicked ignored the naked and the hungry because they wanted to. They saw the problems of the downcast as problems separate from themselves. As long as they were not hungry, what difference did it make? They recognized that each person has to deal with his or her own problems and those who are weak will only slow down the successful.

This is a grievous and even sad mistake on the part of the wicked. If we cannot see ourselves in others, we cannot see Christ in others and consequently cannot truly see Christ in ourselves.

We cannot do this by ourselves.

We need the love of others and we need to love others to experience God.