Article February 6, 1943 Issue

"When saw we thee an hungred?"

MARGARET GERALDINE GODEFROI

"Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?" Using the same words in both instances, Jesus described the astonishment of the righteous and of the unrighteous nations, of the sheep and the goats, those whose works the King rewarded and those who were to go away "into everlasting fire," not necessarily because they had done wrong, but because they had neglected to do right.

Neither the righteous nor the unrighteous could understand how the things they had done or left undone in any way concerned the Christ. What had their achievements or their failures to do with religion, with keeping the Sabbath, and so forth? They ignored the fact that Jesus had said that "a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things," and that he should be judged by his works. It was by this manifestation of their thinking expressed in everyday life that the King of kings would assess all mankind. And as for the individual. so also for a community or a nation; where thought is spiritually uplifted and desire righteous, the manifestation will be seen in acts of kindness, individual and collective; in the highest forms of democratic government.

As told in St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives with his disciples, engaged in answering their question, "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Jesus thereupon warned his followers to pay no heed to false Christs and teachers and prophets; and he then foretold the terrible tribulation of these latter days. By means of parables, he taught them watchfulness. He illustrated it by the householder taken unawares, the unpreparedness of the foolish virgins; and then, at some length, in the parable of the talents, he described how opportunities should be improved and natural abilities encouraged. Finally, he drew a picture of the Son of man, surrounded by the holy angels, sitting upon the throne of his glory. He foresaw the time when it would no longer be necessary to speak in parables, because Truth would have been revealed and made available to all.

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