Dear Lord Jesus,
I come to You now with humility and trust.
I confess with my lips that You are Lord and Savior and I believe in my heart that You are risen from the dead and alive.
Now I surrender my life to You.
Be my Light in darkness;
Be my Way in the wilderness;
Be my Life in death.
With You in my life I can move mountains and I can do even greater things.
I love You and thank You for everything.
Amen.
Today’s liturgy of the Word focuses our attention on the coming of the Son of God in glory, together with all the angels. What prophet Ezekiel was predicting as the future event – “thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am going to judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats” (Ezekiel 34:17) – gets fulfilled in the Gospel. The “I” of Ezekiel is the Son of Man who sits “upon the throne of his glory” to judge the nations (Matt 25:31).
Between the prediction of the judgement in the first reading and the last judgement of the Gospel, the second reading inserts the resurrection of Christ. “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, firstfruit of the [ones] having fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20). Christ’s resurrection has begun His reign, a time to overcome all the enemies. Among them are: (1) heavenly and earthly powers, which oppose God and (2) death as the last enemy. Death no longer has power over Christ (Rom 6:9), but we long for that moment when “death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:14).
The parable of the Last Judgement is among the best known fragments of the New Testament, and the sentence – “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” – has shaped the moral standards of the Western civilization. Here is the source of the saying “guest in the house, God in the house” and monastic hospitality. This sentence moved the Church to care for the homeless, to open first ever clinics and hospitals, and to begin prison ministry. All the social privileges enjoyed by contemporary citizen of the West are derived from this one sentence.
The title “Son of Man” was given by prophet Daniel to a mysterious figure who came to God and was given an everlasting dominion over the nations (Dan 7:13-14). By applying this prophecy to Himself, Jesus was sentence to death for blasphemy (Matt 26:64-66). The Judge from the parable is not impartial. The treatment of the “least of His brothers” decides the final destiny of the nations. The identification of the Judge with those in need surprises both the just and the condemned. The final decision fulfills the words of the Scriptures: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matt 5:7) and “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13).
The Judge mentions six acts of kindness, which together with burying the dead form the “corporal works of mercy”. All are rooted in the biblical tradition and all imitate God.
Great are the acts of kindness. The Gospels begin with one and end with one. At the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, the Holy Family shelters under their roof the Magi from the East (Matt 2:11) and at the end of the Gospel of John the risen Christ provides a breakfast for His hungry disciples (John 21:9). True are the words of apostle James: “mercy triumphs over judgement” (James 2:13).
The liturgy of the Word reflects on the challenge of living a Christian life while waiting for the returning of Jesus. In all three readings we have positive and negative examples.
1st reading
2nd reading
The Gospel
In the second reading Saint Paul can easily divide the people into two categories based on the quality of their lives. The Thessalonians, who “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess 1:9) are the children of the light. But, the environment they live in is still in darkness (1 Thess 5:5). The moral level of those in darkness is characterized by (1) worshipping idols (1 Thess 1:9), drunkenness (1 Thess 5:7), and fornication (1 Thess 4:3). Paul’s judgement is confirmed in today’s Gospel upon the return of the owner of the talents. The lazy servant, who hid the talent, was thrown into the outer darkness (Matt 25:30). People who live in darkness – immoral and irresponsible life – in this world, unless they repent will be thrown into outer darkness in the world to come.
Today’s parable about the “talents” (one talent was a large sum of money) takes place between the departure and the return of the lord “after a long time” (Matt 25:19). Let us try to understand its deeper meaning.
1. The owner of the talents is Jesus Christ. His departure refers to Christ’s ascension and his return “after a long time” to his return from heaven. Matthew sets the coming of Christ into a distant future.
2. The sentence “you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed” (Matt 25:24) should be understood in the light of another sentence from the Gospel of John: “I sent you [the apostles] to reap that for which you did not labor. Others [Moses and the prophets] have labored, and you have entered into their labor” (John 4:38). The hard man, the lord, demands from his servants the fruits of labor, namely, the people coming to faith in Christ
3. “His goods” refers to the entire world: “The earth is the LORD’S and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Ps 24:1).
4. “Talent” is the task to proclaim the Gospel. At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus before His ascension commands his disciples to go and teach all nations (Matt 28:18-20). Between Christ’s ascension and His return there is no greatest task than the proclamation of the Gospel. A perfect example of a good servant to doubles the Lord’s talents is the Samaritan woman from the Gospel of John (John 4:1-42). She brought her entire town to Christ (John 4:39-42).
5. The lazy and unprofitable servant remind us Jonah the prophet, who at first refused to proclaim God’s word to the world (Jonah 1:2-3). Jonah tried to hide from the Lord and the lazy servant hid the talent given him by the Lord. The consequences are not only tragic to the servant but also to the whole world: “My people are perishing for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).
The first reading praising the “woman of valor” shows us an example of a good servant who enters the joy of his Lord. The woman symbolizes the Church, who cares about the matters of her husband – the Christ. Through the proclamation of the Gospel, she ‘gives birth’ to many sons and daughters and diligently educates them in faith. Such a Church is not afraid the return of Christ. We are this Church. Our commitment to the proclamation of the Gospel through words, deeds, and the testimony of life will decide our entry to the joy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reading the Bible 