34th Sunday A CHRIST THE KING My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in our African tradition, the idea of a king, has to do with the one who orders the life of a community. He is the one who is fully responsible for the life of the people. In many traditions, the king wielded absolute power in which he was free to do anything, and whatever he did was not to be questioned by anyone. The Yoruba’s for instance address the ‘Oba’ as ‘Kabiesi’ (Ka bi o ko si) meaning: ‘No one can question your authority.’ Is that the type of king that we want Christ to be for us? What we celebrate today however is the kinship of Christ over our lives. We celebrate our readiness to follow him along the path of life and to live like him. Our celebration today will be marked by Eucharistic procession, as we walk with him, let us learn from him and be like him. First Reading ( Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17) Ezekiel’s prophecy in our first reading today, happened at a time of great tribulation in the land of Israel. Jerusalem and its wonderful temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians. They had razed down its walls and gone on rampage indulging in all kinds of violence and cruelty. For this reason many had to run for safety. Some ran into the mountains, others to Egypt but many who were supposed to be the professionals of the time, were taken as slaves to Babylon leaving only peasant farmers, the aged and perhaps women and children. Many years later, things do not seem to have changed for the better. It was at a time like this, that God called Ezekiel and gave him the message that he will not send other kings who are likely to continue to exploit the people, but he will shepherd his people by himself. One of the apostolic letters of John Paul II on the formation of priests had its title from the prophecy of Ezekiel, “Pastores Dabo Vobis” – I will give you shepherds. When God said, he will be the shepherd of his people, we should understand that, in the sense of a farmer, that is very close to his sheep, surrounds them with care and thoughtfulness, to know whether they are doing well or not and sees to it that the weak ones are helped to become strong. The Church today, as we celebrate this feast reminds us, that Christ is the only shepherd who can care for his sheep this way. But still we share in this ministry of Christ, by the fact of our baptism. The Responsorial Psalm is a song in praise of this shepherd, acknowledging that the Lord himself is our shepherd and it is only with him, that we cannot lack anything especially the place of rest which is eternal life. Second Reading (1 Corinthians 15: 20 -26, 28) At the time Paul was writing, the basic understanding of the second coming of Jesus, comprised the appearance of two kingdoms: the first will be the kingdom of the Messiah, while the second will comprise the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of the messiah, all the enemies of God will be brought under the feet of the Messiah and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death. When Paul talks of the enemies of the Lord here, he does not refer to human beings but to the forces of evil that dominate, cause pain and suffering. All those who are fighting these forces, are definitely working for the establishment of the kingdom of God. When the building of the Kingdom of Christ is complete, St Paul says that the Messiah will now hand over things to the father. Gospel (Matthew 25: 31-46) In the Gospel of Matthew, there is no need to search far to get an appropriate passage for the celebration of this feast. The passage that concludes the discourse on the return of Jesus at the end of time is just very appropriate. It proposes for our own contemplation the solemn intervention of the Son of Man when he “comes in his glory, and all the angels with him”. When he appears as king to judge, we are told that he will consider very simple things, and these will include the works of mercy and charity. He will separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep are believed to be the ones, who have followed the simple way of life, that the shepherd had laid down for them and that means that, they can then share in the joys of the shepherd himself. Our meeting with God here, is described as a time to take stock and to give account of our lives and living on earth. On this last Sunday of the Liturgical year, we are presented with a reading about the final judgement. Just like in the parable of the talents which we read last Sunday, we will have to account for the things that the Lord has entrusted to us. Not only in the big things, but particularly, about our relationship with those around us—the weak, sick and forgotten people of our world. The world is full of those in need of help and particularly those we are capable of loving and helping: the world is full of hungry people in need of food; of sick people in need of care; of oppressed people in need of liberation; but very often such people are ignored by those who should help them or even oppressed by those who should rescue them. We shall be judged on the basis of whether we have ministered to Christ in those around us. The demands of the Lord in this passage are not too big for anyone. He asks that we ‘feed the hungry’—about a third of the world’s population is starving, yet there are homes where people waste food. He demands that we should ‘welcome strangers’—a clear reminder that we are all strangers and sojourners here in this world. The world of our time is full of refugees and displaced people. Jesus claims to be in them. He demands that we should ‘go to see those in prison’—he had first hand experience of that isolation and imprisonment, but we are in one way or another imprisoned by our own faults and sins. The physical prisons of the world are full of many who have lost touch with their humanity and have surrendered themselves to crime and anti-social tendencies. Our love Jesus says is needed by such people. He demands that ‘we care for the sick’—we fall sick sometimes and cherish the love of friends and family. We can extend that love which we cherish to others. Think of what you can do this week in response to his demands. May you find joy and happiness as you continue to serve the Lord in the weakest ones in the society and those on the margins of history. Amen. Have a pleasant week.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 20:48:05 +0000
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