GOSPEL POWER - NOVEMBER 22, 2020 - Solemnity of Christ the King (34th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Gospel: Mt 25:31-46 

Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put  the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” I n the first reading, God promised to personally shepherd his people. In fulfilling this promise, God defied all expectations— for He did not only come as a shepherd; in Jesus, God united himself with humanity in an unbreakable union. As God-man, Jesus represents both God and human beings. In him, we can touch and connect with both God and our fellow human beings, so that love of God and love of neighbor become truly inseparable in him. The challenge that we face today as we live in a world of veiled realities is to perceive Jesus incognito in our neighbors. He becomes the ultimate beneficiary of our voluntary acts of kindness and the one we deprive when we refuse to do the essential good for the needy. The final judgment is portrayed in the Gospel as the great unmasking of this truth. It is not meant to scare us, but to help us to reorient the decisions we make from this day onward. 

Lord Jesus, help us to hold tightly together the twofold commandment of love and in doing so, serve you as our King in the least of our brothers and sisters. Amen.