Next Sunday is the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. The Gospel reading is from Matthew, chapter 25, verses 31-46. The scene is the solemn judgment at the end of history.
Jesus comes from the heavens and sits on his glorious throne, accompanied by his angels. All nations are gathered before him, each man and woman waiting for a final judgment on the conduct of their lives.
I love what follows. Nothing is asked about one’s accomplishments in life, nor how rich or poor, successful or unsuccessful, male or female, single or married or any other measure or standard that we might have envisioned.
The only measure by which we will be judged by our King is the measure of love, not its feeling, but its expression in concrete deeds to real people in need. The response of Jesus in verse 40 to those judged worthy of heaven says it all: ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me’.
Jesus lists all sorts of good deeds, feeding the hungry and thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the imprisoned, and so on. The list is no way meant to be exhaustive.
The Good Samaritan came across a beaten and near-dead man. He cared for him in a very concrete way that met that man’s needs at that moment. There was no thought about the man not being a fellow Samaritan, nor any consideration of whether he deserved the beating he had received. The only consideration was the demand of love for another human being in need, full stop. At this time in our history, the guidance of the Holy Spirit has brought the Church and us to the awareness that “neighbor” includes our fragile and threatened planet.
That parable is a paradigm for all Christian behavior and how we are meant to meet every moment of life. No matter who on the path of life we encounter in whatever need, we are to stop and address, to best of our means and ability, that concrete need. It’s really as simple as that.
Our King will judge you and me to the extent that we were able to see his face on the faces of all those we meet on the road of life. Those may be faces of family and friends; they may be faces of strangers and even enemies. No matter: “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”
The beautiful feast of the Jesus the King is really the gospel summary of love’s double commandment. We love God and, thus, fulfill the first commandment, when and to the extent that we love in a concrete and hands-on manner God’s people at every moment of life and in every circumstance, large and small!
So, stop fretting so much about the end. Just live and love well today, and everyday!
God be Praised!
Gratefully,
V. Rev. Lewis S. Fiorelli, OSFS
Provincial
Wilmington-Philadelphia Province
This reflection originally appeared in DeSales Weekly, the e-newsletter of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.
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