SOLEMNITY OF JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

“Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you”

(Mt.25, 31-46)

Rev. Alexander Diaz

This Sunday is the end of the liturgical year and next Sunday we begin the time of Advent, which is the preparation of the Christmas mysteries. The liturgical year has, as solemn ending, the feast of Christ, King of the Universe.

 The subject developed in today’s Gospel is the last act of human history or final judgment.   ¿What is the story shown to us about final judgment?  In spite of all the manipulations and traps that prevent human justice to prevail, at the end of times the justice of God will be manifested based on the truth, that cannot be bought or intimidated.

 The impunity of the offense intimidates the honest citizens and encourages the criminals.  In the everyday life it seems that the evil forces prevail. But it is an apparent triumph, since it won’t be able to avoid the final accountability.  We will be judge for what we did or what we did not do for others. 

In the Pharisee’s mentality, the fidelity to God was measured according to how they carried out all the numerous norms they had and the fulfillment of the rites described in their minimal details.  It is the Lord the only judge of every person and redeemer of all. He does not talk to us about an abstract and remote divinity, distant from the world but from God made man, who gave Himself to save us and was left disguised as poor and weak by our side.

This gospel comes to remind us that to follow Jesus is not something theoretical but practical.  We don’t follow Jesus by merely reading books or following theories which are more or less convenient.  The encounter with the Lord is given through every day life, on every corner of the world and in our interior.

There are people who are extremely preoccupied of what they will be carrying in their hands when they meet the Lord; it will be the good deeds which will determine the encounter.  The more good deeds we do, the closer to God we will be.  And I think it will be just, otherwise.  I am not referring about not doing good deeds. Good deeds are the most clear distinctive of the Christian.  

Faith and deeds must be united in the well understood synthesis of the Gospel. I am referring to the life of a Christian, that is not only to accumulate good deeds to present to the Lord so he can see who we are, instead, that the good deeds should be accompanied by a total giving of oneself and in sublime love. 

Not do these deeds because it is written in the Gospel, and we have to do them without any particular reason.  Give ourselves, bleed to death and surrender to Jesus without expecting any recompense in return at the end, but do this only out of love. 

For the followers of Jesus, the fidelity to the Lord is measure by the love we have towards our brothers and sisters.  Both commandments – love of God and love of neighbor – are integrated in only one commandment because the love of neighbor is the same as the love of God.

 This gospel is an unequivocal proof that faith cannot be reduce to an individual existence but it has to be a social dimension: “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 care for me, in prison and you visited me”  (Mt. 25,34-36)

Jesus, Lord and Judge of the universe, makes a surprising affirmation:  “Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”  Jesus identifies Himself with the weak.

The situation of extreme generalize poverty, obtains in real life, concrete and definite faces in which we should recognize the face of Jesus Christ, the Lord, that questions and examines us.

The message of this Sunday, dedicated to the Feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe is clear.   Our behavior will be evaluated in accordance to the solidarity we have shown and manifested towards the poor, weak and suffering.  The contemporary expression to refer to the “parable of the talents” is “social responsibility”: of other people, of the businesses, of the universities and all social collectives.

I pray, that the day I die, I will present myself in front of God with empty hands.  Empty because everything that was given to us, we gave to those in which He was present  and we will be able to tell Him: Lord, you gave me joy and I planted it on others, intelligence and I put it in the disinterested service to others, hope and I gave it to the one who needed it most. 

The repertoire, with which we will present ourselves to God, will not be what we have, or what we have done.  Let us face God empty, imploring, poor, because we gave all to cover the necessities of others.  And He will be our giver for all eternity.

Amen!!