Homily Notes for Feast of Christ the King
Feast of Christ the King. “How Well Do We Take Care of Each Other?”
At the back of the sanctuary of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican there is a mosaic by Michael Angelo which is a depiction of the Final Judgement. The painting is of Jesus passing sentence at the end of all time an all of humanity. By his side is the Blessed Virgin Mary who seems to be pleading for those who are being judged. Around the two of them are hundreds of twisting bodies. Some seem to be in agony, others, ecstasy.
Other artists have had depicted this apocalyptic scene. Many people have a fascination with it. How will be judged at the end of our lives we wonder? We have a sense that there will be an evaluation, but what will it be based on? On this Feast of Christ, the King, which marks the end of the church year, it seems appropriate to reflect on this again, as we mark the passage of another year.
We seek to follow Jesus Christ. But what does he consider most important as we live our lives on earth. We have the reading from Matthew 25 today in the Gospel. People have based their life of faith on this story of Jesus’ second coming. We seem to receive a simple message. Help the less fortunate and Jesus will be happy.
We make jokes about the judgement of God. One is told of a doctor and a nurse and HMO executive all died on the same night. St. Peter stood at the pearly gates asking each person, “What did you do while you were alive?” The doctor said, “I tried to alleviate pain as much as I could….I tried to bring healing wherever I could.” St. Peter said, “Fine, go on in.” St. Peter said, “Nurse, what did you do?” I was the one who had to do the practical care. I go my hands dirty. I was with patients sometimes on double shifts throughout the night. St. Peter said, “Fine go on in.” The HMO executive was next. He said, “I was president of a large Health Insurance Company in charge of managing the health care for millions of people. We tried to make money.” St. Peter looked at schedule in front of him and said, “Fine, you can go in, but you can only stay two nights.”
We need to take another look at our scripture passages this weekend. If we do we might see a more complicated picture. In the passage from the Prophet Ezekiel we have what is called the Parable of the Shepherds. If we read the whole passage, which we do not do here at Mass, we find that the sheep in this parable are very docile. The religious leaders have led people astray. Why have they done that? Because their number one priority is taking care of themselves. The sheep are left to wander around without guidance, so they get into all kinds of spiritual trouble. The message is that, if there were better leadership, the Kingdom of God would be built.
In the Gospel, we hear of sheep, but in this case the King does not blame leaders for the sheep and goats demise. No, the King holds each individual responsible. “You knew the Gospel, what did you do about it?” seems to be the question. Some scholars would interpret this passage in a most interesting way. Which is that the persons who are hungry, who are in prison, who are sick are the faithful disciples. The people who teach the Gospel message, have not been supported in some cases. We remember earlier in the Gospel where Jesus send out evangelists telling them to rely on the generosity of those who receive the teaching. In some cases, the help comes. In other cases, it does not.
We could picture two images of the Christian life. One is that it is all about following the leader. We all know the game by that name, Follow the Leader. We go where the leader leads whether it is through water, uphill, downhill, jumping on one foot. If we stay in line, we are doing what we need to.
The other example we could use is that of a team obstacle course. One of the ones that has been designed lately is called “Tough Mud-den.” In this game, people work together to get around obstacles. The whole course is constructed in the mud. People must climb over walls. Participants crawl through tunnels. The object is to have everyone contribute their brains and strength so that everyone makes it through. We might ask who came up with this, the Marines? No, Harvard Law School. The lesson to be learned is that if we are united in our efforts we can do far more than by ourselves.
Perhaps the Kingdom of Jesus is, more than anything else, about taking responsibility, not just responsibility for ourselves, but responsibility for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are guided by what Jesus taught. When we come to understand that we are responsible for each other we learn what the Kingdom of Jesus is about.