Pope: we will be judged on love, works and compassion

At the Angelus, Francis warns that "the Lord, at the end of the world, will judge His flock, and he will do so not only as shepherd, but also as oneof the sheep, with whom He identified himself.  And He will ask us: 'Have you been a bit of a shepherd like me?' ".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "We will be judged on love.  Not on the feeling, no: we will be judged on the works [of love], on the compassion that becomes closeness and caring help.  Do I approach the sick, the poor, the suffering?  This is today's question ".  The question on the works of mercy already at the center of the homily at Mass celebrated in the Vatican Basilica on the occasion of the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe returned to the words of Francis before the recitation of the Angelus.

Speaking to a few thousand people present in St. Peter's Square, the Pope repeated the question: "Do I draw close to Jesus present in the person of the sick, the poor, the suffering, the prisoners, those who hunger and thirst for justice,  Do I draw close to Jesus present there? ”.  Because “the Lord, at the end of the world, will judge his flock, and he will do so not only on the side of the shepherd, but also on the side of the sheep, with which he identified himself.  And he will ask us: 'Have you been a bit of a shepherd like me?'  This is the question that the Gospel already puts in our hearts today, as a criterion for judgment.  'That time I was in trouble, were you able to spend some time taking care of me?  Were you able, with my grace, to go beyond yourself a little to realize that I needed you?  Has your heart softened in front of my wounds, my loneliness, my despondency?  Let's beware of the logic of indifference, of what immediately comes to mind: looking the other way when we see a problem.  Let us recall the parable of the Good Samaritan.  That poor man, wounded by brigands, thrown to the ground, between life and death, was there alone.  A priest passed by, saw, and went away, looked the other way.  A Levite passed by, saw and looked away.  In front of my brothers and sisters in need, am I indifferent like this priest, like this Levite, and do I look the other way?  I will be judged on this: on how I approached, on how I looked at Jesus present in the needy.  This is the logic, and I don't say it, Jesus says it: 'What you did to this, to this, to this, you did it to me.  And what you didn't do to this, to this, to this, you didn't do to me, because I was there. '  May Jesus teach us this logic, this logic of proximity, of approaching Him, with love, in the person of the most suffering ".

After the Angelus, Francis had a thought for the disastrous earthquake that hit the south of Italy 40 years ago and praised the solidarity that was shown at the time by the rest of the country.