Reflection For The Feast Of Christ The King
November 26, 2017
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFM
Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Order Franciscans
of Mercy
Psalm 23 reads as follows;
The LORD
is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He
leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies; you anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell
in the house of the LORD forever.
The words of this Psalm
acknowledge God as the loving God who watches over us and cares for us as a
good Shepherd cares for His flock. Since Christ, the only begotten Son of God,
was given dominion over all the earth by the Father we acknowledged Christ as
the heavenly King.
Christ himself declared
that He was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end and as such the
human embodiment of the Father.
A king, more precisely a
good king, is concerned about the safety and welfare of every one of his
subjects and so it is with Jesus Christ who told us how a good shepherd, which
is exactly what a king is supposed to be to his people, would go seeking a lost
sheep in order not to lose even one.
The kingdom that Christ
reigns over is not of this world, but is the everlasting kingdom to which we
are called after living in this material world. The kingdom is a spiritual
kingdom where peace and harmony and elation of being with the angels and saints
and most especially the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, abounds.
As King, Christ has the
ultimate say on who will and will not be welcomed into this kingdom.
In the Gospel Of Matthew
25:31-46 we read, “When the Son of man shall
come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the
throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he
shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the
goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungered, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you gave
me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: I
was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me”.
This only strengthens the
concept that Christ is the power through which we gain eternal life in the
paradise that is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Christ gave us two simple
Commandments to live by as found in Matthew 22: 38-39 “Love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, mind,
soul and body and the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love
yourself”, and in His Sermon on the Mount (the Beatitudes) tells us
the way to treat our fellow human brothers and Sisters here on earth. Matthew 5:19 instructs us on how we gain
entrance to the Kingdom for which Christ is king; “Anyone
who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the
same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,
but whoever practices and teaches
these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
In Matthew 25:34-43 Christ also reminds us of how we need to live in order to gain
eternal life with God and the heavenly elect; “I
was hungry, and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink;
I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick,
and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me”. The group on the right asked God; “Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or
thirsty, and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger, and
take you in; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison,
and come to you?” God
replied; “I tell you, whatever you did it to one of the least of these my
brothers, you did it to me.”
Next week we enter a time of preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ, the season of Advent.
Next week we enter a time of preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ, the season of Advent.
This is a time for us to
make an evaluation of how well we are living our daily lives to prepare
ourselves for the Kingdom of Christ, heaven.
Have we been mindful of the needs of others, are we caring and accepting
of all of God’s children, not just those we consider acceptable because they
conform to our way of thinking, but ALL?
Have we discriminated
against others because of Race, creed, marital condition, sexual orientation or
political party? Are we charitable toward those who are in need?
Christ gave us the example
of how we should lead our lives. He never rejected anyone who came to Him and
neither should we. In this time where
people are thinking of giving gifts to their family and friends let us
acknowledge the gifts God, our father, has given us. Let us use them to the
benefit of all God’s children, especially those who have not been as blessed as
we have been, and not hoard them for ourselves.
By doing this we can not
only show our love and respect for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords but we
will build up a treasures in heaven for ourselves so that we will be greeted
with “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” AMEN
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