Spiritual Direction: Are You Living Your Life So That You Are Righteous and Just? If Not Why?

Sunday of the Righteous and the Just

 
The Sunday of the Righteous and the Just and the Judgment of Nations

The Sunday of the ‘Righteous and Just’ reminds us of our call to holiness. God invites every Christian to lead a holy life. In this week, we recall all the people who have led a holy life and are now enjoying everlasting glory with God in the heavenly kingdom. We are reminded that the saints in heaven participate in the glory of the resurrection of our Lord and we can as well.

The Righteous and the Just are all the saints who are in heaven and they are our models. They could be our parents, relatives, and friends. Some saints have been pronounced saints officially by the Church after their death. The canonisation process is a later addition in the Church. All those in heaven are saints and they can intercede for us in heaven.

This past Sunday, Maronite Church celebrated the Sunday For the Righteous and Justice. On that Sunday Maronites remember and pray for all the Great men and women who bore witness to Christ with their choices and their lives, we pray that we may imitate them and follow in their footsteps. They listened to the word of God and lived by it. Brothers and sisters, are you living your life to the fullest so you can pray for others?  Are you living in such a way that future generations will remember your name on this day? If not, only you can change it.  If not, you should do whatever it takes to get to that lifestyle.

Penalties of Disobedience

Hebrews 12:18-24

Brothers and Sisters:

You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Praise be to God always!

 The Judgment of the Nations

Matthew 25:31-46 

The Lord Jesus Said: “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. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep in his right hand and the goats in the left. Then 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; for 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, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then 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? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And 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.’ Then 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; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I 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.’ Then 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?’ Then 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.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” This is the truth. Peace be with you.

What happens if you do not obey the Lord?  What rewards would you obtain in the next life? Are you doing everything to walk the path back to God?  In the Catholic Church, we believe that salvation is a lifelong journey-it is not easy to live nor should we live without working for our future both on this earth and the next.  Taking one Sunday a year to honor the people who have gone before us and been successful on this journey honors them as well as gives great role models for people to follow now and forever.  Amen