CHRIST THE KING: Ez 34:11-12, 15-17; I Cor 15:20-26, 28; Mt 25:31-46

Polycarp, the second century bishop of Smyrna, was arrested and brought before the Roman authorities. He was told if he cursed Christ, he would be released. He replied, “Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong; how then can I blaspheme my King, Jesus Christ Who saved me?” The Roman officer replied, “Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt.” But Polycarp said, “You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you wish.”

 

Jesus makes an unambiguous claim to universal authority. He doesn't say he is one wise man among many, one philosopher among many, or one prophet among many. He tells us that all the nations of the world will come before him to be judged; all the angels of heaven make up his royal court; he holds in his hands the eternal destiny of every man and woman of all time.

 According to Islamic teaching, one of Allah’s names include the title “the Just Judge”. The Quran itself testifies that there is no other judge besides Allah, and also proclaims that judgment belongs entirely and solely to Allah. However, Muhammad told his followers that Jesus would return from heaven to reign on the earth as a just ruler and fair judge. It is written: “One of the signs of the last Hour will be the appearance of `Isa son of Maryam before the Day of Resurrection.” 

Though Muslims do not accept Jesus as the son of God he is accepted as the final judge, which is really absurd. It is interesting to note that, neither Muhammad, nor any other prophet will come as the final judge but Jesus who will come to judge. Jesus did not die on the cross according to Islam but God took him up into heaven. Why would God do this to Jesus and send him a second time to act as the judge, a prerogative attributed only to Allah? Wonder why wouldn’t any Muslim of common sense question this to himself.

 

In most of the Messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Micah, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Christ the Messiah is represented as a King.  Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the Prophet Micah announced His coming as King. “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrata, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:1).  Daniel presents “One coming like a son of man … to him was given dominion and Glory and Kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away and his Kingship is one that shall never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:3-14).

The Kingdom of God is the central teaching of Jesus throughout the Gospels. The word Kingdom appears more than any other word throughout the four Gospels. Jesus begins His public ministry by preaching the Kingdom. “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:14).

The New Testament tells us that Jesus is the long-awaited King of the Jews.  In the account of the Annunciation, (Lk1:32-33), we read: “The Lord God will make him a King, as his ancestor David was, and he will be the King of the descendants of Jacob forever and his Kingdom will never end.”  The Magi from the Far East came to Jerusalem and asked the question: (Mt 2:2) “Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews?  (When Pilate asked the question: (Jn 18:33) “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus, in the course of their conversation, made his assertion, “You say that I am a King.  For this was I born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the Truth. Everyone who belongs to the Truth listens to My Voice” (John 18:37). 

One of the reasons we celebrate this great Solemnity of Christ the King at the end of the liturgical year is to remind us that Jesus Christ is the end of our lives. He is our salvation and he is the Lord of Lords; he alone is the Holy One and the Most High, as we just proclaimed in the Gloria. 

Jesus Christ still lives as King in thousands of human hearts all over the world.  The cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount is his rule of law.  His citizens need obey only one law: “Love others as I have loved you” (John 15:12).  His love is selfless, sacrificial, kind, compassionate, forgiving, and unconditional.  That is why the Preface in today’s Mass describes Jesus’ Kingdom as “a Kingdom of truth and life, a Kingdom of holiness and grace, a Kingdom of justice, love, and peace.”  He is a King with a saving and liberating mission: to free mankind from all types of bondage, so that we may live peacefully and happily on earth and inherit Eternal Life in Heaven. 

 

Today especially, before we receive our Lord in Holy Communion, let us put more meaning than usual into the words that sum up every Christian's fundamental mission and deepest desire:

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

 

 

OT 33 [A] Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; I Thes 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30

Back in the 1940’s Clarence Jordon founded a farm in Americus, Georgia, and called it Koinonia [Christian Fellowship, Communion with God and with Fellow-Christians] Farm. Koinonia was a community of poor whites and blacks who cooperated in earning a living. The integrated status of this community bothered many local citizens. They tried everything possible to wreck Koinonia. They boycotted its farm products, and slashed the workers’ tires when they came to town. Finally, in 1954, the Ku Klux Klan decided to get rid of Koinonia Farms. One night they came and burned every building except Dr. Jordon’s home. They chased off all of the families except for the Jordons and one black family. The next day a local newspaper reporter came to the farm to see what remained. The rubble was still smoldering. But Clarence Jordon was busy planting and hoeing. With a haughty spirit, the reporter said to Dr. Jordon, “Well, you got two of those Ph.D. s and you’ve put fourteen years into this farm, and there’s nothing left to show for it. Just how successful do you think you’ve been?” Clarence stopped hoeing, turned toward the reporter with his penetrating eyes, and said quietly but firmly, “Sir, I don’t think you understand us Christians. What we are about is not success; what we are about is faithfulness.” In order to be faithful, we must be willing to take risks for that One who dared to march into the very jaws of Hell for us.

 

The main theme of the three readings is an invitation to live in such a way that we make the best use of the talents God has given us, so that at the hour of our death Our Lord will say: “Well done, my good and faithful servant! Come and share the joy of your master” Matthew 25:21). 

 

This parable has a number of messages for us. First of all it tells us that God gives man differing gifts. One man received five talents, another two, and another one. It is not a man’s talent which matters; what matters is how he uses it.  God never demands from a man ability which he has not got.

The parable expresses that men are not equal in talent; but men can be equal in effort. It is quite remarkable that the man simply entrusted the talents to the servants. He did not tell them what to do with them. Neither did he tell them that he would demand them back on his return. The servants drew conclusions for themselves. Two of them decided to take risk and put them to use. While the third decided to play safe, burying it.

As the man expected his servants to be fruitful we are also expected to be fruitful. We are also expected to appreciate all of the gifts that we have received, not only appreciate them but also use them to their greatest potential.

There are three steps we must follow in order to invest our gifts well - from a supernatural perspective.

First, we must identify what our gift is.

We should always thank God for all countless blessings, but we should also reflect on the one or two strong characteristics, traits, or talents that God has given us personally.

What type of thing do you enjoy most?

What type of activity has always made you excited?

What personality characteristic have people always complimented you on?

What have you always dreamed of doing but were afraid to get started on?

The second step is to get right with God and stay that way. The third servant left his life-mission unfulfilled because he didn't have a good relationship with his master. He judged him to be a tough master who demanded back what he had not given.

 

Our lame excuses invite punishment: The third servant decided to avoid risk-taking and showed too much caution with his talent.. His excuse was that, after all, he had not been given explicit orders about how to do his investing. Besides, any type of business was risky, and the Master might hold him accountable for any loss. He probably knew the long-standing rabbinic teaching that anyone who buries money that has been put into his care is no longer liable for its safety. Through this description of a lazy servant, Jesus teaches us that that there is no “safe” position in life. Christian living is strenuous business involving occasional risk-taking. God expects us to use our every talent for personal growth, and for bearing witness to the Goodness of God to all whom we encounter. As Pope St. John XXIII said, “We were not put on earth to guard a museum, but to produce new spiritual wealth from the talents God has placed under our stewardship.

 

We need to “trade” with our talent of Christian Faith: All of us in the Church today have received at least one talent. We have received the gift of Faith. Our responsibility as men and women of Faith is not just to preserve and “keep” the Faith. We need to work with it. We need to offer it to the men and women of our times. Unless we do this, we stand in danger of losing the Faith just as the third servant lost his talent. The way to preserve the Faith, or any other talent that God has given us, is to put it to work and help it bear fruit.

 

When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion, let's promise that starting this week, we will go out and courageously invest our God-given gifts.

 

OT XXXII [A]: Wis 6:12-16; I Thes 4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13

In April 1988 the evening news reported the sad story of a photographer who was also a skydiver.  He had jumped from a plane along with several other skydivers and filmed the group as they individually dove out of the plane and opened their parachutes.  As the video was being shown of each member of the crew jumping out and then pulling their rip cord so that their parachute opened to the wind, the final skydiver opened his chute and then the picture went out of control.  The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death, having jumped out of the plane without a parachute.  It was not until he reached for the ripcord that he realized he was in free fall, taking pictures without a parachute.  Tragically he was unprepared for the jump.  It did not matter how many times he had done it before or what skill he had.  By forgetting the parachute, he made a foolish and deadly mistake.  Nothing could save him, because his Faith was in a parachute which he had never taken the trouble to buckle on.  It is a story not unlike the parable which Jesus tells about the foolish bridesmaids forgetting to bring something very important and necessary.

 

Through this parable Jesus emphasizes the fact that each and every one of us should be prepared, stay awake, because we do not know the day or the hour when we will be summoned to answer before the Lord God.

In Jewish custom when a couple married, they did not go away; they stayed at home; for a week they kept open house; they were treated, and even addressed, as prince and princess; it was the gladdest week in all their lives. To the festivities of that week their chosen friends were admitted. The foolish virgins missed this chance, because they were unprepared.

At first glance we think the wise virgins are mean, maybe selfish.  But that’s not the case.  Their role in the wedding feast, according to customs of the time, was to welcome the newlywed couple to the bridegroom’s home after the wedding.  That was their responsibility.  To give away their oil would be to shirk their responsibility: there was simply not enough oil for ten lamps.  For us to be unfaithful to Christ and his Church – no matter under what pretext – would be equally irresponsible

 

This parable warns us that there are certain things which cannot be obtained at the last minute. It is far too late for a student to be preparing for the examination on the last day. It is too far late for a man to acquire a skill, or a character, when some task offers itself to him. When we are prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, we have nothing to fear.

The second message that the parable teaches is that there are certain things which cannot be borrowed.  The foolish virgins found it impossible to borrow oil, when they discovered they needed it. A man cannot borrow a character; he must acquire it. A man cannot borrow his relationship with his neighbours; he must develop it. A man cannot borrow his relationship with God, he must cherish it. Hence, it is the duty of parents and elders to help the growing younger generation to acquire the noble values came down to them from their forefathers.

 

Christ himself sums up the meaning of his parable: “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”  It’s so easy to forget this.  We go on living as if we think this earthly life will go on forever.  Nothing is further from the truth. Death accompanies us each step of the way and could come upon us at any time.  

It is so ironical that the wedding which was such a well prepared and long awaited event, had these five virgins who were so unprepared and so unequipped for the grand moment. The story of these five virgins who were unprepared could well be our own stories too.

 

In the Gospel of Luke w12:35 WE READ: Keep your lamps lit. To keep our lamps lit.. it’s the reminder and challenge of the gospel to all of us.

At our baptism, we all have received the Light of Christ. This light, is not just to be preserved, but is to be nurtured and fostered daily. But we live in a world when there are many a winds seeking to put off this light in us. We live in a world where there is a strong engulfing of the darkness trying to drown the light in us.

Let’s examine our own lives… Am I allowing the wind.. of losing the focus from God. To put off the light in us?

… of being focused on our own selfish interests to put off the light in us?

.. of false principles and ideologies to put off the light in us?

As the saying goes, “We can’t prevent birds from flying over our heads, but we can certainly prevent them from laying a nest on our heads. We cannot prevent these winds to rage and hit our lives… but we can certainly prevent them from blowing off the Light of Christ in us.

The Lord has given us everything we need to keep the vigil all through our lives, so we should stock well our lamps and press on with fidelity. That way we can be like the wise virgins, and march on to victory.

As we continue with this Mass, let’s renew our commitment to Christ and promise him to do whatever it takes to wake ourselves up and refill our lamps. After all, “we know neither the day nor the hour.”