Fr.
Joseph Pham Quoc Van, O.P.
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today is the
last sunday of liturgical year, the Church invites us to
celebrate the Lord Jesus as King of the Universe. She calls us to look to the
future, or more properly into the depths, to the ultimate goal of history, which
will be the definitive and eternal kingdom of Christ. He was with the Father in
the beginning, when the world was created, and he will fully manifest his
lordship at the end of time, when he will judge all mankind. This is the
meaning of today’s feast. The Feast of Christ the King today was
established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, a way of life
which leaves God out of man's thinking and living and organizes his life as if
God did not exist. The feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and
effective manner Christ's royalty over individuals, families, society,
governments, and nations.
Jesus’
kingdom is not of this world, but it is not outside this world entirely
either. Jesus’ kingdom is already present in seed within our world,
through the redeeming power of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Truly, when
Pilate asks Jesus: “Are you the King of the Jews?”, in reply to this question,
Jesus clarifies the nature of his kingship and his messiahship itself, which is
no worldly power but a love which serves: “My kingship is not of this world… is
not from the world.” The kingdom of God is a kingdom utterly different from
earthly kingdoms.
Today’s readings speak to us of the King and his kingdom. In the first
reading, we see the King as a shepherd. God says, through
Ezekiel, “I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out... I will
rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered… I will feed
my sheep with justice.”
As the same way, in the Gospel, Jesus said to his disciples:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he
will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before
him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the
sheep from the goats.” Who will be seen as a sheep and who will be seen
as a goat and that bar line that is drawn is all about love of neighbor. The
sheep are those who give their neighbor something to eat, something to drink,
some clothes, shelter, welcome, care and visitation.
It is very
clear that, the Gospel of the Last Judgement is not just about our own life but
about the care of the Christian believer about the roots of
marginalisation. The believer cannot but be concerned about models of
society which alienate men and women from attaining the fullness of their
dignity. The Gospel message is a social message of love for others. It is
a challenge to each of us and to our Christian community to remember that being
a Christian is never just something inward looking. The Christian life is
never self-centred. God is love and the Christian life can only be a life
which reflects that love. The judgement mentioned in the Gospel is not just
about a future surprise for those who have failed to respond to the call of Jesus.
There is no evidence in our Gospel reading to imagine that those who come to
the valley of judgement come already designated or identifiable as sheep or
goats.
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
Celebrating the
Lord Jesus as King of the Universe today, we are invited to be converted ever
anew to the kingdom of God, to the lordship of God, of Truth, in our lives. We
invoke the kingdom daily in the prayer of the “Our Father” with the words “Thy
kingdom come”; in effect we say to Jesus: Lord, make us yours, live in us,
gather together a scattered and suffering humanity, so that in you all may be
subjected to the Father of mercy and love. Amen
Fr.
Joseph Pham Quoc Van, O.P.
