A Homily - The Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), The Solemnity of Christ the King

First Reading - Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 22(23):1-3a, 5-6 ©

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Mark 11:10

The Gospel According to Matthew 25:31 - 46 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 Consider the words of the prophet, take them into your heart, for this is the divine injunction:

 Be forgiving.

 Be just.

 Be mindful.

 Be humble.

 Be watchful.

 Be caring.

 Look after the well-being of all who come your way; as you treat the stranger, so do you treat God, the creator of the universe.

 Know this!

 God looks out for everyone, the whole of the flock, all of humanity; we are all in God’s care, and God is determined not to lose a single one of us.

 God will seek out the lost, bring back the stray, heal the wounded and strengthen the weak.

 As the psalmist says:

 God is shepherd to us all.

 If we walk in the way of God, we ourselves will be a shepherd to our sisters and brothers.

 Do not dwell on the things you may lack, when our time in this world comes to an end it is not the end of all things. Life here is transitory. If we are hungry, we are hungry only for a time. If we thirst, it is but for a moment…there is a limit to our pain.

 Trust in God and find peace. In the end you will be fulfilled.

 It is not only because God loves you that God guides you; it is for God’s own sake that God blesses you. We are the body and when there is pain in the member there is pain in the whole.

 Know this:

 The powers of sin and death  are temporary, it is only God that endures forever, and we are children of the divine, we are one with God whose spirit dwells within us.

 Be mindful of the apostle’s words; he has a deep feeling for circular arguments.

 The reading for today begins in circularity, with Paul insisting that Christ must be raised from the dead or his faith, and the faith of Christians everywhere is in vain, because the faith of Christians everywhere is not in vain, he says that we must believe that there is a resurrection, and the risen Christ is the proof of it.

 This is not a reasonable argument or a rational basis for the faith...set it aside; it has no bearing on the main point of this passage, which is this:

 Sin and death enter the world from a single point in time, and it is another singular point in time that brings sin and death to an end.

 According to Paul, Adam causes the fall and Christ restores creation to its proper place.

 The scope of their work, negative and positive, is equal in that the scope includes the totality of all living beings: past, present and future.

 Listen to the apostle who understood our relationship to the divine:

 We are created all-together as one.

We are one creation in God.

In our failures and our faith we are one. 

 Remember this!

 God is not a king, a prince or a lord. The Church, following the way Jesus taught, can never be the extension of a royal dynasty, and should not be seen as one.

 Consider the gospel reading for today, it contains much of what is true, and much that is false.

 Let us begin with this:

 The glory of Christ is expressed in mercy, you will not find Christ seated on a throne, commanding armies of angels, with the nations assembled before him. It is the duty of all Christians to reject such images; they are a trap and they lead to fallacious thinking.

 What is true is this:

 Our love and fidelity to God and Christ is expressed in how we treat one another; rich or poor, weak or strong, right or wrong.

 Among the ancient Hebrews, both the sheep and the goats were integral to their community, the Hebrews tended and cared for flocks of each. Both the sheep and the goats belonged to the same community.

 We are one human family, we are not sheep and goats, we are never divided by God, we are only divided by each other, and we must reject all such efforts to divide us.

 In our human family there is good and bad, there are right and wrong; we all have both within us. We are called on to foster the good and forgive the bad; we are called by Jesus to forgive even those who do us harm.

 

First Reading - Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17 ©

The Lord Will Judge Between Sheep and Sheep

The Lord says this: I am going to look after my flock myself and keep all of it in view. As a shepherd keeps all his flock in view when he stands up in the middle of his scattered sheep, so shall I keep my sheep in view. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered during the mist and darkness. I myself will pasture my sheep, I myself will show them where to rest – it is the Lord who speaks. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them.

As for you, my sheep, the Lord says this: I will judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he-goats.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 22(23):1-3a, 5-6 ©

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

The Lord is my shepherd;

  there is nothing I shall want.

Fresh and green are the pastures

  where he gives me repose.

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Near restful waters he leads me,

  to revive my drooping spirit.

He guides me along the right path;

  he is true to his name.

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

You have prepared a banquet for me

  in the sight of my foes.

My head you have anointed with oil;

  my cup is overflowing.

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me

  all the days of my life.

In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell

  for ever and ever.

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28 ©

Christ Will Hand Over the Kingdom to God the Father; So that God May Be All in All

Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet. And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subject in his turn to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Mark 11:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David!

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Matthew 25:31 - 46 ©

I Was Naked and You Clothed Me; Sick, and You Visited Me

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.

‘Then the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

‘Next he will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink; I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.”

‘And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’

 

The Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), The Solemnity of Christ the King

A Homily – The Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

First Reading - Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 ©

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 127(128):1-5 ©

Second Reading – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Revelation 2:10

Alternative Acclamation – John 15:4, 5

The Gospel According to Matthew 25:14 - 30 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 Everyone has fallen short of perfection, the measure itself is arbitrary and the designation meaningless.

 Consider the words of the psalmist and know that he is in error.

 It is vanity to believe that God will come to your aid when you are engaged in a dispute with your sisters or brothers, when you are engaged in any dispute in all.

 It is vanity and foolishness to believe that God will secure the foundation of your house or the peace of your city, the stability of your nation or the well-being of the world over and against that of anyone else.

 It is foolishness and hubris to assume that those who labor from dawn to dusk are loved less by God than those who do not toil at all.

 It is hubris  and false to believe that God places boys in the wombs of mothers and gives them certain qualities, on behalf of a father whom God loves.

 God does not favor husbands over wives, God does not favor brothers over sisters, God does not favor sons over daughters.

 God does not intervene in our affairs.

 Listen to the apostle!

 When Paul says that we belong to the light, he is speaking to all the children of Adam as he understood them to be, he is speaking to the entire human race. Paul’s is speaking to the world, his audience is everyone.

 Be mindful!

 The gift of grace is not transactional; God gives it freely, no one is excluded.

 Know this.

 God is present throughout creation; there is no place where God is not. God touches every person, God sustains every living-thing, God undergirds the created order. The true God is God of Christian and non-Christian alike, the good, the bad and the ugly.

 Consider the Gospel reading for today:

 It is heartbreaking to see the teaching of Jesus betrayed so completely by the writers of the Gospels.

 At this point the authors of Matthew, writing a hundred years or so after the death of Jesus, were more concerned with building up and retaining church property than they were with teaching the good news…that Christ has risen, that God loves the sinner, that God loves the worst of us.

 It is impossible to know how the way came to be betrayed in such a fulsome and complete manner, but I am thinking it has to do with the fact that over the course of a hundred years, after the destruction of Jerusalem, leadership of Christian communities throughout the Empire came to those with the means to support it…the wealthy. Bishops were selected from among those who supported the Church but who were also leading merchants and tradespeople, landowners and those with rank or status.

 It is not surprising that in this time the way, which Jesus preached, came to be imagined as a kingdom, while abba, the father, became a king.

 This parable views God or Jesus as a merchant and a banker, instead of a fisherman or a carpenter, a shepherd or a farmer.

 The parable begins with the idea that God will distribute challenges and tasks to each and every person according their ability, that God knows both the powers and liabilities of God’s children, and consequently God knows what to expect from them. In terms of the probability of success or the likelihood of failure.

 It would be out of character for the loving and knowing God to punish the servant who buried his one talent, God knew that this is what this servant would do when the talent was given.

 According to the way, the servant who buried the talent should receive the ministry of mercy, forgiveness and understanding…not cast out and left in the dark.

 One hundred years after the death of Jesus, the leaders of the church had forgotten this.

 The servant who hid the talent was not lazy, as the “master” said, but was merely fearful because he knew that the man he was beholden to was a hard person. He was a man who took what he had not worked for, robbing others of the fruit of their labor.

 It is quite possible that this servant did not multiply his talent as the others had done, because he did not want to emulate the corrupt practices of his master as the others were willing to do.

 Again, the master, who represents either God or Jesus in this parable, does not deny being hard of heart, and does not deny the charge of being a thief, reaping what he had not sewn, and gathering what he had not scattered.

 He is proud of it! And that is the type of society he intends to promote.

 He charges the frightened servant with laziness, with neglect and stupidity, calling him a good-for-nothing and has him thrown into the dark, into the place of wailing and gnashing of teeth, into hell, the place of death.

 Through this twist in the narrative the authors of this parable up-end Jesus’ teaching; they completely forget that the last will be first and the first shall be last.

 The true reading of the parable is this:

 The man who was thrown out represents the figure of Christ. Like Christ he refused to emulate the wicked practices of the rulers, he refused to profit from the suffering of others, he knew that he would be punished and he accepted the consequences. He was proven right, and he was killed for his convictions.

 

First Reading - Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 ©

A Perfect Wife - Who Can Find Her?

A perfect wife – who can find her?

She is far beyond the price of pearls.

Her husband’s heart has confidence in her, from her he will derive no little profit.

Advantage and not hurt she brings him all the days of her life.

She is always busy with wool and with flax, she does her work with eager hands.

She sets her hands to the distaff, her fingers grasp the spindle.

She holds out her hand to the poor, she opens her arms to the needy.

Charm is deceitful, and beauty empty; the woman who is wise is the one to praise.

Give her a share in what her hands have worked for, and let her works tell her praises at the city gates.

 

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 127(128):1-5 ©

O blessed are those who fear the Lord.

O blessed are those who fear the Lord

  and walk in his ways!

By the labour of your hands you shall eat.

  You will be happy and prosper.

O blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

  in the heart of your house;

your children like shoots of the olive,

  around your table.

O blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Indeed thus shall be blessed

  the man who fears the Lord.

May the Lord bless you from Zion

  all the days of your life!

O blessed are those who fear the Lord.

 

Second Reading – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 ©

God Will Bring with Him Those Who Have Died in Jesus

You will not be expecting us to write anything to you, brothers, about ‘times and seasons’, since you know very well that the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night. It is when people are saying, ‘How quiet and peaceful it is’ that the worst suddenly happens, as suddenly as labour pains come on a pregnant woman; and there will be no way for anybody to evade it.

But it is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a thief. No, you are all sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Revelation 2:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Even if you have to die, says the Lord, keep faithful, and I will give you the crown of life.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – John 15:4, 5

Alleluia, alleluia!

Make your home in me, as I make mine in you. Whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Matthew 25:14 - 30 ©

You Have Been Faithful in Small Things: Come and Join in Your Master's Happiness

Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like a man on his way abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one; each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out.

‘The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

‘Now a long time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.”

‘His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”

‘Next the man with the two talents came forward. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”

‘Last came forward the man who had the one talent. “Sir,” said he “I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.” But his master answered him, “You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital with interest. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away. As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”’

 

The Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

A Homily – The Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

First Reading – Wisdom 6:12-16 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 62(63):2-8 ©

Second Reading – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 24:42, 44

The Gospel According to Matthew 25:1 - 13 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 God, the creator of the universe; God has nothing to do with the appointment of kings or the management of kingdoms.

 Both the wise and the despotic rise to the role of ruler, though it is less often the wise. Justice and mercy, kindness and grace, these qualities are always received as blessings to those in need of them, such qualities blesses those who administer them as well as those who receive them. And yet it must be understood that the kind and the humble are easily overrun by those whose thoughts are only for themselves.

 A despot may rule for generations, founding dynasties that abuse the people whom they are charged to uplift and defend. This is the way of the world, and this is the world  God made.

 Know this.

 God created the universe and our world in it, God provided for the generation of human beings, from out of this earth, but God did not create human-culture. By creating us in freedom, God has left the nature and character of our society in our hands; God calls us to sanctify it and God has shown us the way.

 Consider the words of the psalmist.

 It is right to thank God for all the good things that come our way, and yet to not blame God for the hardships we suffer in this life, in these bodies. We do not thank God for giving us the good things, we thank God for providing a world in which the possibility for the joys we take pleasure in…exists.

 This is called providence and it is in divine providence that we see most clearly the workings of grace in the world.

 The good and the bad come to us irrespective of who we are; what we do or have done, or who we might become, there is no plan to it. God is no respecter of persons, and God does not love anyone of God’s children more than God loves any other…so God does not intervene in any way.

 Nevertheless, praise God and give thanks for the good; do not dwell on the bad, it was not God’s design to thwart you, or punish you...our failures are ours alone, and we are all subject to the vicissitudes of chance.

 Be mindful.

 There is peace to be had in patience and contemplation, in meditation and prayer. Therefore make your life a constant prayer, expecting only grace and a peaceful spirit in return.

 Let the peace of peace bubble up within you, like a fountain gently overflowing, let it flow from you so that others might quench their thirs

 Consider the writing of the apostle.

 Jesus rose from death; this is the gospel, and the gospel’s promise is that all people will rise from the dead in and through him.

 In the narrative it must be understood that the living have no advantage over the dead, this is both literal, in terms of the spirits ultimate destiny of those who have died prior to Jesus’ sojourn on earth, and it is metaphorical in terms of those living people who are spiritually dead, Jesus promises to reach everyone, and bring all of those who die in him, with him to life everlasting.

 Remember the teaching of John!

 All things and beings exist in the Word who is God, and not one thing exists without God.

 Through God all things came to be and in God all things are sustained, continuously.

 Taken together, we are given to understand that scope of God’s plan includes everyone.

 Be mindful!

 The future history of the world has not been written.

 Even when we read them in scripture, any suppositions made about our future on earth are merely guesses. We can speak in terms of possibility and probability, but we cannot know anything about the days and nights to come.

 Prophecy is social criticism, not fortunetelling or some mode of augury.

 There are thousands of ways in which the plans we lay and the hopes we cherish can come undone; lightning will strike, a tornado will blow, a meteor will fall, a volcano explode. A person in the fullness of their life may trip and fall, hit their head and die, leaving all their everything behind them…unfinished.

 Know this,

 The promises we have received from God are not of this world.

 God has promised to bring an end to suffering, injustice, hunger, illness. It is wise to believe in these promises, but not to expect them in this life.

 Our belief in a loving God, our hope in the words of the prophets, our trust in the gospel, these allow us to act as if God’s promise is real…and this is a good things because such trust, hope and belief are powerful instruments in fomenting the common good.  But anyone who pretends to know for certain what is going to happen on any given day,  or what God’s plan is for the day after tomorrow, they are over stating their case and likely trying to sell you a bill of goods.

 Consider the gospel reading for today.

 This parable is a classic betrayal of the way.

 It is clear that the writers of Matthew’s gospel, or perhaps some later editors, it is clear that they did not understand the basic meaning of the most prevalent teaching Jesus’ gave, “the last will be first and the first will be last.”

 These leaders of the early church, imposters and pretenders to the way, betray the teaching of Jesus while providing justification for their miserly behavior and ambitions. It must always be understood that those who would withhold from others the gifts they had received from God under the mistaken notion that the gifts of heaven are distributed according to some standard of rank, a standard that would disregard the entirely selfless love God has for all of God’s children, it must be understood that these people do harm to the promise of the Gospel.

 The way is obscured when we marginalize anyone on it, and we are all on it.

Know this!

 A person is not rewarded because they are smart, people are not punished because they are foolish or unprepared.

 The commandment Jesus issued is simple: Love one another, as I have loved you. Here is the whole of it…pay attention.

 To be a Christian means that you have made a commitment to love God with all your heart, and all your strength and all your mind. A Christian is meant to love their neighbor even as they love themselves, and to do for them as they would do for themselves. Jesus tells us that within the framework of these words the entire code of the law and all of the teachings of the prophets are contained, their wisdom has been distilled into the formula we call the golden rule, it is the the sublime synthesis: do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.

 The parable in today’s Gospel betrays that teaching, it put a lie in the mouth of Jesus and harmed everyone who sought to follow the way after them.

 

First Reading – Wisdom 6:12-16 ©

Wisdom is Found by Those Who Look for Her

Wisdom is bright, and does not grow dim.

By those who love her she is readily seen, and found by those who look for her.

Quick to anticipate those who desire her, she makes herself known to them.

Watch for her early and you will have no trouble; you will find her sitting at your gates.

Even to think about her is understanding fully grown; be on the alert for her and anxiety will quickly leave you.

She herself walks about looking for those who are worthy of her and graciously shows herself to them as they go, in every thought of theirs coming to meet them.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 62(63):2-8 ©

For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.

O God, you are my God, for you I long;

  for you my soul is thirsting.

My body pines for you

  like a dry, weary land without water.

For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.

So I gaze on you in the sanctuary

  to see your strength and your glory.

For your love is better than life,

  my lips will speak your praise.

For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.

So I will bless you all my life,

  in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,

  my mouth shall praise you with joy.

For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.

On my bed I remember you.

  On you I muse through the night

for you have been my help;

  in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.

For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.

 

Second Reading – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ©

Do Not Grieve About Those Who Have Died in Jesus

We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him. We can tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching, that any of us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming will not have any advantage over those who have died. At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call out the command and the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise, and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up in the clouds, together with them; to meet the Lord in the air. So we shall stay with the Lord for ever. With such thoughts as these you should comfort one another.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 24:42, 44

 

Alleluia, alleluia!

Stay awake and stand ready, because you do not know the hour when the Son of Man is coming.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Matthew 25:1 - 13 ©

The Wise and Foolish Virgins

Jesus told this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.” At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out.” But they replied, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves.” They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed. The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us.” But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.” So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.’

 

The Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)