February 19, Monday of the First Week of Lent
Daily Readings: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18, Matthew 25:35-46
The holiness of life is the ultimate purpose of God's human creation, humanity. It includes living one's life according to God's commands. Through Moses, the Lawgiver, God bestows holiness codes on His chosen people. The need to live a life of holiness becomes a necessity because God, the Creator Himself, is holy. Divine holiness serves as a model for human holiness. It is not going to be a ditto, of course, but one can always give it a try.
The word ‘holy’ means to be ‘separated’. Yes! In reciprocity, we will set ourselves aside for God, as a people set apart by and for Him. God repeats through Moses what He already gave him on Mount Sinai, namely the Ten Commandments (cf. Exod 20:2–17 and Deut 5:6-21).
God makes it abundantly clear that it is not enough to observe the commandments; human beings have to rise above and become compassionate. Our vocation is to establish laws that concern justice and truthfulness. It is achievable only with the command to love our neighbor. God's love must find its fulfillment in the love of a neighbor's love. Unless and until we learn to consider the Word of God as spirit and life, we will not take the first step toward holiness.
According to Matthew, the Last Judgment in the Gospel outlines the yardstick for judging us based on our corporal and spiritual performance. God does not appear in his divine form, but rather in the form of the needy: those who are hungry, thirsty, sick, and naked; those who are strangers and in prison.
Those who respond positively to these people will receive their reward, and those who don’t will inherit their due recompense. The final question is whether we are counted as “blessed by my Father” to “inherit the kingdom” or as “you that are accursed” and “depart from me into the eternal fire.”.
Call to Action for Catholic Living: Where will we be on the day of judgment? Is it on the right or left side? Will the Lord address the blessed ones or the accursed ones? How can we inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for us?
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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