All I want for Christmas

Matthew 25: 31-46

"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of 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, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'

Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food,  I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 

Then they will also answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

This was the gospel reading at mass a few weeks ago (Solemnity of Christ the King). Even though I've heard these verses several times, for some reason it has really stuck with me this time, and I've been thinking about it almost every day since then. I can't quit questioning myself. Am I helping those who are in need, am I going beyond what is expected of myself to show others God's love? Am I missing opportunities by not seeking them out or not recognizing God's call out to me? The last one is a biggie- sometimes life gets a little crazy and you have so much going on, it's easy not to hear the call, or not to recognize an opportunity. An opportunity to pray for someone who you know is suffering, to send a cheerful note to someone who is feeling down, or just spend time listening...something I know I really need to work on.

So throughout the day, I've been asking myself...am I being Christ-like? Is what I'm doing at this very moment, the thoughts running through my head, the things I worry about and the things that make me anxious or sad or happy, even...are these things that would pull out the same emotions in Christ? Am I being materialistic/judgmental/petty? This Christmas, all I want is to feel full of Christ and have a sense that He is working through me, guiding me to where I need to be. I'm not sure exactly what that means or where that will be, but hopefully someday I will...until then, I will try to be the best wife, sister, daughter, friend, stranger, child of Christ that I can be.