Opening reflection (taken from Magnificat magazine, www.magnificat.com): Pope Benedict XVI has written: “Jesus of Nazareth … is so intrinsically king that the title 'King' has actually become His name. By calling ourselves Christians, we label ourselves as followers of the king … God did not intend Israel to have a kingdom. The kingdom was a result of Israel's rebellion against God … The law was to be Israel's king, and, through the law, God Himself … God yielded to Israel's obstinacy and so devised a new kind of kingship for them. The King is Jesus; in Him God entered humanity and espoused it to Himself. This is the usual form of the divine activity in relation to mankind. God does not have a fixed plan that He must carry out; on the contrary, He has many different ways of finding man and even of turning his wrong ways into right ways … The feast of Christ the King is therefore not a feast of those who are subjugated, but a feast of those who know that they are in the hands of the One who writes straight with crooked lines.”
(This weekend's Scripture readings are available in the New American Bible translation – the one used in U.S. Catholic parishes – at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/112011.cfm)
First Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17 (Revised Standard Version)
A reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel.
For thus says the Lord GOD:
Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep,
and will seek them out.
As a shepherd seeks out his flock
when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad,
so will I seek out my sheep;
and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered
on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep,
and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD.
I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed,
and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak,
and the fat and the strong I will watch over;
I will feed them in justice.
As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD:
Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, rams and he-goats.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation: As he lived among his fellow Judeans in Babylon, Ezekiel received great visions from God extending far beyond his time to the end of all things. It might appear on the surface that this prophecy deals only with the short-term return of Israel to the Promised Land it had temporarily forfeited through centuries of willful failure to keep the Law of Moses. Certainly one can rightly hear that message in today's passage, even though not all Israelites would choose to return to Canaan once the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great made it possible for them to do so.
With our knowledge of today's Gospel reading from Matthew 25, however, we can see that Ezekiel – like Jesus – was offering a divine sneak preview of the final judgment. All of humanity, living and dead, will be gathered from the places where they then will be found. The Divine Shepherd certainly will gather the most faithful of His sheep, the ones who believe in Him.
But will other sheep, the ones who have willfully abandoned their Shepherd, also be rounded up? It must be so, if God on that day will judge between “sheep and sheep” and especially between the “rams” and the “he-goats” (symbols of the leaders of God's people). Remember that the Passover lamb could be drawn from either the sheep or the goats – but remember also that goats are a stubborn species, bound at times to do as they please. These are the undertones of the words Christ our King will speak to the sheep and the goats when we discuss the Gospel reading.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28
A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.
Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation: Paul, too, looked forward to the day when the Messiah who had directly called him to apostolic service would return in His glory. Take heart, he told the Christians he had instructed and lived with in Corinth: Jesus already has shown us what will happen to us by His own resurrection. Because He paid the price of death owed by all humans since Adam's sin, we too can look forward to the day when we will be more alive than we can possibly imagine in this our limited existence here on Earth.
We must be patient, though. Christ, the “firstfruits” of the general resurrection to come, must first complete His office as our Redeemer. He must gather all who believe in Him to Himself, through the making of disciples over the many centuries. Satan and his angels will continue to resist and continue to lead people astray. Our Lord's victory is certain, but it will be completed at a time only He knows. When that wonderful day comes, then all souls will be reunited with their bodies, for physical death at last will be no more! Then will the Son deliver the Kingdom to His Father. No longer will we be separated from our Creator. We will be His people; He will be our God. May that day come soon!
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46
A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew. Glory to You, Lord.
Jesus told his disciples: "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, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee 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 also will 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."
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.
Meditation: The last weekend Scripture reading of our church year takes us to the scene first predicted by Ezekiel. And it is in the separation by Christ our King of the sheep and the goats that we finally and definitively see that our salvation can never be by “faith alone,” if by “alone” we mean that we have no obligation to live out that faith in service to others. For the King leaves no doubt whatsoever that loving our neighbor as ourselves is inextricably intertwined with loving Him above all things. We put others first, and we serve Him. We put ourselves first, ignoring our neighbors' needs, and we put our immortal soul in peril.
Our liturgical year is at an end, and yet it points to a new beginning. As we begin Advent once more next weekend, our thoughts should begin to turn to preparation for Christ's coming. As we contemplate the first coming of our Lord as the Babe of Bethlehem, we should do so with His Second Coming always in mind. We should prepare our hearts and minds to receive Him anew into our lives, knowing that the day will surely come when He will return for good. That day will come when we least expect it. Let us begin anew to watch for our Savior.
Close with individual prayer, followed by Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
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