November 20, 2011

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ The King

Reading 1 Ez 34:11-12, 15-17

Thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
As a shepherd tends his flock
when he finds himself among his scattered sheep,
so will I tend my sheep.
I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered
when it was cloudy and dark.
I myself will pasture my sheep;
I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
The lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal,
but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,
shepherding them rightly.

As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD,
I will judge between one sheep and another,
between rams and goats.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Reading 2 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28

Brothers and sisters:
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through man,
the resurrection of the dead came also through man.
For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order:
Christ the firstfruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end,
when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father,
when he has destroyed every sovereignty
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 everything is subjected to him,
then the Son himself will also be subjected
to the one who subjected everything to him,
so that God may be all in all.

Gospel Mt 25:31-46

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.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by 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,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.'
Then the righteous will answer him and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
And the king will say to them in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Then he will say to those on his left,
'Depart from me, you accursed,
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,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
Then they will answer and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?'
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.'
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."

From: Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17

The Lord, the Shepherd of Israel

[11] “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep,
and will seek them out. [12] 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. [15] I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will
make them lie down, says the Lord God. [16] 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.

[17] “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between
sheep and sheep, rams and he-goats.

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Commentary:

34:11-22. Ezekiel says that God has made himself a shepherd for his people (v.
11); he always looks out for them (vv. 12-16), neglecting none. This solicitude
includes the practice of justice (vv. 17-22); in this new stage it becomes clearer
that divine love and mercy are compatible with condemnation of the wicked (v.
20): in fact, love can never exclude justice. This beautiful oracle resounds in our
Lord’s parable of the Good Shepherd who takes care of his sheep (ef. Jn 10:1-
21), in what he says about the Father’s joy on finding the lost sheep (cf. Mt 18:
12-14; Lk 15:4-7), and in things he has to say about the Last Judgment as re-
ported by St Matthew (Mt 25:31-46). In a sermon on pastors, St Augustine com-
ments: “He stands guard over us when we are awake and while we sleep. If an
earthly flock is safe in the vigilant care of a human shepherd, how much more
secure are we, who have God as our shepherd, not only because he desires to
teach and help us, but because he is our creator. “As for you, my flock, thus
says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, rams and he-
goats” (Ezek 34:17). Why are he-goats to be found among God’s flock? Goats
who will be sent to the left, and sheep that will be called to the right side of God,
are to be found in the same fields and by the same streams; and He tends toge-
ther those who will later be separated. The meek patience of sheep is an imita-
tion of the patience of God. He will separate the flock later, sending some to the
right and some to the left” (”Sermones”, 47).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28

The Basis of Our Faith (Continuation)

[20] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who
have fallen asleep. [21] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also
the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall
all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at
his coming those who belong to Christ. [24] Then comes the end, when he deli-
vers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authori-
ty and power. [25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his
feet. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

[28] When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be sub-
jected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every
one.

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Commentary:

20-28. The Apostle insists on the solidarity that exists between Christ and Chris-
tians: as members of one single body, of which Christ is the head, they form as
it were one organism (cf. Rom 6:3-11; Gal 3:28). Therefore, once the resurrection
of Christ is affirmed, the resurrection of the just necessarily follows. Adam’s diso-
bedience brought death for all; Jesus, the new Adam, has merited that all should
rise (cf. Rom 5:12-21). “Again, the resurrection of Christ effects for us the resur-
rection of our bodies not only because it was the efficient cause of this mystery,
but also because we all ought to arise after the example of the Lord. For with re-
gard to the resurrection of the body we have this testimony of the Apostle: ‘As by
a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead’ (1 Cor
15:21). In all that God did to accomplish the mystery of our redemption he made
use of the humanity of Christ as an effective instrument, and hence his resurrec-
tion was, as it were, an instrument for the accomplishment of our resurrection”
(”St Pius V Catechism”, I, 6, 13).

Although St Paul here is referring only to the resurrection of the just (v. 23), he
does speak elsewhere of the resurrection of all mankind (cf. Acts 24:15). The
doctrine of the resurrection of the bodies of all at the end of time, when Jesus will
come in glory to judge everyone, has always been part of the faith of the Church;
“he [Christ] will come at the end of the world, he will judge the living and the dead;
and he will reward all, both the lost and the elect, according to their works. And
all those will rise with their own bodies which they now have so that they may re-
ceive according to their works, whether good or bad; the wicked, a perpetual
punishment with the devil; the good, eternal glory with ‘Christ” (Fourth Lateran
Council, “De Fide Catholica”, chap. 1).

23-28. St Paul outlines very succinctly the entire messianic and redemptive work
of Christ: by decree of the Father, Christ has been made Lord of the universe (cf.
Mt 28:18), in fulfillment of Ps 110:1 and Ps 8:7. When it says here that “the Son
himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him”, this must be
understood as referring to Christ in his capacity of Messiah and head of the
Church; not Christ as God, because the Son is “begotten, not created, consub-
stantial with the Father” (”Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed”).

Christ’s sovereignty over all creation comes about in history, but it will achieve
its final, complete, form after the Last Judgment. The Apostle presents that last
event — a mystery to us—as a solemn act of homage to the Father. Christ will of-
fer all creation to his Father as a kind of trophy, offering him the Kingdom which
up to then had been confided to his care. From that moment on, the sovereignty
of God and Christ will be absolute, they will have no enemies, no rivals; the stage
of combat will have given way to that of contemplation, as St Augustine puts it
(cf. “De Trinitate”, 1, 8).

The Parousia or second coming of Christ in glory at the end of time, when he es-
tablishes the new heaven and the new earth (cf. Rev 21:1-2), will mean definitive
victory over the devil, over sin, suffering and death. A Christian’s hope in this vic-
tory is not something passive: rather, it is something that spurs him on to ensure
that even in this present life Christ’s teaching and spirit imbue all human activities.
“Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth,” Vatican II teaches, “the
expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new
human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come. That
is why, although we must be careful to distinguish earthly progress clearly from
the increase of the Kingdom of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the
Kingdom of God, insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human so-
ciety.

“When we have spread on earth the fruits of our nature and our enterprise — hu-
man dignity, brotherly communion, and freedom — according to the command of
the Lord and in his Spirit, we will find them once again, cleansed this time from
the stain of sin, illuminated and transfigured, when Christ presents to his Father
an eternal and universal kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and
grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace (”Roman Missal”, preface for the so-
lemnity of Christ the King). Here on earth the Kingdom is mysteriously present;
when the Lord comes it will enter into its perfection” (”Gaudium Et Spes”, 39).

24. “When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father”: this does not quite catch
the beauty of the Greek which literally means “when he delivers the kingdom to
the God and Father”. In New Testament Greek, when the word “Theos” (God) is
preceded by the definite article (”ho Theos”) the first person of the Blessed Trini-
ty is being referred to.

25. “He must reign”: every year, on the last Sunday of ordinary time, the Church
celebrates the solemnity of Christ the King, to acknowledge his absolute sove-
reignty over all created things. On instituting this feast, Pius XI pointed out that
“He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and
firm belief to revealed truths and to the teachings of Christ. He must reign in our
wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our
hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and
cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which
should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or, to use
the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of righteousness unto God (Rom
6:13)” (”Quas Primas”).

28. The subjection of the son which St Paul speaks of here is in no way op-
posed to his divinity. He is referring to what will happen when Christ’s mission
as Redeemer and Messiah comes to an end, that is, once final victory is won
over the devil, sin and its consequences. The final victory of Jesus Christ will re-
store to all creation its original harmony, which sin destroyed.

“Who can realize”, St Bernard comments, “the indescribable sweetness con-
tained in these few words: God will be everything to everyone? Not to speak of
the body, I see three things in the soul—mind, will and memory; and these three
are one and the same. Everyone who lives according to the spirit senses in this
present life how far he falls short of wholeness and perfection. Why is this, if not
because God is not yet everything to everyone? That is why ones’ mind is so of-
ten mistaken in the judgment it makes, that is why one’s will experiences such
restlessness, why one’s memory is thrown into confusion by many things. The
noble person is, without wanting to be, at the mercy of this triple vanity, yet he
does not lose hope. For he who responds so generously to the desires of the
soul must also provide the mind with fullness and light, the will with abundance
of peace, and the memory with visions of eternity. O truth, O charity, O eternity,
O blessed and blessing Trinity! This wretched trinity of mine, sighs for thee, for
it is unfortunately still far from thee” (”Sermon on the Song of Songs”, 11).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Matthew 25:31-46

The Last Judgment

[31] “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then
He will sit on His glorious throne. [32] 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, [33] and He will place the sheep at His right hand, but the goats
at the left. [34] Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, O bles-
sed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world; [35] 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, [36] I was naked and you clothed
Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’ [37]
Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see Thee hungry and feed
thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? [38] And when did we see Thee a stranger
and welcome Thee, or naked and clothe Thee? [39] And when did we see Thee
sick or in prison and visit Thee?’ [40] And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I say
to you, as you did it to one of the least of My brethren, you did it to Me.’ [41]
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; [42] for I was hungry and you
gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, [43] I was a stranger
and you did not welcome Me, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in pri-
son and you did not visit Me.’ [44] 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?’ [45] 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.’ [46] And they will go away
into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

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Commentary:

31-46. The three parables (Matthew 24:42-51; 25:1-13; and 25:14-30) are comple-
ted by the announcement of a rigorous last judgment, a last act in a drama, in
which all matters of justice are resolved. Christian tradition calls it the Last Judg-
ment, to distinguish it from the “Particular Judgment” which everyone undergoes
immediately after death. The sentence pronounced at the end of time will simply
be a public, formal confirmation of that already passed on the good and the evil,
the elect and the reprobate.

31-33. In the Prophets and in the Book of Revelation the Messiah is depicted on
a throne, like a judge. This is how Jesus will come at the end of the world, to
judge the living and the dead.

The Last Judgment is a truth spelled out in the very earliest credal statements
of the Church and dogma of faith solemnly defined by Benedict XII in the Consti-
tution “Benedictus Deus” (29 January 1336).

35-46. All the various things listed in this passage (giving people food and drink,
clothing them, visiting them) become works of Christian charity when the person
doing them sees Christ in these “least” of His brethren.

Here we can see the seriousness of sins of omission. Failure to do something
which one should do means leaving Christ unattended.

“We must learn to recognize Christ when He comes out to meet us in our bro-
thers, the people around us. No human life is ever isolated. It is bound up with
other lives. No man or woman is a single verse; we all make up one divine poem
which God writes with the cooperation of our freedom” St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is
Passing By”, 111).

We will be judged on the degree and quality of our love (cf. St. John of the Cross,
“Spiritual Sentences and Maxims”, 57). Our Lord will ask us to account not only
for the evil we have done but also for the good we have omitted. We can see that
sins of omission are a very serious matter and that the basis of love of neighbor
is Christ’s presence in the least of our brothers and sisters.

St. Teresa of Avila writes: “Here the Lord asks only two things of us: love for His
Majesty and love of our neighbor. It is for these two virtues that we must strive,
and if we attain them perfectly we are doing His will [...]. The surest sign that we
are keeping these two commandments is, I think, that we should really be loving
our neighbor; for we cannot be sure if we are loving God, although we may have
good reasons for believing that we are, but we can know quite well if we are loving
our neighbor. And be certain that, the farther advanced you find you are in this,
the greater the love you will have for God; for so dearly does His Majesty love us
that He will reward our love for our neighbor by increasing the love which we bear
to Himself, and that in a thousand ways: this I cannot doubt” (”Interior Castle”, V,
3).

This parable clearly shows that Christianity cannot be reduced to a kind of agen-
cy for “doing good”. Service of our neighbor acquires supernatural value when it
is done out of love for Christ, when we see Christ in the person in need. This is
why St. Paul asserts that “if I give away all I have...but have not love, I gain no-
thing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). Any interpretation of Jesus’ teaching on the Last Judg-
ment would be wide of the mark if it gave it a materialistic meaning or confused
mere philanthropy with genuine Christian charity.

40-45. In describing the exigencies of Christian charity which gives meaning to
“social aid”, the Second Vatican Council says: “Wishing to come to topics that
are practical and of some urgency, the Council lays stress on respect for the
human person: everyone should look upon his neighbor (without any exception)
as another self, bearing in mind, above all, his life and the means necessary for
living it in a dignified way, ‘lest he follow the example of the rich man who ignored
Lazarus, the poor man’ (cf. Luke 16:18-31).

“Today there is an inescapable duty to make ourselves the neighbor of every
man, no matter who he is, and if we meet him, to come to his aid in a positive
way, whether he is an aged person abandoned by all, a foreign worker despised
without reason, a refugee, an illegitimate child wrongly suffering for a sin he did
not commit, or a starving human being who awakens our conscience by calling
to mind the words of Christ: ‘As you did it to one of the least of these My breth-
ren, you did it to Me.’” (”Gaudium Et Spes,” 27).

46. The eternal punishment of the reprobate and the eternal reward of the elect
are a dogma of faith solemnly defined by the Magisterium of the Church in the
Fourth Lateran Council (1215): “He [Christ] will come at the end of the world; He
will judge the living and the dead; and He will reward all, both the lost and the e-
lect, according to their works. And all these will rise with their own bodies which
they now have so that they may receive according to their works, whether good
or bad; the wicked, a perpetual punishment with the devil; the good, eternal glory
with Christ.”

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	Ezekiel 34:11-12,15-17 ©

The Lord says this: I am going to look after my flock myself and keep all of it in view. As a shepherd keeps all his flock in view when he stands up in the middle of his scattered sheep, so shall I keep my sheep in view. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered during the mist and darkness. I myself will pasture my sheep, I myself will show them where to rest–it is the Lord who speaks. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them.

As for you, my sheep, the Lord says this: I will judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he-goats.

Psalm	Psalm 22:1-3,5-6 ©