The Solemnity of Christ the King

Ez 34:11-12, 15-17, 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28, Mt 25:31-46

 

Dear sisters and brothers,

 

This last Sunday of the Church year is about judgment. This is not a popular topic in our modern societies. No one wants to believe that God would send anyone to hell. Thus, judgment is simply not accepted in our time. Most of us are quite happy not having to think about judgment and the end of the world. This last Sunday of the year and the beginning of Advent always puts this unpopular topic right before us and we must take some time to reflect on it.

The role of “judgment” in the Scriptures does not really seem to be about God putting people into hell. Rather it is about us, about you and me, and about the choices that we make in our lives. We can make choices that separate us from God and from others. We can make choices that bring us closer to God and to others. Scriptural judgment seems to be about these two types of judgments and about who we are and how we live.

When we take the whole idea of judgment away, many people believe that our actions really do not matter. Even if we make judgments that separate us from God and others, we think, surely God will forgive us and take us to heaven. Thus, our actions become meaningless, because whether we do good or bad, we trust that God will take us to heaven.

There was a queue of people outside the gates of heaven. Each person was asked the question: ‘Why do you think you should be admitted?’

The first person in the queue, a very religious man, said, ‘I studied the bible every day,’ ‘Very good,’ said the Lord. ‘’However, we will have to carry out an investigation to see why you studied the bible. So please step outside for a moment.’

The second was a very pious woman who said, ‘Lord, I said my prayers every day without fail.’  ‘Very good,’ the Lord answered. ‘However, we will have to see if your motives were pure. So, step aside for a moment.’

Then an innkeeper approached. He just said, ‘Lord, on earth I wasn’t very religious man, but my door was always open to the homeless, and I never refused food for anyone who was hungry,’ ‘Very good,’ said the Lord. ‘In your case no investigation is needed. Go right in.’

It has been said that if you do a good deed, but have an ulterior motive, it would be better not to do it at all. The only exception is charity. Even though it is not as good as doing it with a pure motive, it is still a good deed, and benefits the other person, no matter what your motive.

In the year 1880 in Paris a rather poorly dressed priest showed up at a presbytery looking for a night’s lodgings. He had come all the way from Turin, in Italy, and was trying to raise funds to build a church. The visitor’s name was John Bosco, but this meant nothing to the resident priest, so he put him in the rec room. Many years later when John Bosco was declared a saint by the Church, the priest said, ‘Had I known it was John Bosco, I would not have put him in the den, I would have given him the best room in the house.’

We never know exactly who it is we are meeting in the person of our neighbor. But this is not important. What is important is that we see in that person a needy human being, and that we do our best to meet his need. For those with faith, behind the face, no matter how strange, the face of Christ lies hidden.

 

Peace and all good!

Fr. Valery Burusu

Parochial Administrator