Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 20^th 2011)  

Feast of Christ the King

Matthew 25:31-46

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Questions raised by this passage from the Gospel

1. How does the vision I have of the future influence my concrete acts in the present moment?

2. Is the message of this Gospel threatening or is it something fundamentally positive?

3. What are the opportunities that I have on a daily basis to enter God's Kingdom?

4. Why are the good people in the parable completely unaware of the good actions they have done for the Lord?

5. Are acts of charity great acts of benevolence and charity on our part, or are they privileged moments of encounter with the Kingdom of God?

This Gospel challenges us to reflect on the ultimate purpose of our lives and to relate it to the ordinary things we do every day

The Feast of Christ the King marks the end of the liturgical year, so it is appropriate that the Gospel this Sunday should be concerned with the end of all things. At the end of any year, we are always inclined to reflect on the way things are changing and passing away. It is also an opportunity to reflect on more profound things like the ultimate purpose of our lives. It is sometimes said that the human being can be understood in terms of where he is going. If the vision I have of the future is based on something false or frivolous, then my whole life now in the present will be disordered. The vision I have of my future is related to the vision I have of myself. Everything a human being does is done with some sort of intention, and if I do not have an enlightened vision of my future, then my behaviour in the present moment will be misguided as a result. What kind of vision of the future does this Gospel place before us? How does it relate that future to concrete acts in the present?

A Gospel that clearly describes the tragic consequences of selfish actions

We are presented with the image of a Shepherd King who is busy putting everything in its proper order. The problem with this Gospel is that it gives a menacing, threatening description of the consequences that await us in the future if we fail to behave in a certain way. And there can be little doubt that the Gospel does intend to give a severe warning of the negative consequences of our acts. On a human level, we need to be aware of these consequences or otherwise we might never be motivated to alter our behaviour. It is a fact of life that we do engage in evil acts, and we need to be attentive to the repercussions that follow such acts.

A Gospel that embodies a warning but which has a fundamentally positive message

This Gospel can justifiably be understood to embody a tragic warning of the consequences that await our behaviour. But this is not the only purpose of this passage. The parable also holds up to us the fact that the most ordinary of acts can have a wonderful significance. It shows us how the Kingdom of God can be breached without us even being aware of it. It highlights how all of us are willed by God to enter paradise, despite our constant obstinacy with regard to doing good. Our heavenly Father has no other purpose for us except that of our fulfilment and happiness. In the end, damnation is a consequence of the frustration of God's plan for us. If there was no possibility of us failing to carry out God's will, then our freedom of choice would have no meaning or substance.

The Lord has surrounded us with opportunities to enter His Kingdom!

How should this text be understood in the context of its positioning at the end of the liturgical year? What it tells us is that God surrounds us with opportunities to go to Paradise! The Lord has not left us without ample occasions and means to enter his Kingdom. These opportunities can be found in the sick, the homeless, the poor and the imprisoned. We should not think that those in need are a nuisance that we would be better of without. They are our gates to Paradise! This is a fundamentally positive message that should motivate us towards acts of charity. Situations of need are not irritating or troublesome states of affairs, but are moments of grace. In a sick person there is grace for us. In a prisoner, there is grace for us. In a down-and-out who needs to be dressed, there is an opportunity to enter a wonderful kingdom. These people are doors that God opens to us. They should not be thought of simply as situations that make demands on us. Instead, they should be seen as occasions when the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.

Why are the good people in the parable unaware of the good they have done?

In the parable, both the good and the bad are ignorant of the repercussions of their actions in the sense that neither is aware of the true significance of what they have done. The good ones ask the King, "But when did we do these things?" It is a fact that when we do something good, often we do not feel that we are doing something great or significant. Instead we do the act in the realisation that there is a value here that must be respected. This is an important point. What brings us to Paradise is the simple intuition of the precious value of the other person. This is the gate of the Kingdom of Heaven. In fact, the One who gives us the gift of Paradise is the One who considered us so precious that He gave His life for us. It must be the same for us.

We are called not only to serve the needy but to identify ourselves with them

When we read this text, we do so as Christians, a people that God has set apart, the Holy People of God. When we encounter this figure of the Shepherd King at the end of time, it will not be the first time that we meet him. It will be no surprise to us to hear that the gate to the Kingdom of Heaven is through acts of love to needy people that surround us. The Church has always made it abundantly clear that in the sick or needy there is the figure of the Lord Jesus himself. Saint Camillus always served the sick either standing or on his knees because he was aware that Jesus was present in that person. We have the privilege of being in possession of this wonderful truth – that Christ is present in those who are in need – so let us not waste it. We must also remember that we are not simply called to serve the needy; we are asked to identify ourselves with them. We must hunger and thirst with Christ for justice. We must be, with Christ, the persecuted and the imprisoned, in the sense that we suffer with them and ache for liberation. When all is said and done, why are the needy identifiable with Christ? Because He was the one who was thirsty, imprisoned, and without clothes. Every man and woman who wishes to follows Christ on the way of the cross must be ready one day to be the one who is rejected. Through our acts of love, service, and doing good, we must be ready to find ourselves marginalised and rejected as Christ was.

The ultimate purpose of life is brought into the present by concrete acts of mercy

To look after the people around us who are suffering is the minimum that we are asked to do. That is why the good people in the parable didn't even realise that, in carrying out this minimum, they were serving Christ. They had simply done what they had discerned to be the right thing. In so doing, they had unknowingly made contact with the ultimate purpose of life. Every act of charity is a gate to Paradise. Whenever we have the chance to practice charity, let us not think that we are doing great acts of benevolence. Let us be mindful of the fact, rather, that the opportunity to carry out such acts is a great privilege. Through them we encounter the wonderful reality of the Kingdom of God.