Sunday of the Righteous and the Just 
Gospel Matthew 25:31-46

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 25,31-46.
31‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." 37Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?" 40And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me." 44Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?" 45Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’


Reflection 1
The measure of the kingdom
This parable is the final formal teaching of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. On this Sunday, the Maronite Church commemorates the just and the righteous, those who bore witness to the love of Christ through their faithful lives.
Today, the Church places before us a powerful vision of the final judgment. Christ appears as King in glory, seated on His throne, separating humanity as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.
What is striking is not what Jesus asks—but what He does not ask. He does not question titles, achievements, or outward religious identity. Instead, He reveals that true righteousness is love made visible: feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and standing beside the imprisoned. The question becomes simple and unsettling: Did we love when love was needed?
In the Maronite tradition, righteousness is never abstract; it is faith lived in mercy. God’s justice is relational. The just are those who recognized Christ hidden in the wounded faces of the poor. They performed no extraordinary deeds; they lived with attentive hearts, loving without calculation and discovering—only at the end—that every act of mercy was offered to Christ Himself.
As we stand at the threshold of Great Lent, this Gospel becomes a spiritual mirror. Before we fast from food, we are called to fast from indifference. Before we multiply prayers, we are invited to deepen compassion.
The commemoration of the Just and the Righteous assures us that holiness is possible in ordinary life. These men and women were not perfect, but they allowed God’s mercy to pass through them, becoming living icons of Christ’s compassion in the world.
May this Gospel move us from a faith that is comfortable to a faith that is incarnate, teaching us that the path to the Kingdom is paved not with words, but with merciful deeds quietly offered in love.

Who Are the Righteous and the Just?
The just and the righteous are those who lived the love of Christ toward every person in need—material, spiritual, or human. Their holiness was not found in extraordinary signs, but in faithful love lived daily: parents who sacrificed for their families, workers who served with integrity, professionals who placed people before profit, and leaders who sought the common good. They understood that holiness is the calling of every Christian.

​The Greatest Danger to the Christian Life
The greatest danger to the Christian life is a comfort that numbs the conscience and closes our eyes. Comfort can slowly silence the voice of conscience, making injustice seem distant and the needs of the poor easy to ignore. The Gospel never allows us to settle into spiritual ease; it calls us to remain awake, attentive, and responsive—to recognize Christ in those who hunger, suffer, and wait for mercy.
 
Think About
Those condemned in the Gospel are not accused of cruelty, but of indifference. They saw hunger, loneliness, and suffering—and did nothing. The righteous, however, did not act with spiritual calculation; they simply allowed their hearts to be interrupted. Justice in God’s Kingdom begins when we allow ourselves to be disturbed by the needs of others.
 
Saint Charbel: A Witness to Mercy Without Conditions
This Gospel finds a powerful echo in the life of Saint Charbel, who never asked about a person’s religion, background, or worthiness before offering prayer, healing or compassion. Like the righteous in the Gospel, he served without calculation or discrimination, seeing only the suffering human person before him. His life and miracles remind us that God’s mercy knows no boundaries, and that holiness becomes visible when love is offered freely and without conditions.
 

Reflection 2 
Love that transforms the world
We are in the sixth Sunday of the Epiphany season, Just and Righteous Sunday, which is the second of three Sundays of commemoration before Lent. Today’s Gospel, Matthew 25:31-46, offers a profound teaching on service, compassion, and the final judgment. In the parable of the "Sheep and the Goats," Jesus explains how humanity will be judged—not by wealth, achievements, or technology, but by how we treat the marginalized, such as the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the sick, and the prisoners. People will be asked about the works of mercy they practiced or failed to practice toward those in need. Jesus will not judge us based on good intentions or emotions, but on the material help and humanitarian services we provided to others, especially those in extreme poverty. This passage reminds us of the call to recognize Christ in the needy and to act with love and mercy toward them.

Instruments of God’s love
Each individual is invited to become an instrument of God's love in the world, responding to the needs of the suffering and marginalized. The words of Pope John Paul II resonate powerfully: “Wherever people are suffering, wherever they are humiliated by poverty or injustice, and wherever a mockery is made of their rights, make it your task to serve them”.
The call to serve is not merely a suggestion but a responsibility and a duty for all followers of Christ. As stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the duty of making oneself a neighbour to others becomes even more urgent when it involves the disadvantaged .
We are also required to pour out love as a fragrant oil to anoint the feet of the Savior Himself through these little ones, that is, the broken and needy souls

Active love to the least-doing something
Our love should be active, not just theoretical. In the Gospel of Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus teaches that true love for others isn’t just about feeling compassion or agreeing with the idea of helping—it’s about doing something to make a real difference in their lives.
Love in action means offering food to the hungry, visiting the sick, welcoming strangers, or helping those who are imprisoned. This type of active love reflects the heart of Jesus’ teachings—love that transforms the world, not just ideas.

How more could He have stimulated the works of our justice and mercy than by having said that whatever is offered to the poor and the needy is offered to Him, and by having said that He is offended unless offering is made to the needy and the poor? So that he in the Church, who is not moved by consideration of his brother, may indeed be moved by contemplation of Christ, and he who does not give thought to his fellow servant in trouble and in need may indeed give thought to the Lord abiding in that very one whom he despises. St Cyprian
 
Mercy is a virtue
Mercy is a virtue that inspires compassion and helps alleviate others' suffering. Pope Francis highlights that where mercy is lacking, justice is incomplete, and God's people suffer. The Catholic Church teaches that works of mercy, both spiritual (like teaching and comforting) and physical (such as feeding the hungry and visiting the sick), are acts of love that meet people’s needs. Pope Francis emphasizes that these works reflect the compassionate face of Jesus Christ, who shows God's tenderness and care for all.
 
Thought for the week
"I don't know if those who say they love God truly love Him, but I know for sure that anyone who loves a human being loves God for certain". Saint Mother Teresa

Reflection 3
​The Compassionate Kingdom0-the power of service and love
The Gospel form Matthew talks about the judgement day (the final judgment). This parable is the last formal teaching that Jesus gives in the Gospel of Matthew.
On the last day, Jesus the King and the Judge will separate the sheep from the goats based on their acts of mercy and love.
This passage is a powerful reminder of our responsibility to actively live out the Gospel by showing love and compassion to those in need. Quoting St. Therese of Lisieux, it reminds us: If the Church was a body composed of different members, it couldn't lack the noblest of all; it must have a heart, and a heart burning with love.
We should serve others not out of obligation, fear, or a desire for praise, but rather out of love for God.
As we encounter those in need, may we respond with the same love and compassion that Christ showed to us, recognising that in serving others, we serve Him as well.

A Reflection on Justice and Righteousness by Gwen Simon
Justice is the way we treat each other, in the daily, warm-cold conversations of families and friends; justice is when we see each man and woman, child and old person, as a brother and sister in Christ and so respect and enjoy them like that. Justice sees a person whole and entire, not just an attractive body, a fat bank balance or in any other way that uses them. Justice is to see people as Jesus did: children of His Father.
It is also the way we demand for everyone a life free of oppression and poverty, a place to live, the right to schooling, the freedom to live in equal opportunity without prejudice of skin or creed. Justice is to form with Jesus the type of society He dreams of, a society of love and justice, of peace, truth, holiness and reconciliation.
Righteous does not have much to do with being right, as with being in right relationships with God our Creator and with the community in which we live. The righteous person is the one who fulfills the demands of communal living and thereby preserves the peace and wholeness of the community.
 
Jesus' words in this parable teach us very important lessons
-Every individual in the world is subject to judgment, and no one is excluded.
-Our response to others' needs should stem from authentic love
-Our generosity should be selfless without expectation of earthly or heavenly rewards.
-Recognizing that the least among us are those in need, we are called to extend God's compassion, grace, and charity to all of His children.
-Mere verbal expressions and rituals are not enough; true devotion involves caring for human needs and demonstrating genuine love for God.
 
A thought for the week
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
Saint Mother Teresa
 
Holiness is the perfection of love
And "love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (I Corinthians 13: 4-7).


At the end of life we will all have to take a final exam, the only exam that really matters. Christ is the examiner, and in this passage he gives us ahead of time not only the questions on the exam, but also the answers.
This lesson uncovers the most precious truth of all, the pearl of great price that men and women have searched for since the very beginning: the meaning of life. In the end, all that will matter is what we have done for Christ and our neighbor. We will not be asked how much money we made, how many awards we won, how famous we became, how many discoveries we made, how many achievements we accomplished, how much we enjoyed ourselves, or how many people we had working under us. We will be asked one question: “What did you do for me in your neighbor?” Christ teaches us repeatedly in the Gospels by word and example that the secret to happiness in this life and the life to come is self-giving, self-forgetful love, serving the spiritual and material needs of our brothers and sisters, through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ. Only self-giving – the mark of authentic love – counteracts the epidemic of self-centeredness, self-indulgence, and self-sufficiency that has scourged the human family ever since the fall.
Fr. John Bartunek
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