Christ the King or Destiny Sunday
Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28; Matthew 25:31-46
In our first reading, God uses the imagery of a shepherd tending his sheep to talk about the nature of the care necessary for his human creatures. He lists some of the activities required: rescue from danger and the provision of feeding and housing for the sheep. It is after these requirements are met that the shepherd begins to heal the sick and bind the injured. God will do all these things because the human shepherds have failed in exactly those responsibilities: “The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them” (Ezekiel 34:1-4). Who is this Shepherd, and who is the sheep?
Ezekiel 33 already informs us of the meaning of this imagery of the shepherd and sheep. It is about God as Shepherd of his people and his people as God’s sheep. Sinful behavior is the problem. For instance, Ezekiel says this: “Therefore say to them, thus says the Lord God: You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land? You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife; shall you then possess the land?” (Ezekiel 33:25-26). God takes away the Promised Land from his children and sent them into exile in Babylon! However, God opens a window of opportunity for his people because it is the salvation of his creatures that he seeks. The Lord says, “And you, son of man, say to your people, the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins” (Ezekiel 33:12). God proposes repentance as the antidote to sin. Persistent righteous action is the evidence of dwelling in the company of God and the possession of the Promised Land.
The deprivation of the Promised Land, in the first reading, becomes the deprivation of Heaven in the gospel reading. The difference between the sheep and the goats, in the gospel, is indicative of where they live—Heaven or Hell. Those who do the will of God possess Heaven, and they are the sheep. Those who fail to do the will of God are the goats. The characteristic difference between sheep and goat is docility for sheep and stubbornness for goats. This translates the docility of the sheep as obedient keeping of God’s injunction to see him in our brothers and sisters and treat him appropriately. The sheep do this, but the goats do not. Imagine where our world would be today, were we to see God in one another. Imagine the countries building walls against immigrants despite being descendants of immigrants themselves or those refusing kindness to strangers! Just ponder on those who measure others on the basis of the color of their skins or their gender! How about traffickers in human organs, child prostitution, narco-traffickers, and the rest of them?
According to our gospel, God takes flesh in Jesus Christ to show us an example of how to live and act as God’s children. What was thought impossible for human beings, doing the will of God, becomes the order of the day in Jesus Christ. The promise of God to come as the shepherd of human beings becomes a reality in the life, actions, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. By seeking out sinners, healing the broken hearted and broken bodies, dying for love of saints and sinners, all these make the prophecy of our first reading come to pass in Jesus Christ. Instead of animals—sheep and goats—human beings are the subject matter of God’s care, love, and sacrifice. God shepherds human beings in Jesus Christ, even today.
The lesson of today is the human destiny—Heaven. The imitation of Christ is the presence of Jesus Christ and God in the world. Each time a human being imitates Christ in the care of others, God himself is present. The number of good shepherds in the world are all those who feed the hungry, visit the sick and prisoners, clothe the naked, provide drink for the thirsty and house the homeless poor, strangers and orphans. To imagine that we are dealing with final judgment day rather than make God present in our world right now is to miss the message of this Sunday. God wants you to enter Heaven alive, NOT dead. It is what you do here and now that earmarks you for Heaven. Judgment and condemnation are our failures here and now to be there for one another. To look forward to a day of judgment without experiencing Heaven in our actions is to live in Hell already.
Our second reading provides us with the meaning of judgment day—the destruction of death! According to Paul, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26). Resurrection and immortality is human destiny, the plan of God to live with human beings forever. To reign with God is to be in God’s kingdom—Heaven. To reign with God here and now is to do his will. Waiting for judgment day is a fruitless venture. Heaven is now, in your actions. You begin your immortality now by being like God in your actions towards other human beings and God’s creation. Today is “Destiny Sunday” because God sees himself in each one of us, and God is immortal. Death is the refusal to see, honor, and treat with dignity the God that we see—human beings. Lack of charity is the real Hell, it begins now! Christ is King, but he rules through your examples, how you treat your brothers and sisters.
Assignment for the Week :
Celebrate your heavenly destiny as a child of God by help someone in need.