Reflecting on Matthew 25
Submitted by Marguerite Thompson
A modified excerpt from “Lord, when did we see you hungry”, by Yohan Garcia, Catholic Social Teaching Education Manager of the Secretariat of Justice and Peace at the USCCB.
In the US, 38.3 million people live in conditions of food insecurity. According to a 2022 USDA report, 11.7 million are children. These households were unable to provide adequate nutritious food for their children, and children reported skipping meals because there was not enough money for food. The pandemic and inflation crisis have increased this number. Congress has mandated that there be stricter work requirements attached to receiving benefits from the Supplement Nutrition Assistant Program. These realities lead us to ask why people are hungry, food insecure, and unable to provide for their families and what type of answer is needed to address these realities in our parish communities, neighborhoods, cities, and society. To shed some light on these moral challenges, I invite readers to reflect on three passages from Sacred Scripture that follow the See-Judge-Act methodology. The methodology allows us to interpret the “signs of the times” (Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, no. 4), illuminate with an unchanging light the new problems that are constantly emerging (Caritas in Veritate, no. 12), and put our faith into action each day we are confronted by a brother and sister in need (Fratelli Tutti, no. 69):
SEE: “Give them some food yourselves” (Matthew 14:16)
JUDGE: An Ethic of Christian Discipleship (Matthew 25:31-46)
ACT: Go and Bear Fruit (John 15:16)
For more information on the Eucharist and social mission, please visit: www.usccb.org/eucharist-social-mission