By Thamajoy Reang csc.
Readings: Ezek 34: 11-12, 15-17; 1 Cor 15: 20 – 26, 28; Mt 25: 31 – 46
Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe. This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to respond to growing secularism and atheism. The feast emphasizes the true kingship of Christ and reminds us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as king forever. The first reading places before us the promise of God that he will come down and save all his sheep that have been scattered and lost.
This promise is fulfilled in the person of Jesus, and we see in today’s gospel Jesus telling his disciples that he will be glorified and, with all the angels, will sit on his glorious throne. He will gather all the nations together and separate people according to their mission done while living in this world. Jesus speaks to us not only about physical necessities but also spiritual necessities.
He tells us that to feel and find him is to feel and find the people whom we serve in our mission: feed people when they are hungry, quench their thirst when they are thirsty, visit them when they are in need, and clothe them when they have nothing to wear.
Let us hold on to Jesus Christ as our king and savior and continue to experience him in serving people around us. As Paul says in the second reading, Christ, the first fruit of those who have died, who has been raised from the dead will lead all who belong to him to the eternal Kingdom of God.