 |
| Flickr.com |
Deacon
Tom writes
"Year End Review"
Today we celebrate the "Solemnity
of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe", more commonly known as the “Feast
of Christ the King”. The gospel we read is from Matthew
and is known as “The Judgment of the Nations”. It is an apocryphal reading meaning
it has to do with the “end times” and the Final Judgment. Matthew is presenting
us with a summation of Christ’s teachings, which is namely this: that there is
a direct relationship between our actions in this life and where we will spend
our eternal life. This is very appropriate since today marks the end of the
liturgical year. It is right that we stop and do our own simple “Year End
Review” on how faithful we have been to the gospels and the teachings of Jesus
Christ this past year.
Today’s
gospel gives us insight into the ordinary
call to holiness. Often it seems that the work of the gospel is way beyond
us, that we have to be a Saint like St. Francis or St. Martin de Porres to be
faithful disciples of Christ. That’s not the case at all. Look at the sheep in
our reading today who have done the good works of feeding the hungry, clothing
the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, etc. Isn’t it interesting that
they were not the lease bit aware of the good they had done for the Lord? They have to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry, or naked, or sick?” They were “surprised” that what they had done for others was noteworthy. You
see, the good that they did for the Lord was the ordinary good they did for
everyone and anyone around them. It was not some overwhelming, impossible task.
They were not asked to do the impossible. They lived a life of ordinary goodness or holiness, giving of
themselves without counting the cost, day in, day out, to friends and strangers
alike.
We
are called to be just like them. As a matter of fact, that is what God wants
most from us…to be ordinary in our love for one another. We have been called by
God to live ordinary lives of holiness,
to share our love with others by our example, our witness, our smiles and
laughter, our words of encouragement and hope, and at times, even our material
support and physical presence through which we become Christ for one another.
May
God’s abundant blessings be with you and your families this Thanksgiving
weekend.
Deacon Tom
No comments:
Post a Comment