No one who is not good can hope for a good fate after death, even if they count among their ancestors thousands of saints, for as the Apostle says, “that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
On the Sunday of the Last Judgement, His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir of Chișinău and All Moldova officiated the Holy and Divine Liturgy at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Nativity of the Lord in Chișinău.
Concelebrating to His Eminence were Protopriest Vadim Cheibaș, Metropolitan Secretary and Ecclesiarch of the Cathedral, together with an assembly of priests and deacons.
During the Divine Liturgy, the Gospel passage from the Holy Evangelist Matthew (chapter 25, verses 31-46) was read out in all churches, presenting the scene of the Last Judgement:
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal”.
The Gospel of the Sunday of the Last Judgement reveals to us the mystery and purpose of our freedom: namely, how do we use our freedom in our earthly life? Have we used our freedom to cultivate merciful love towards those in need, or have we mistaken freedom for negligence and indifference towards them? The Gospel teaches us that only when we do good are we truly free and experience life as a blessing from God.
Next Sunday, the Church will observe the Sunday of the Expulsion of Adam from Paradise.
Sector for Synodal Institutional Communication and Media Relations