November 22, 2020
Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Year A) on November 22, 2020 at St. Austin Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Ezekiel 24:11-12, 15-17; Psalm 23; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28; and Matthew 25:31-46.
On this last Sunday of our liturgical year, the Church invites us to reflect on how Christ is the king of our lives. Interestingly, our first two readings present us with images of God’s leadership that are not primarily about majesty and power. Through the words of Ezekiel, God is presented as a shepherd – healing the sick, seeking the lost, and gathering the scattered. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul presents Jesus not only as the conqueror over death, but also as the one who goes before us to eternal life with the Father.
Our gospel today is the Last Judgment, where the Son of Man separates the sheep from the goats. However, we’re going to zoom out a bit and try to place this passage in context with the passages that come directly before it – which we heard over the last two weeks – and the passages that come directly after it – which we heard on the first Sunday of April.
Christ is our Way, our Truth, and our Life. Let us repent of the times we’ve failed to recognize that.
Today, we complete our year with the Gospel of Matthew. To review: Matthew is the teaching gospel. He is writing to a community of Jewish Christians who feel alienated both from other Jews and from other Christians. Matthew presents Jesus as the new Moses, who delivers five lengthy teaching discourses. Each discourse is followed by Jesus putting those teachings into action. It was probably most noticeable for us this year in July and August, when we had three weeks of Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God being like a sower, like a mustard seed, like yeast, like wheat among weeds, like a merchant, like a treasure, and like a net. The lessons seemed clear: the kingdom of God is precious, abundant, surprising, open to a wide variety of people, and worth sacrificing to obtain. In the subsequent weeks, we witnessed the surprise as Peter walked on water, the abundance as Jesus fed the multitude from a few loaves and fish, and the openness as Jesus healed the daughter of a Canaanite woman.
These last three weeks, we have heard from Jesus’ fifth and final discourse. We heard about the wise and foolish maidens, the parable of the talents, and now, the Last Judgment. In each of these lessons, rewards are given to the characters who take action, whether it’s bringing extra lamp oil, using the talents given to them by the master, or caring for those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned, or otherwise isolated. Those who do not take action are condemned in a seemingly final way.
If this is the teaching of Jesus in his last discourse, what is his action afterward? The very next things that follow are the Last Supper, the Passion, and the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Jesus takes lots of actions at the Last Supper, but he is mostly silent in Matthew’s account of Good Friday. And after his resurrection, there is not another extended discourse: Jesus only speaks three more sentences to the apostles!
In Matthew’s Passion, it is other people who act in relation to Jesus, rather than Jesus acting himself. Maybe the conclusion we’re supposed to draw is that by the time Jesus is arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, the time for his taking action is over. He has already fed the hungry, cared for the sick, and consoled the dying. He has already invested his God-given talents in building up the kingdom of God. He has already tended his lamp so that he will radiate God’s glory.
In the Passion, it is Jesus who becomes thirsty, imprisoned, and naked. The choice to take action is now up to others. The characters in the Passion include people who know Jesus well and those who don’t know him at all. Friends and strangers alike reject him. Friends and strangers alike accompany him and unsuccessfully intercede on his behalf.
Matthew’s account of the Passion only varies from those of Mark, Luke, and John in seemingly minor ways. Almost all the distinctive details are about other people, not Jesus. It is only in Matthew that Pilate washes his hands. That Pilate’s wife has a dream. That Judas dies by suicide. That an earthquake occurs, the saints enter Jerusalem, and soldiers guard the tomb.
In 2020, many of our neighbors are suddenly hungry, impoverished, or homeless… and the laws suspending evictions are currently set to expire on December 31st. The choice to take action is now up to us. This year has made most of us realize more than ever that many things are not in our control. Nevertheless, our actions make a difference. In the midst of this pandemic, how do we actively contribute to evil, like Judas? How do we actively intercede to change the course of events, like Pilate’s wife? How do we quietly accompany those who suffer, like Mary Magdalene? But perhaps most damning of all, how do we wash our hands of our power to change the course of events, like Pontius Pilate?
With more than 1.3 million deaths from Covid-19 worldwide, including more than a quarter million deaths in the United States, many of us are crying out to God for help. We hunger for physical connection. We shoulder holiday stress. We endure pandemic fatigue. But even as we pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, it is up to us to choose how we respond to the increasing infection risk. If we choose to live our lives in November 2020 the exact way we did in November 2019, we put ourselves, our families, our co-workers, and our friends at greater risk of death.
In this year of plague and protest, in this year of isolation and indifference, in this year of hysteria and heroism, the lessons of Jesus’ final discourse are striking. Our actions – no matter how small – make a difference in how the kingdom of God breaks into the world. Ezekiel presents that kingdom as ruled by a divine shepherd who seeks out the lost and forgotten, and cares for the least among us. As Jesus teaches about the Last Judgment, whatever we do for these “least” sisters or brothers of ours – whether we recognize it or not – we do it for Christ. As we head into Advent in what has been predicted to be a long, hard winter, we recognize a great truth: we know neither the day nor the hour when each of us will come face to face with Christ, King of the Universe.