Daily Gospel Reflection

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November 26, 2023

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ - King of the Universe
Mt 25:31-46
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Jesus said to his disciples:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him and say,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply,
‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you accursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
Then they will answer and say,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.’
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life.”

Reflection

Marybeth Christie Redmond '85
ND Parent and Member of the Notre Dame Club of Vermont
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If we call ourselves followers of Jesus, our Christian commitment must be to serve the most vulnerable. And Matthew’s Gospel today names the individuals we should prioritize: the sick, the incarcerated, the stranger, the naked, the hungry, and the thirsty.

So many of us make generous financial contributions to stellar human service agencies that assist those who fall into these categories of need, and those actions are admirable and vital! But this Gospel passage calls us beyond tidy philanthropy to the direct and sometimes messy engagement with the marginalized. This is because Jesus knows such interactions will change us from the inside out and transform our hearts forever.

My own experiences of writing with incarcerated women in a Vermont prison for five years, working with unemployed women trying to stay sober, accompanying a new American family of seven over 18 years, and serving as a state legislator during the COVID-19 pandemic have taught me more about myself and about being a disciple of Jesus than anything else.

Each time I interact with a suffering person, by virtue of my baptism, I am asked to leave my sphere of power and privilege and enter their world of powerlessness. I can no longer rely on my practical solutions or a storybook ending relative to their predicament. I may want to get down to business in resolving their conundrum, but the most meaningful thing I can offer is my willingness to be in a mutual, reciprocal relationship with them.

This is the stance that Jesus asks all of us to step into as we minister to those living on the margins; this is the way he approached every person in need, as a loving Presence, a font of compassion, who met the distraught eye to eye where they were at. The Christian call is to become the hands, eyes, ears, feet, mind, and heart of Christ in service to our neediest sisters and brothers, for that is the journey that will light our hearts on fire.

Prayer

Rev. Terry Ehrman, C.S.C.

Lord of love, suffering abounds in our world. Give us true, merciful, and compassionate hearts that do not ignore the poor, sick, and ignorant nor view them as the enemy. Give us your grace to live the commandment of love: to love our neighbor as ourselves, for what we do to them, we do to Christ your Son. Amen.

Saint of the Day

Feast of Christ the King

Today’s feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, is a recent addition to the Catholic liturgical calendar. Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 to help the Church respond to rising secularism and atheism in the world.

In his papal encyclical, Quas Primas (In the First), in which Pope Pius XI inaugurates the feast of Christ the King, Pope Pius wrote, “Oh, what happiness would be ours if all people, individuals, families, and nations, would but let themselves be governed by Christ!” Pope Pius XI cites the precedent for introducing new feast days into the liturgical calendar: the Church sees a pressing need for the culture around it to be reminded of some particular aspect of the Catholic faith. The feast of Corpus Christi was instituted when devotion to the Eucharist was waning. "So, too," Pius XI notes, "the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was instituted at a time when men were oppressed by the sad and gloomy severity of Jansenism, which had made their hearts grow cold, and shut them out from the love of God and the hope of salvation."

Pius XI cites his reasons for establishing the feast of Christ the King as the widespread prevalence of relativism and anti-clericalism. He desires to remind the world that Christ—and his Church—are truly Lord over all. As Catholics wrestle with the crisis of leadership in our church hierarchy and episcopacy today, this feast day can perhaps serve as a testament of our own faith in Christ as the leader of our church in whom we can place our trust completely. Christ, as the ruler of the universe, will guide his Church with his providence, and the human leaders of our church ought to model themselves after his example.

The feast of Christ the King always falls on the last Sunday of the church year—a new liturgical year begins next Sunday with the start of Advent. This feast is a fitting way to send us into Advent, the season of preparing our hearts to better recognize and receive God who comes to us in the person of Jesus. Today, we remember that Jesus will come to us at the end of time to usher in the fullness of God’s kingdom, and it reminds us to recall that Jesus comes to us every day as well.

The Gospel readings for this feast in the three year Sunday lectionary cycle always serve to subvert our understanding of kingship from the perspective of earthly power. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus reminds us that we will be judged based on how we serve–or fail to serve–those in greatest need. In John's Gospel, Jesus tells Pilate, "My kingdom does not belong to this world," as he prepares for the way of the cross. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus hangs on the cross and mercifully promises salvation to the common criminal crucified next to him. These readings show us that the kingship of Christ overturns the systems of power, wealth, and force which rule over the world. The kingship of Christ belongs to the Kingdom of God which he inaugurates through his self emptying love.

Our featured image is of a statue of Christ the King, which stands atop the tower of the Eck School of Law. The reliquary chapel in Notre Dame’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart contains pieces of the crown of thorns worn by Jesus during his passion, as well as pieces of clothing that he wore during his life.

On this feast of Christ the King, let us allow Christ to reign in our minds, our wills, our hearts, and our bodies!