Matthew 25:31-46

 The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Pope Pius XI added this Solemnity of Christ the King in 1925 to combat the growing secularism of the time, an issue even more dire now than then. We might say, "The world has gone crazy" and the need to return to Jesus, our Teacher, our Savior, and our King is more urgent now than ever. Our Gospel for today does not stress kingly robes or a crown but service to those in need, the hungry, the homeless, the naked. A world where people care for one another and give of themselves so that all will have what they need to survive and thrive. Some of this is going on right now, thank God, but as we end the Liturgical Year and prepare for Advent, we are called to see what more each one of us can do to make the a kingdom of Jesus a reality. May we receive the grace to see what part we can play in making the Kingdom of God a reality now and in nour local community.

Bro. Rene

Dear Jesus, our King of Kings and our Savior, help us to bring your Kingdom into this world by our response to the spiritual and physical needs of our neighbor. Amen.