LAST SUNDAY- IN ORDINARY TIME –A

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, UNIVERSAL KING

SOLEMNITY

CHRIST THE KING

I Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-12.15-17: As for you, my sheep, I will judge between sheep and sheep.

II Reading: Corinthians 15:20-26.28: He will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, so that God may be all in all.

Gospel: Matthew 25:31-45: He will take his seat on the throne of glory, and he will separate men one from another.

 

Today we celebrate Christ the universal king. He did not claim to be only the king of the Jews. His kingdom was not to be an exclusive one. He is the king of all who are on the side of truth and listen to his voice. As a good king and faithful shepherd lays down his life for his sheep and protects his believers from all dangers and saved his people dying on the cross a great king of the universe.

Christ, our king, belongs to our human family: King David, a symbol of Christ the King. The prophet Daniel tells us that “he saw one like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Dan 7:13)

Christ is king of the universe: St Paul writes to the Christians of Colossae:

a) Christ is king of the universe, “in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, everything visible and everything invisible” (Col 1:16). Through him all things were made; not one thing had its being but from him (Col 1:3). Christ holds all things in unity (Col 1:17).

b) Christ is our king because he redeemed us: “God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.” (Jn 3:17; Col 1:13-14, 20)

The kind of king that Jesus is: Luke shows Jesus on the cross surrounded by various people; by the Jewish leaders, soldiers, two thieves and Jesus’ mother, disciple and friends.

a) On the cross, Jesus shows himself as a king who distributes his gifts most generously (Lk 23:34, 43; Jn 19:26).

b) On the cross, Jesus shows himself as a king who saves.

We must accept the gifts of pardon and salvation which Jesus, our king, so generously offers: Jesus wants to reign through love, not by force. (Lk 23:41-43; 19:14).

Christ is a powerful king; his power will last forever: In the book of Revelation, Jesus is given the titles, and (Ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5), “King of the kings and Lord of Lords.” (Rev 19:16).

Jesus told the apostles: “All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Mt 28:18). It will never end is the quality of Jesus’ power. The angel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of the redeemer, he said her Son to be: “His kingdom will have no end” (Lk 1:33). The angel confirmed the prophecy of Daniel which was to be fulfilled in Jesus: “His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed” (Dan 7:14).

The Book of Revelation says the same thing and puts on Jesus’ lips the following words: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is, who was and who is to come” (Rev 1:8). “Everything starts from me and ends up in me, I was before anything existed and I will continue to be after everything ends.”

Christ our king loves us: he died for us and shares with us whatever he possesses: on the night of his passion, Jesus said to his apostles: “A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). The Book of Revelation reminds us “Christ loved us and has washed away our sins with his blood” (Rev 1:5).

No king was ever as generous as Jesus:

a. He shares his life with us.

b. He shares his own body and blood in the Eucharist.

c. He shares his own priesthood. The Book of Revelation tells: Jesus made us priests to serve his God and Father (Rev 1:6). Since we are priests, our whole life can and should be “a holy sacrifice truly pleasing to God (Rom 12:1)

d. Jesus shares his own joy: “My own peace I give you” (Jn 14:27). “I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always see the glory you have given me” (Jn 17:24).

Hence Jesus is our true king and the king of the universe.

 

Jesus’ kingdom is described as:

·       A kingdom of truth and of life,

·       A kingdom of holiness and grace,

·       A kingdom of justice, of love and of peace.

Jesus was right when he told Pilate that his was not like the kingdoms of this world:

·       Where falsehood reigns and lives are destroyed,

·       Where sin abounds,

·       Where injustice and hatred bring in wars without number.

We must praise our king, Jesus and be grateful to him:

·       For having brought us into his kingdom and made us members of his own royal family,

·       For having loved us through his own suffering and sacrifice of life for our salvation,

·       For having given us his love, peace, joy on earth and glory in heaven.

We have good reasons to rejoice on this feast of Christ the king of the universe and we shall rejoice in heaven at seeing him as he is, so great, so powerful and so loving.

Thought: Christ’s loving rule leads to true freedom. No earthly king was ever so magnanimous as Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Baptism introduced us into Christ’s kingdom; living with Christ, suffering with Christ, dying with Christ and rising with Christ.

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33^rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME –A

 

I Reading: Proverbs 31:10-13.19-20.30-31: A Perfect wife-who can find her?

II Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12: Do not let anyone have food if he refuses to work.

Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30: You have shown you can be faithful in small things, come and join in your master’s happiness.

We are going to come to an end our liturgical year of worship. We will be celebrating the Feast of Christ the King in next Sunday then on the Sunday after the Advent Sunday will begin as a new year of our worship.

The first reading of today, the Book of Proverbs is a searching for practical wisdom and human’s chances of success in this endeavour are good. Chapter 31:10-31 describes the perfect wife: She is virtuous, possessed of many skills and a shrewd business woman. Yet she had hardly any rights at law. Her virtues were her own reward.

Three things occupy the mind of the perfect wife at all times:

1. The good name of her husband, carefully administering whatever he has entrusted to her, always respectful towards him.

2. She must always think and do the welfare of the family in all aspects of life.

3. she must show concern for the poor and needy in her heart and mind.

 

The second reading talks about the Christ’s second coming. Paul advices to them; stop discussing about the when and the how of the coming of Jesus; it is a useless discussion and it is harmful, since it distracts you from the main task in your life: to do good. The when and the how of his coming is a secret which the Lord keeps to himself; for us, it is enough to know that he will certainly come. His coming will be a surprise for everyone but not a shock or threatening. Paul also advices them to keep on living to the light of faith and not in the darkness of sin; keep always active at every kind of good work, not sleeping in idleness, as drunkards do, unaware of any danger threatening them.

Our waiting must become a longing with a great joy and happiness for Jesus’ coming, since his coming will mark the fulfilment of all our expectations.

Let us not waste our time, energy and mind with anxiety, useless and harmful discussion about the second coming of the Lord in future. Let us live with joy and work hard and do our duty with due care, responsibility and creativity in building up the kingdom of God in life and society.

 

The Gospel explains the wealthy master is Christ, wealthier than anyone can imagine. The servants in the parable stand for us, Christians. Jesus entrusted each one of us with incredibly precious treasures like the gift of heart, mind and body, knowledge and wisdom, talents and the unique gift of the Life in the Spirit. The Gospel tells us that the “talents” or gifts are given “in proportion to each one’s ability” (Mt 25:15). The talents for us is our own responsibility for each of our gifts. To use them rightly is to share in the joy of the kingdom. It is our duty and responsibility to care with our creative work. The Gospel also indicates the coming of Christ to judge the living and dead with rewards and punishments according to their good or bad works.

The Parable of the Talents: The Believer’s Duty to Work

Jesus was teaching a much needed lesson: we must be faithful and diligent. While Jesus is away, the believer is to do something: work-work faithfully and diligently and the believer is to know something: his work will be rewarded or severely judged.

Jesus was dealing with his return. He went “on a journey” (v.14), and “after long time, the Master” returned (v.19). That’s what we must be faithful and diligent at all times, for if we are not, when He returns there will be severe judgement.

1. The Lord went on a journey (v.14)

2. The Lord entrusted his property to his servants (v.14-15)

a. Called his servant

b. Gave each servant a different portion

c. Gave each servant according to his ability

3. The servants treated the Lord’s goods differently (v.16-18)

a. Two were responsible: Immediately worked

          1) Were faithful and diligent

          2) Were successful

b. One was irresponsible: Did not try

4. The day of settling accounts came (v.19)

a. After a long time

b. The Lord returned

5. The reward for work well done: More work to do (v.20-23)

a. The first servant

          1) Acknowledged God’s gifts and grace

          2) Laboured 100% for the Lord

          3) Was commended and given a great reward: Rulership and joy

b. The second servant

          1) Acknowledged God’s gifts and grace

          2) Laboured 100% for the Lord

          3) Was commended and given a great reward: Rulership and joy

6. The punishment for work not done: Stripping and separation (v.24-30)

a. The servant’s reasons for not working

          1) He misunderstood God: Thought God was too demanding

          2) He feared loss while on earth

b. God’s reasons for condemning the servant

          1) He was wicket and lazy

          2) He was inconsistent

          3) He failed to use his gift

c. The judgement

          1) He was stripped of what he had

          2) He was thrown into the darkness

Thought: Every person or believer has at least one gift (1Cor 12:11; Rom 12:4-9; 1Cor 12:4-30). We must always remember this and must work hard as our duty faithfully and diligently with love, joy, care, responsibility and creativity.

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 Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

(All Souls Day)

 2^nd November

I Reading: Wisdom 3:1-9

II Reading: Romans 6:3-9

Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46

 

The Parable of the Sheep and Goats:

The Final Judgement of Nations, Mt 25:31-46

Jesus taught about the final judgement of nations (all nations of people) which will be the judgement of the world through the parable of the sheep and Goats. He judges two types of beings, sheep and goats, not the same type of being. The sheep are faithful whereas goats are not faithful and don’t serve Christ.

The only faith that God knows and accepts is the faith that serves Christ by ministering to people. A man who says he has faith and does not minister to people is only professing faith in Christ. Scripture says, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do” (Jas 2:18). God knows no faith apart from good works, that is, apart from ministering to the needs of the people.

1. The Son of Man is coming to judge (v.31-33)

a. coming in glory

b. coming with angels

c. coming to be enthroned

d. coming to gather all nations

e. coming to separate the nations, both sheep and goats

          1) sheep- favoured seat

          2) goats- unfavoured seat

2. The judgement of sheep will occur (v.34-40)

a. the judge: the king

b. the invitation: come

c. the reward: the kingdom

d. the basis of judgement: ministering to Christ

e. the ministry defined

          1) a humble, instinctive ministry: no thought of reward, only of helping people in need

          2) a ministry to the Lord’s brothers and sisters (all types of people)

3. The judgement of goats will occur (v.41-45)

a. the judgement

          1) cut off from God

          2) eternal fire

b. the basis of judgement

          1) a failure to minister

          2) a selfish life

          3) a spiritual blindness

4. The judgement is for eternity (v.46)

Thought: Selfishness, indulgence, extravagance, and hoarding that leads to and indicates the neglect of others visibly condemn a person when he or she stands before Christ (Mt 19:16-22, 23-24,27-30).

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 All Saints Day, 1^st November

I Reading: Revelation 7:2-4,9-14:

II Reading: 1John 3:1-3:

Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12:

Who are called or known as saints? Where do they come from? What did they do in their lives? They are not born from heaven neither are they born as saints. They come from a humble, simple, God-fearing family who witnessed their lives for Christ and for the church by their total faith in one and true living God with their commitment, total dedication and sacrifice. They faced suffering, persecution, rejections, temptations and weaknesses in life as humans. They won the war by the blood of the lamb, the Word of God and witness or testimony. In the Beatitudes,  Jesus said, how Blessed you are poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…Happy you are… Fortunate you are…which means makarios in Greek=true joy comes from God and within not from outside. Poor in spirit means humbling oneself, total surrender to God, total dependency on God’s providence at all times etc. Jesus assures us that there is a reward in heaven for the right cause.

In the year, 609, Pope Boniface IV cleared out the statues of gods and goddesses from the Pantheon (“the house of all the gods) which was propagated by the Roman empire and turned the building into a church that he dedicated to God in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of all saints. This church is still standing.

Famous martyrs and saints were venerated in the church on various dates worldwide. Today we have millions of saints who are known and unknown to mankind, but well known to God. The number of saints and martyrs went on increasing day after day, and this led the church to establish a feast in their honor on 1^st November around 800 A.D. In this feast, we praise God for having accomplished his salvation in so many people.

The Holy Spirit moved the church to establish this feast for a double purpose:

1) To praise God for having completed his salvation in so many of our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world.

2) To encourage those still living on earth to persevere and be faithful to Christ inspite of human weakness, temptation and persecution.

Their message from heaven today is:

Do not lose discouraged; remember that we were just what you are, weak, and sinful people. Yet we were saved by God’s power and love. Keep up the struggle; we are here to lend you a helping hand with our prayer to God. There is a fabulous reward ready for you too here.

1. Every Christian is a saint in the making.

Paul does not hesitate to call his Christians “saints”:

From Paul…to you all, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints.” (Rom 1, 1.7; 1Cor 1,1.2; 2Cor 13,12).

In today’s second reading, John points out why Christians may rightly be called “saints” while still on earth, in spite of human weakness:

a. We, Christians are truly God’s children at Baptism (1Jn 3:1).

b. We are destined to be with God forever and to be like him (1Jn 3:2-3).

We Christians ought to consider ourselves at all times, “saints in the making” that is, people striving to become holy.

2. Neither human weakness nor suffering nor persecution should discourage Christians from striving after holiness:

The Book of Revelation teaches us about the sacrificial life and witnessing the life of the people having faith in Jesus.

a) The first reason why we should not get discouraged is that we have already been chosen to be saved: Ex 39:30- Consecrated to Yahweh. Ez 9:4-T=Greek “Tau”, resembles a cross.

b) Ours is a numerous family; it runs into millions; we should pluck up courage at the thought that so many of our brothers and sisters are ready to give us a helping hand:

The Book of Revelation speaks of 144,000 people assigned by the angel, that is 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.

We all form part of the new people of Israel; those who will, shall be saved (Rom 11:30-32).

c) Suffering, persecution, difficulties should spur us on to greater faithfulness, not discourage us:

In the first reading of John’s vision- saw a large crowd dressed in white tunics bearing palms in their hands, a symbol of victory during the time of Nero the Roman emperor. The second Baptism is the shedding of his/her blood for Christ which cleanses a person from all sin.

d) The great reward ready for us in heaven ought to encourage us to be faithful to Christ: Revelation, the last verses of the first reading 7: 15, 17 have been left out. They beautifully show what our reward in heaven will be like:

3. Christians are lucky people: Because the kingdom of God belongs to them by their faith and by their witnessing life for Christ and for his church.

Hence our weakness stands in the way of our becoming saints, yet we have every reason to be optimistic that we shall succeed. Suffering, temptation and persecution should not a hindrance to our salvation. All we have to do is walk on earth with our eyes fixed on the fabulous reward God has in store for us in heaven.

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The True Disciple: Who He is and His Reward (The Beatitudes), Mt 5:1-12

The Beatitudes of our Lord are powerful, holding before the world a descriptive picture of the true disciple of God. Seldom people have been spoken with so much meaning in the history of the world.

The Beatitudes cover the glorious hope and reward the believer can expect, now as well as in eternity.

1. Jesus saw crowds (v.1-2)

a. Setting: Mountain

b. Posture: Set-Ready

c. Audience: Disciples

d. Purpose: To teach and prepare

e. Blessed

2. The poor in spirit: Given the kingdom of Heaven (v.3)

3. Those who mourn: Comforted

4. The meek: Inherit the earth (v.5)

5. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: Filled (v.6)

6. The merciful: Obtain mercy (v.7)

7. The pure in heart: See God (v. 8)

8. The peacemakers: Called the children of God (v.9)

9. The persecuted: Given the kingdom of Heaven (v.10-12)

a. The persecution

          1) Reviled and insulted

          2) Slandered and lied against

          3) Persecuted and hurt

b. The behavior expected: Joy

c. The reason for joy

          1) Great reward

          2) Great examples: The prophets

Thought: Being filled means “to be filled with the Spirit” or “to be led by the Spirit” (Eph 5:18). “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…”(Gal 5:22-23).

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