November 22, 2020
Readings:
First Reading: Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17
Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26,
28
Gospel reading according to Matthew 25:
31-46
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Homily:
Jesus, who is the Son of Man and at the same time Son of God, is the King coming and will be sitting in his throne to give his last judgment to all the living and the dead, in the last age and/or end time. Jesus is the King of the Universe who will give his last judgment when the time comes. Christ Jesus is to come into the world to judge and to redeem. No one can escape in his judgment for everyone will be called by name and each one will be weighing up, and reckoning. “Jesus said to his disciples, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him” (Matthew 25: 31-32). Surely, the time will come that all of us (all the nations) will come in his presence (in his throne of judgment and with his angels), without distinctions, either brown or yellow, black or white, red or of different colors of skin; of different languages, races, cultures, beliefs, rich or poor, etc., and to give each one of us a report or answer how our relationship to one another manifested in our lives, and how do we deal with our neighbors, especially the least ones, the poor.
As King, he knows his subjects (sakop), his followers, and his own. He knows each one of us and what one of us is doing, either good or not good, and whether it is in conformity with his will and command. “And he will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goat on his left” (Matthew 25: 32-33). He does not go wrong, he can easily spot, as a good Leader and Shepherd, the good from the evil, the sheep from the goats. He will separate them. All the good ones (signifying the sheep) will go to his right side, and the evil ones (representing the goats) will go to his left side.
To make clear to those in his right side the purpose of their separation (as of all nations) in the end time, he is saying that at the beginning of time they (and we as well) are already chosen and blessed by God the Father, “Then the king will say to those on his right, 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). Jesus explicitly explained to those righteous ones who were on his right that the measure of his judgments were based on the actions they (we) have done on behalf of their (our) neighbors, the least ones – i.e., the food and drink we shared, the warm welcome to the strangers we imparted, the clothes we gave to the naked, the care we have shown to the ill and the visit we provided to those in prison. These were the works of love, of charity, or mercy and compassion stored in our hearts by the One (God the Father) who has chosen us since the primordial time. Do we do these to our brothers and sisters in need? Or we disregard them and do not see and feel their needs? Are we insensitive to their call for help?
On the one hand, the children of light (the righteous ones, the sheep) were not aware that the simple actions they did mean a lot. They did them out of the generosity of their hearts and hands. Are we generous enough to help and support our brothers and sisters in need, especially during the times of calamities, like for example, the typhoons Rolly and Uysses and the covid-19 pandemic victims? “Then the righteous will answer him and say, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison and visit you?” (Matthew 25: 37-39). They asked the King without malice or pretension, an honest to goodness question. For them, these simple gestures of minding their neighbors’ were their expression and extension of themselves, and the love they received from God (sinusuklian lang nila ang pagmamahal na natanggap nila sa Panginoong Diyos.).
The righteous ones did not realize that what they did to their neighbors in need, they did it to Jesus, the Christ and King. “And the king will say to them in reply, Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25: 40), for, as he revealed to them, “whatever you did for one of these least brothers [and sisters] of mine, you did for me,” any good things we have done to our neighbors, especial the least ones, however big or small they are, were directly did them to Jesus. We gave food and drink to Jesus on behalf of the least ones; we welcomed Jesus in our home when the needy stranger came and asked something from us; we clothed Jesus by clothing the naked ones, we gave medicine to Jesus when someone was sick; and when we visited the prisoner it was Jesus we visited. Though we do not see Jesus in actual appearance to these lesser brothers and sisters of ours, our eyes and hearts and hands of faith show to us the image and likeness of Jesus to those who suffered and neglected and abandoned. Jesus is one with them ⁄ with us in our suffering, maltreatment, neglect, and abandonment. We serve God the King when we serve the poor.
On the other hand, the evil ones, those who have no care for their needy brothers and sisters, the least ones, who were pretending they did not know what were the needs of their poor neighbors, but rather they were busy minding their own businesses. “Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care me” (Matthew 25: 41-43). These evil and bad ones (the goats) were also in the plan of God the Father for they were already destined to eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels since the beginning of time. Their hearts, minds and hands were evil, their thoughts were against God’s will, and they disobeyed God’s commands. They knew what they were doing, the bad actions and neglecting doing good, right and holy actions (charity) to their poor and least brothers and sisters.
They asked question, with malice and in a pretentious answer, to Jesus’ words. “Then they will answer and say, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or stranger, or naked, or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?” (Matthew 25: 44). One by one, they memorized and gave a summary of what Jesus said, as if they were uttering a litany, they mentioned what Jesus told them what they did not do.
The King will reply to
them. “He will answer them, Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for
one of these least ones, you did not do for me.
And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to
eternal life” (Matthew 25: 45-46).
The small and simple things they (goats) did not do on behalf of our
least brothers and sisters, they (wicked and lazy servants) did not do them too
to Jesus and because of these they (evil ones) made themselves detached from
God and from their neighbors. They became
indifferent in their relationships with others. And because of these, they became
alone and lonely, an individual being in isolation, without God and neighbors. Then they will experience eternal
punishment. While those (sheep) who did
what were required by God the Father and Jesus the King of the Universe will
experience eternal life. As what St. Basil said, "When
you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so
generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you
for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for
His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the
beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore Him who in His
wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and
when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created
and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love and praise
their Creator."— St. Basil the Great.
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