In this week’s gospel, Jesus offers a familiar dialogue about serving him through our service to others. And he totally gets what we would say.

“Lord, when was it that we saw you…”

A kind of self-interrogating question about time and self. When did this happen? Can I even remember? Was my past self a good person? And does this effect my present self? Can I still be a good person?

This is the same interrogation we do with race and identity. And is often the kind of interrogation we avoid doing today. Wanting to be good, we don’t really want to know the answer. Better to just assume we did it right.

What if there isn’t a checklist or a measuring stick? Just a genuine sense of character.

Were you like Christ to people who needed Christ’s presence? Or did you reserve that for the people who could help you out?