Divine music

Gospel: Mt 25:31-46

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021924.cfm

What does Jesus mean when he speaks of the kingdom of God? It’s not something otherworldly, but something we participate in right now. God is seeking partners and active participants. God is seeking a relationship with us through our sharing in the mission. God is calling us to care for God’s creation which includes all of nature and one another.

This gospel is like a band or a symphony where the music must be in sync with all of the players. Our goal is to get to a point where we all play together in the divine melody of life. To do that, we must help each other out in our time of need. We must find ways to help others play music with us. We must learn to adjust to play as a cohesive whole. Even if our playing is perfect, it doesn’t matter if the rest of the symphony is not. We must help bring everyone along. Perfection is not in isolation, it’s in community. God is calling us to this. At times, we’ll be the discordant sound. Even when we are not the discordant sound, it is our mission to help others find the divine melody and provide for their needs so that we can play together. We do this through feeding the hungry, providing drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, providing shelter for the homeless, clothing the naked, feeding the sick, and visiting those in their time of need and abandonment.

As far as it goes with the sheep and the goats, Jesus’s message goes beyond labeling them as people. We all have attributes of both the sheep and the goats. We have the parts of us that choose to support others and parts that do not. None of us are fully sheep or fully goats as far as the metaphor goes. We must always strive to further listen and adopt the guidance of our shepherd. Don’t look for who are the sheep or the goats, but become someone who is more loving and leads others to do the same by loving them.