"What so ever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me". This is the refrain of a popular hymn that I grew up with. I knew it as a child and it was only later that I knew its context in the passage from Matthew's Gospel. There could not be a more fitting gospel passage as we begin our Lenten season. For, Lent used to be a time when we were more concerned about fasting and giving things up than about almsgiving and doing good deeds. In recent years the Church has focused more on asking the question "What can I do during Lent?", while still retaining a focus on fasting.

In today's passage from Matthew 25, Jesus is focusing on 'doing' and, more than that, He singles out those whom we are to help with food, drink, welcome, clothing, care giving and visiting. They are today, just as during Jesus' time, the same people in our society who are most easily forgotten: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison. This is a tall order and we need to begin by praying for the grace to see Jesus in the faces of those who are most easily forgotten. Perhaps then, we will also be given the grace of action, in order that we may fulfil the most basic Christian work of service to the poor. It is consoling to remember that Jesus is singing that refrain for us and with us.