The gospel for Monday of the first week of Lent is from Matthew 25:34. Come, you who 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 drink, a stranger and you welcomed me naked, and you clothed me ill, and you cared for me in prison, and you visited me. The righteous will answer him and say, lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When do we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?

When do we see you ill and in prison and visit you? And the king will say to them in reply, amen. I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. There’s a dimension to our faith that we call mystical, magical, mysterious, hidden. And what I find in this gospel is a beautiful image of the oneness of all of us. Jesus is more than just the divine revelation, fullness of revelation of who God is.

He is representing a reality that we are all interconnected. Whenever we do anything for anyone else, we’ve done it for ourselves and for God. Why do we think that we’re separate? Why do we think we’re individuals separated from one another because of distinctions that we come up with? Let us open our hearts to the oneness of all of us who are in this work together bringing about his kingdom. Closing Prayer Father, keep us awake and alert to the fullness of your message.

Let us not fall into the trap of narrowing it down into something we can control and use. Help us to be true mystics, and we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.