I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest—oracle of the Lord GOD. The lost I will search out, the strays I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, and the sick I will heal; but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them in judgment. Ezekiel 34:15-16
Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through man. 1 Corinthians 15:20-21
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. Matthew 25:34-36
Piety
What do you want of me, Lord? Where do you want me to serve you? Where can I sing your praises? I am your song. (Servant Song by Donna Marie McGargill, OSM)
Study
As we bring Thanksgiving weekend to a close, the pastoral image of the “firstfruits” seems appropriate. To a farmer, the first fruits represented the portion of the harvest offered in thanksgiving. The offering is hoped to lead to the bountiful harvest still to come. Christ’s life, death, and resurrection are not the end of the story. They are firstfruits. Salvation History must continue onward until it reaches the final chapter -- our resurrection.
That final chapter is the setting for Matthew’s most famous Gospel passage prescribing how we should behave: The Mount of Olives Manifesto.
Two contrasts are striking in today’s readings. Although this is the Solemnity of the King of the Universe, the first image we have is that of a humble shepherd, not a king leading his army into battle triumphant. This is not just any shepherd. This is the King of the Universe promising to come and do the shepherding himself.
Second, the Perfect God-Man also is contrasted with the flawed “first man.” Christ’s story and our own are both directly connected to Adam. The Hebrew word ’ādām in Genesis is both a common noun for mankind and a proper noun for the first man. In today’s second reading, St. Paul presents Adam as at least a literary archetype of Christ. His sin condemned all of us just as Christ’s sacrifice redeemed all of us. [i]
God expects us to be where he would be…serving the most vulnerable. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” Christ says as much when he visits the tax collector Zacchaeus (Luke 19:10). Our shepherd comes to save not the sheep inside the gate but the sheep who are lost and wandering.
Action
Do today’s readings afflict the comfortable in you? Maybe that is intentional. At the end of time, the Lord does not expect to find us at Nordstrom’s or Macy’s. God prefers that we are serving breakfast at So Others Might Eat, or lunch at D. C. Central Kitchen or in Lafayette/Peace Park feeding a hot dinner to the homeless, unemployed and underemployed with the Catholic Workers.
As Pastor Bob Cilinski wrote in his Nativity Parish (Burke, VA) parish bulletin this weekend, “[The words of Matthew 25] are words that are both comforting and disturbing because they teach us that the real proof of how much we love the Lord, is found in how we treat others around us. It might be hard to see Christ in others. Then if we can't see Christ in others, we can be Christ to others. And so, we ask, ‘Are we Christ to others?’”
If we answer that question with an affirmative, where does Christ want us to serve him today? “I was wounded by a terrorist bomber and you comforted me. I was killed by a terrorist bomb and you served my family.” My bet is that Sinai would be at the top of the list. Jesus would be there comforting those wounded and the families of those killed by the terrorists.
"Terrorist acts can never be justified in the name of God or any political ideology, and the fact this attack took place at a Mosque, a place of worship, is especially offensive to God," according to a statement by the USCCB President Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston. “The Catholic Church in the United States mourns with the people of Egypt at this time of tragedy and assures them of our prayerful solidarity. We join with all those of good will in prayer that these acts of terror and mass killings – these acts of grave evil – will end and will be replaced with genuine and mutual respect for the dignity of each and every person. "
[i] According to the notes in the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE).
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