“Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” Why is this so, and what is this reward? “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…I was thirsty, and you gave me drink…whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me,” (Matthew 25:34-35, 40). What kindness we show to those who belong to Christ—the baptized, the poor, and so on—we show to Him, and He will not fail to return that kindness.
Likewise, should we lead one of His “…little ones…” astray, He will not forget this either, for in doing so we lead ourselves astray. Thus He warns us, begging us to do whatever we must do to avoid Hell and come to Him, even if we come to Him in rough shape. In doing so He reminds us that Hell is such a terrible fate that, like an animal caught in a trap that gnaws through its own leg to get free, we ought to break free of anything that is dragging us downward. So often we negotiate with sin, make compromises, seeking the gentle release rather than the violent break. But if we truly understood not only the horror of Hell, but God’s burning desire for our redemption, we would flee from sin, spit out the fruit of the forbidden tree, and cling to God’s will with all we have.