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How will Christ the King judge you?

To better understand today’s liturgy it helps to know the relationship between shepherd and king, likewise sheep and goats. The _expression shepherd is an ancient image for king, especially the kings of Israel. The sheep are those who will enter the kingdom of heaven and the goats are those who will be excluded. On this “Feast of Christ the King”; the Gospel of Matthew is addressing the last judgment, the judgment of all nations.

Before the actual judgment no one is aware of belonging either to the sheep or the goats. Both the included and the excluded are surprised. The reason for the surprise is that the final judgment is based on who has provided loving care to the needy. Nothing is said here about professing faith in Jesus, divine grace, or even the forgiveness of sin. It is not that these latter things are unimportant. What is being taught here is that at the heart of the Gospel is the call to love God and neighbor. This commitment is carried-out in concrete acts of loving care for those who are in need.

And what are our basic needs? Food, water, clothing, caring for the sick, these are obvious, I’m sure we would all agree. How about visiting those in prison and welcoming a stranger. Here in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is saying that they too are basic needs of every human. Interesting!

I believe it is safe to say that most of us are attracted to this Gospel and yet, at the same time, we secretly fear it. As we hear the first part of the Gospel where the King is rewarding people for taking care of those in need, we feel satisfied and happy with ourselves as we think of the good things we have done. But when we hear the second part of the Gospel where the King is condemning people, we find ourselves growing a little uneasy because we are afraid that we may also fall into this category. How many chances for doing good did we pass up? Will those times of neglect out weigh the times when we responded to the needs of others?

How does it all work?

If we follow a very basic guideline, we won’t have any need to live in fear that our neglect will outweigh the good we have done. At times, we will not be able to fill the empty hearts or empty stomachs of everyone we meet. But we can be at peace if we know that we have reached deep within ourselves, and offered the best we have to those in need at that time and place.

We all have different capacities to love and give. Each of us needs to be aware of our limitations, but we also need to be aware of our possibilities. Every one of us, no matter how limited in intellectual, emotional or financial resources has something unique to give. We all have something we can offer to someone who has some unique need to receive our special gift.

It would be hard to overemphasize how important today's Gospel is. If every one of us read this Gospel each day of our lives and allowed it to enter deeply into our hearts, life would be different. If you have been wondering how you can grow in the life of the Spirit, just take today's Gospel, and put it in a place where you will see it everyday -- read it often -- reflect on it -- let it become a part of you -- allow it to be your guide as you go about your day to day life.

But let's not focus entirely on ourselves. Today is the feast of Christ the King. Jesus is the good shepherd, our King. He does not simply sit on a heavenly throne far off, gazing down at us in our need and foolishness. He is the good shepherd who knows his people, and who can be found among his people. Jesus identifies himself with us in our infinite needs, so much so that he has made our needs into the way in which we can come face to face with him. Every time we meet a person in need, we meet Christ.

When God took on human flesh in the person of Jesus, it wasn't just so that a few thousand people who lived at the time could see him face to face. When God took on human flesh He was giving us the gift of a real presence. And this presence did not disappear when Jesus ascended into heaven. We, the Body of Christ, the Church, have been given the awesome task of bringing Christ to one another.

When Jesus publicly stated: "Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me", he is saying that he would always be with us in the human presence of one another. You and I actually bring Jesus to one another. I’m not talking symbolically or as a representative of Jesus. I’m talking about Jesus giving us the power to be his real presence. That's why we can't afford to neglect one another.

If we find ourselves neglecting, our spouse, our children, our parents, our friends, our neighbors, our Church family, our co-workers, then we are neglecting Jesus.

The good news is we can meet Jesus every day of our lives by giving ourselves in kindness and love to those who are a daily part of our lives.