Our Scripture passage for the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, comes from the Gospel of Matthew 25:31–46. This weekend we celebrate the final Sunday in our liturgical year. This is the well-known parable of divine judgment commonly called the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. It tells us that judgment will be based on the actions of charity commonly known as the Corporal Works of Mercy. This passage is particularly important since it is the final public teaching of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, and the fourth and final in a series of parables concerning divine judgment. There are some interesting aspects of this parable that make it especially challenging for us as disciples.
On the surface the parable offers two important points for our consideration. First, Jesus reveals that every charitable encounter is actually an encounter with the Lord Himself. It is this encounter with God through works of mercy and charity that distinguishes holy Christian service from merely humanitarian good efforts....{ } The second thing Jesus reveals is that there are privileged places of encounter where we meet the Lord more immediately, intensely, and readily than other places.