Deacon Tom Writes,
“Sheep to the Right; Goats on the..”
By way of history, Pope
Pius XI established the Feast of Christ the King in 1925 to counterbalance the
growing movement toward secularism that arose in the early 20th century. In
Germany there was a rise in exaggerated nationalism and the emergence of Nazism.
At the same time there was a rising tide of Communism, atheism, totalitarian
governments that demanded total sovereignty over people, substituting a nation
or an ideology in place of God. This led Pius XI instituting today’s Feast as a
way to make us aware that nations can never have complete sovereignty over what
belongs to God.
Yet, we know from
Sacred Scripture that Jesus rejected the notion of being a King. St. John tells
us that when asked by Pilate if He was a King, Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If
my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me
from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
So, just what does
Jesus’ kingdom that is “not of this earth” look like and how do we show our
fidelity to it? The answer is explicitly revealed today that we find in the twenty-fifth
chapter of St. Matthew’s gospel. The image is stunning. All the people who have
ever lived, “all the nations”, are
gathered before the “Son of Man”, that
is, the King, who separates them into two groups, “the sheep on his right and the goats on his left”. Those on His
right He finds favor with because that have fed the hungry, given water to the
thirsty. In other words they were able to show mercy and compassion to others
during their lifetime by helping them with the necessities of life. Those on
His left, however, are damned for they had no sense of the needs of the other.
All their efforts were self-directed. They had no consideration for the
suffering and wanton deprivation of the neighbors. Each group goes on to share
in the joy or suffering they helped create in this life.
Given the outcome
from this “judgment” scene that St. Matthew depicts we can easily conclude that
the King ruled over a kingdom that necessitated its citizens to care for one
another’s material well being; a kingdom whose people were instructed to see to
it that no one suffered from want of food, clothing, shelter or loneliness of
fear of being forgotten of being a stranger. The punishment is so severe for
those who ignored the King’s decree for failing to care for the material well
being of others, that we can deduce that this Kingdome was ordered by wisdom
and justice and oriented to the supreme good.
We do well to
reflect on today’s readings, the last of our Liturgical Year. They speak of a time
to come when, as we hear, all will stand in judgment and render an account for
our actions and attitudes. They invite us to reflect seriously on how we have
treated the poor and marginalized around us and, if needed, to make any changes
that we find necessary. At the least, today’s readings should remind us that Christ
is our King who calls us to live the beatitudes; to stand besides our
brothers and sisters who suffer injustice, persecution, victimization, or
deprivation; to work along side with those trying to bring a sliver of hope to our
world where hope is so desperately needed.
It is fitting that
the Feast of Christ the King marks the end of our liturgical year. It enables
us to move into the Season of Advent anticipating the day when God’s justice
and peace will break forth upon the earth. That time when all the kings and
prime ministers and presidents, all the rulers who have ever ruled this world,
will pay homage and tribute to the one from whom they received their power and
to whom they must eventually render an account.
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