The Christian meaning of life/Matthew 25

The meaning of Christian life is expressed in the three parables of chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew. The first 2 parables are preparatory, in view of the final meaning expressed in the third parable, so it is appropriate to immediately highlight the third:

Matthew 25:31-46 (The Last Judgment)

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

What is certainly striking is the harshness with which Jesus expresses himself in this parable, which seems not to be reconciled with the revelation of a God of Love, but upon reflection, since the theme is the defense of the hungry, thirsty, foreign, naked, sick man , a prisoner who risks being left alone in his suffering, the harshness with which Jesus expresses himself is perfectly justifiable, also because Jesus knows the human soul and knows that man often tends to do something to get something in return. Therefore Jesus tells us that if we want eternal life we cannot for any reason in the world leave our neighbor in suffering. God, in his mercy, can forgive all our sins but he is not willing to compromise on this. God suffers when he sees man suffer and he cannot tolerate us living our lives peacefully while leaving others in suffering. Jesus not only sides decisively in favor of the least but identifies with them, so despite our possible indifference, God is with them and in them and we can serve God by serving them. The meaning of Christian life is therefore this. Prayer, the sacraments, our personal efforts to improve ourselves must be aimed solely at this purpose which is none other than the will of God. But how should we prepare to achieve this arduous objective? The first 2 parables of chapter 25 of Matthew explain it to us:

Matthew 25:1-13 (Parable of the Ten Virgins)

1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.
5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.
8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with  him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. 

Even in this case we note the harshness with which Jesus expresses himself, because to achieve the purposes expressed in the parable of the last judgment previously transcribed, nWe cannot think of not preparing ourselves spiritually. For whatever you do in life it is necessary to follow a training itinerary. No doctor can practice the profession of medicine unless he has first studied hard for several years. Therefore the parable of the ten virgins wants to tell us that we cannot ignore prayer, the sacraments, reading the Bible, etc. to achieve the purposes expressed in the parable of the Last Judgment. In fact, as we read in the Bible, oil is a symbol of the Spirit. The anointing of the sick with oil as we read in the Bible is a symbol of the action of the Spirit in us. We cannot expect to do anything good if God is not with us because as Jesus says in the parable of the vine and the branches: "Without me you can do nothing". It is our task to supply ourselves with "oil" through prayer, the sacraments, reading the Bible, offering our body, our mind, our soul as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God to achieve the purposes expressed in the parable of universal judgement, that is, protecting and helping those who are hungry, thirsty, foreigners, naked, sick, in prison, etc. But this is still not enough, hence the next parable which precedes that of the universal judgement:

Matthew 25:14-30 (The Parable of the Bags of Gold)

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.
15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.
17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.
18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?
27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.
29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The harshness with which Jesus expresses himself remains in this parable. If we want to protect and help those who are hungry, thirsty, they are foreigners, naked, sick, in prison, etc. we cannot ignore cultivating our talents and natural gifts. Anyone who can be a doctor because he has the natural ability cannot ignore studying for several years before being able to carry out the profession. If a doctor capable of carrying out this profession did not cultivate his natural talent, his fault would be very serious because many sick people would not be able to alleviate their suffering thanks to his help. Therefore, even in this case, God's judgment is very harsh towards the lazy doctor but always in view of the protection of the last expressed in the parable of the Last Judgment.