Matthew 25, 31-46
Sunday, 26th November 2023 (34th T O A)
“At that time Jesus said to his disciples, ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all his angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne, and all the nations will be gathered before him. He will separate one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left. And he will say to those on his right hand: Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world…”.
The Feast of Christ the King. Gospel of the Last Judgement. Some say that this text “is uncomfortable”, because it is too easy to understand, it is too direct, it does not allow other interpretations. The “final examination” will be on very concrete facts. Not on words and intentions or desires, but on whether we did or did not do to others. With an impressive motivation: “you did it to me”; and as a common denominator, love.
Pilate asked Jesus: “Are you a king?” And Jesus answered: “I am, but my kingdom is not of this world”. It is not a kingdom of power, nor of wealth, nor of privilege. It is a kingdom where truth and justice, holiness and grace, love and peace are lived. It is a kingdom where the only law is love.
When Jesus came, he set in motion the Kingdom of God, and entrusted us with the task of implementing it in the world: the Kingdom of God is in your midst. We pray, “Thy Kingdom come”; but what do we do to make it so? Only if we live by making the values of the Kingdom a reality, will we be establishing it in the world. In the end Jesus will come again to complete what he had set in motion, and he will say to those who have worked with him: “Come, blessed of my Father”. Enter the banquet of the Kingdom, for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink …
Juan Ramón Gómez Pascual, cmf
Do you collaborate in making the Kingdom of God present?
