|Bishop Barron
翻译|Carrie

朋友们，今天的福音是审判日的情景。具体细节与爱有关，表达清晰：“因为我饿了，你们给了我吃的；我渴了，你们给了我喝的；我作客，你们收留了我；我赤身露体，你们给了我穿的；我患病，你们看顾了我；我在监里，你们来探望过我。” 还有耶稣作出的著名关联：“凡你们对我这些最小兄弟中的一个所做的，就是对我做的。”

 

这些具体的要求有着可畏之处，因为它们不是抽象的爱，不是对“人类”的感情，而是关爱无家可归者、病人和囚犯。

 

我们进入来世时，带上的并非金钱、社会地位、世俗权力，而是爱的质量。每天晚上用这篇福音作为准则自省一下。也许把这篇福音贴在墙上或者床边，方便在睡觉之前读一读。

 

Friends, our Gospel today is the scene of the Last Judgment. We hear that the specifics are a matter of love concretely expressed: "For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me." And we know the famous connection that Jesus makes: "Whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me."

 

There is something awful about the specificity of these demands. This is not love in the abstract, having affection for "humanity." It is caring for that person who is homeless, for that person who is ill, for that person who is in prison.

 

We do not take our money, our social status, our worldly power into the next world; but we do take the quality of our love. You might consider doing an examination of conscience at the end of each day, and use as your criteria this passage. Perhaps put it up on your wall or post it next to your bed so that you see it before you go to sleep.